How much does an Architectural Technician cost (and do I need one?)

[Crofter]

Embarking upon self build no.2.

First time round was building regs exempt, and was entirely a DIY effort.

I'm confident with designing the layout and structure, and much of the detailing- I've done it all before, although I'm not trained or qualified in any way. 

 

I'm considering employing an AT to ensure compliance with regs.

 

1- is this the correct person to use?

2- is it feasible to go DIY? Or will I get hopelessly bogged down in SAP calculations etc? 

3- how much should I budget for this?

[Redbeard]

1. Could well be, depending on whether you are expecting them to do just dwgs, or dwgs & spec, or dwgs, spec and site supervision. Check they are fully experienced for the 'package' you want.

2. Maybe. I effectively 'drew' mine, but gave them to someone to 'computerise'. Sub out the SAP, again, preferably to someone who knows the building physics as well as how to drive the software.

3. Absolutely no idea! Sorry.

[ETC]

2 hours ago, Crofter said:

Embarking upon self build no.2.

First time round was building regs exempt, and was entirely a DIY effort.

I'm confident with designing the layout and structure, and much of the detailing- I've done it all before, although I'm not trained or qualified in any way. 

 

I'm considering employing an AT to ensure compliance with regs.

 

1- is this the correct person to use? Depends what you are self-building - but essentially yes. You could give it a go yourself.

2- is it feasible to go DIY? Or will I get hopelessly bogged down in SAP calculations etc? What are you building? You won’t need SAPs for an extension - just a new-build house.

3- how much should I budget for this? Depends on how much work he or she needs to do. Post some more detail and we can comment further.

 

[Crofter]

53 minutes ago, ETC said:

 

It's a new build house. Provisional sketches are leading towards a 65m² footprint, 1.5 storey. Timber frame, corrugated steel roof, larch cladding on the walls (or possibly a mixture of larch+steel). Basically the same as how I built the previous house.

[ETC]

49 minutes ago, Crofter said:

It's a new build house. Provisional sketches are leading towards a 65m² footprint, 1.5 storey. Timber frame, corrugated steel roof, larch cladding on the walls (or possibly a mixture of larch+steel). Basically the same as how I built the previous house.

In which case a SAP will be needed. Something that can easily be farmed out to numerous SAP assessors. If you are happy that you can do the drawings have a go. BC will need timber frame panel drawings anyway - something the TF supplier will do for you. Timber trusses, posi-joist or cassette floors and you’re good to go. Give it ago - Be will ask for additional information if they need it.

 

As for cost - I’d say you’re talking the sharp end of at least £5k if you’re lucky - a she’d more if you’re not.

[Redbeard]

You need a structural eng'r too, else your Bldg Regs application will get stuck when they ask for proof.

[SteamyTea]

How different are the building regs and warrant stuff in Scotland, compared to England?

[ETC]

30 minutes ago, Redbeard said:

You need a structural eng'r too, else your Bldg Regs application will get stuck when they ask for proof.

What for?

[Crofter]

6 hours ago, ETC said:

 BC will need timber frame panel drawings anyway - something the TF supplier will do for you.

There is no frame supplier. I'm building this exactly the way I built the last house, by buying a big stack of timber and using a nail gun and chop saw to turn it in to a house.

 

 

6 hours ago, ETC said:

 

Timber trusses, posi-joist or cassette floors and you’re good to go. Give it ago - Be will ask for additional information if they need it.

I may use engineered joists (I used them last time and they were great to work with, and very cost effective compared to solid timber). But I may not end up using trusses. Ground floor is likely to be an insulated slab.

 

6 hours ago, ETC said:

 

As for cost - I’d say you’re talking the sharp end of at least £5k if you’re lucky - a she’d more if you’re not.

I may be facing a bit of a reality check with my costs. The first house (2015-17) came to £40k total, excluding the plot, including VAT on everything because it was exempt from building regs and ineligible for VAT reclaim.

 

The new project will be bigger (33% bigger footprint, plus rooms upstairs) but will be lower spec (uPVC instead of aluclad, no WBS) and eligible for a VAT reclaim. So I'm hoping that it will be only slightly more expensive to build. Of course there's been a fair bit of inflation since 2017. But £5k would be a huge chunk of my budget.

 

I did all my own drawings for PP last time, and intend to do so again. How feasible is it to also do my own BR drawings?

[ETC]

£5k is cheap for fees…..

Edited Monday at 03:35 by ETC

[ETC]

How feasible is it to also do my own BR drawings? - depends how knowledgeable you are with the structure. TF, trusses not an issue. Stick build might be a problem unless you get a SE.

[Tony L]

On 18/05/2025 at 13:43, Crofter said:

 

1- is this the correct person to use?

2- is it feasible to go DIY? Or will I get hopelessly bogged down in SAP calculations etc? 

3- how much should I budget for this?

 

I'm leaving the answers for 1) & 2) for the BH experts.  I'm definitely not one of those, but I have recent experience of 3)...

 

I did my own drawings to get PP (& if I can do it, it will be no trouble for you to do it). It's a 1.5 storey 4 bed house. 3 dormers; each dormer is different.  I employed an arch tec to turn my drawings into construction drawings & deal with BC.  The AT's fee was £4,200 + another £200 perhaps, for some add-ons, & no VAT.  He turned out to be no good (I think he may have age related cognition problems).  The new AT will cost £6,000 + VAT, but there are no add-ons & he'll keep going with amendments until BC are happy & I'm happy, & this is covered by the £6k.  I'll have to pay extra for the BC submission fee, SAP, proper heat calcs if I want them, QS/bill of quantities - perhaps you can do this yourself, given your experience.

 

Hope this helps.  I'm normally the one asking loads of questions, so it's good to be able to try to help someone.

[Redbeard]

On 18/05/2025 at 19:12, ETC said:

On 18/05/2025 at 18:41, Redbeard said:

You need a structural eng'r too, else your Bldg Regs application will get stuck when they ask for proof.

What for?

 

Footings, lintels etc.

 

@Tony L,  did you not need a structural engineer? A long time ago the architects I worked with did their own SE, but from quite a long while ago they started using consultant SEs.

Edited Monday at 19:42 by Redbeard

[ETC]

19 minutes ago, Redbeard said:

 

Footings, lintels etc.

 

@Tony L,  did you not need a structural engineer? A long time ago the architects I worked with did their own SE, but from quite a long while ago they started using consultant SEs.

Nah!……but he will need an SE for the panel design.

[Gus Potter]

19 hours ago, Crofter said:

There is no frame supplier. I'm building this exactly the way I built the last house, by buying a big stack of timber and using a nail gun and chop saw to turn it in to a house.

Good but it willl be a bit different as you have learnt a lot of stuff. It will come back to you as you go. I'm a big fan of stick building. The financialrisk is reduced, getting mucked about by TF folk, it is a flexible way to do it as often you can change your mind as you go.

 

19 hours ago, Crofter said:

I may use engineered joists (I used them last time and they were great to work with, and very cost effective compared to solid timber). But I may not end up using trusses. Ground floor is likely to be an insulated slab.

And this the great thing about this way of building, the flexibility and the ease of costing, it's just timber and almost a day rate for joiners to knock it up.

 

19 hours ago, Crofter said:

I did all my own drawings for PP last time, and intend to do so again. How feasible is it to also do my own BR drawings?

The game has changed a lot. While you may be able to do the drawings someone will have to keep you right and that will cost more than a professional doing the drawings right first time.

 

The biggy is finding someone who you can; work with, is flexible, do your panel drawings, your foundation design etc and do the SE stuff and works in Scotland. This is how I make my living. I'm nippping off on holiday but PM me if you fancy a blether.

 

 

 

[Crofter]

12 minutes ago, Gus Potter said:

  it's just timber and almost a day rate for joiners to knock it up.

Or in my case, just materials and tools. I never employed a joiner last time and I don't expect to this time either.

 

12 minutes ago, Gus Potter said:

 

The game has changed a lot. While you may be able to do the drawings someone will have to keep you right and that will cost more than a professional doing the drawings right first time.

This is what I'm concerned about. Last time, being exempt from regs, I could just build it the way I thought would work best. I already had a fair amount of knowledge about TF design and just applied those principles, but there weren't a lot of calculations involved. It was a very small house (50m² footprint) and I used 6*2 studs and rafters primarily for insulation depth so I was confident that it was plenty strong enough.

 

12 minutes ago, Gus Potter said:

 

The biggy is finding someone who you can; work with, is flexible, do your panel drawings, your foundation design etc and do the SE stuff and works in Scotland. This is how I make my living. I'm nippping off on holiday but PM me if you fancy a blether.

We have a local guy who I've already approached, and he had a good reputation, but he says he's moving away next year and my project might not go fast enough for him.

 

12 minutes ago, Gus Potter said:

 

 

[Tony L]

3 hours ago, Redbeard said:

@Tony L,  did you not need a structural engineer?

 

Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention him. So he's £2300 + VAT, but we have quite a few steels going in.  I shouldn't think you'd have to pay quite so much, @Crofter if you design a house that's a similar shape to your last one.

[Crofter]

2 hours ago, Tony L said:

 

Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention him. So he's £2300 + VAT, but we have quite a few steels going in.  I shouldn't think you'd have to pay quite so much, @Crofter if you design a house that's a similar shape to your last one.

The current sketches are for a box 9x7m, with an asymmetric pitched roof. It's a fairly straightforward shape really. 

I'll stick some pictures up once I've tweaked a few details in my SketchUp model.