Bored Shopper Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Hi everyone Need a fresh pair of eyes (and a brain) as a sounding board. We are veeery early on in the process of considering a new build. Currently approached a few architectural firms to get a feel of what they may offer. Output: 1) Firm A - purely architectural design firm, no fancy accreditations (at least not published). Good customer service, prompt turnaround, good reviews on Houzz, extensive experience, nice looking designs. Would only do design drawings Stage I / Stage II, and go as far as introduce you to three vetted builders. No further. Cost for services c.£5,000 (drawings and submission to LA only, all extra fees for surveys, BCO, SE etc extra, of course). Do not consider pre-submission of drawings to LA, just go straight through for proper submission. I liked them. 2) Firm B - an architectural designer, not RIBA / ARB. Significant number of glowing customer reviews on Houzz, good portfolio (not Norman Foster, but comfortable modern standard). He would do all the drawings for about £6,000, and then is happy to fully project manage the whole process. Not big fan of extensive tenders, prefers to use a main contractor of his choice (the contractor is a fully integrated building company, also has glowing reviews, some key accreditations, and a very nice portfolio, something we would strive to achieve in our house). For project management he charges 6% of the building costs (haven't yet discussed fixed price with him, but will attempt). DH liked him. 3) Firm C - an architects bureau, RIBA, etc etc, very fancy. Costs are 2.5 times more than Firm B, happy to project manage as well but won't even give us an approx. fee structure even though we've clearly stated our budget. Reviews are good, but portfolio looks pretty ugly (uber-modern "shipping-container-style" houses, odd choice of materials, etc). Don't really like them but it was good to get a quote for comparison. I know lots of smart and talented people on BH have managed to do their own drawings and submissions and project management, but that's not our case, sadly. My DH has got time on his hands and is happy to muck in with some not too complicated labour, but hopeless at project management. I am good at project management, spreadsheets, cost calculations, etc (corporate commercial background helps somewhat! ?) but am in a demanding full-time job so not able to closely run a tight ship with builders. So, what shall we do? Option A - go with Firm A, get drawings and pl permission done cheap and then tender for a main contractor (potentially approaching the preferred builder of Firm B)? Option B - just go with Firm B straight away, let the guy do the process for us but try shift him onto a fixed fee away from percentage? Also, should we be worried if neither Firm A or B are RIBA / ARB / CIAT etc? Your views, please. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hecateh Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Random thoughts B with a reducing percentage for every k they go over budget other than for significant change of mind on your part or definitely unforeseeable extras. Or, percentage fee to watertight and fixed fee after. I guess lots depends on your budget and contingencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted October 12, 2018 Author Share Posted October 12, 2018 20 minutes ago, Hecateh said: Random thoughts B with a reducing percentage for every k they go over budget other than for significant change of mind on your part or definitely unforeseeable extras. Or, percentage fee to watertight and fixed fee after. I guess lots depends on your budget and contingencies. Thank you so much, good idea! We are aiming to have at least 15% contingency (that's me being paranoid), so we'll see. Also we are starting with probably a larger initial plan with a view to see if we can afford it (at drawings / costings stage), and will be prepared to trim down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_r_sole Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 (edited) . Edited September 26, 2019 by the_r_sole 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 This might help. Hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted October 13, 2018 Author Share Posted October 13, 2018 9 hours ago, the_r_sole said: If they are not tied to any professional bodies then you need to check what insurances they have and what you can do if something goes wrong, as an architect I have to carry appropriate pi insurance, have to have a grievance procedure etc. Can't understand why the architects won't give you a firm fee structure - we give give extremely detailed service proposals to domestic clients... I suspect they just want to ramp it up to the maximum at a later stage - as already said in this thread, the gut feel about these guys is not good. ? 10 hours ago, the_r_sole said: There's a huge amount of work when projects are on site which is where inexperienced self builders can waste time and money. The way the job is tendered should also really be decided through discussion with you rather than then just saying it's this way only. Yes, I agree - this is why we definitely need someone to help us manage the whole process from start to finish. In terms of how the job is tendered, to be fair - he did not say that was the only way to do this, it was a suggestion and he seemed pliable to try a number of options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted October 13, 2018 Author Share Posted October 13, 2018 14 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: This might help. Hope so. Thank you very much - I did come across this list before, and our own list of questions for the architect interview was two pages long we drew alot from your list. The bit about chemistry and relationship is very true, I agree. We are reaching out to referees now and looking at past works. In terms of bankruptcy that does not seem to be the case. Files show that the cash flow is positive, albeit not in high numbers. I assume this is due to the fact that the guy was re-building his own house 1.5 years ago so drew some funds, and now since last year he resumed client projects. Still researching further... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 (edited) Suggest the first break for any should be at pass / refusal, including the bod dealing with queries and modifications, as you will not be able to ramp up to speed if minor modifications are needed etc. You need to be clear that your designed is expected to manage the interface to the planning officers. He should ideally be familiar with the Council already. Also consider including a possible Appeal in case you need one. Again if it is done by the bod who knows the design it will save learning curves. Consider an incentive of say -10% If they do not get permission and +10% if they do or similar. Edited October 13, 2018 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted October 13, 2018 Author Share Posted October 13, 2018 @Ferdinand, thank you, good points, all noted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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