Architect Cost

[steve77r]

I'm just starting out on my first self build project and about to start looking for an architect, what sort of price should I be expecting to pay for the drawing's for planning permission? Do they usually charge per hour or is it % based on the total project costs? 

 

Thanks 

[recoveringbuilder]

Hi , architect fees seem to vary wildly as I’ve seen on this forum, personally we paid £2.5k for our drawings and for him putting in the planning application, these drawings did pp and building control and IIRC we paid around another £1k for the SE but I think some on here have paid a lot more,

[Ferdinand]

Theres loads of information on the forum - you need to go and look for it.

[Moonshine]

@ferdinand found some useful info

 

Actual costs depend on what you are wanting to build, where you and what type of house you want, a standard house with traditional materials, or a concept house with cantrelevered beams made of brie.

 

Typical planning architect/AT costs for a single house I have seen range from £2k - £5k.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Moonshine

[nod]

We paid 2k plus vat 

But Architect costs can easily get out of hand You need to be quite clear in what you want Architects are happy to re draft and make changes But costs can soon mount up 

[Jeremy Harris]

I went around several local architectural practices with our site plan and our list of requirements for the house and had estimates that varied between 10% and 15% of the finished cost of the build.  That would have equated to around £20k to £30k.  That was for an architect design and managed build.  I also saw a local architectural technician and his fees would have been lower.  A design, PP and BC drawings only package would have cost about £2.5k.  He didn't offer a managed build option, so we'd have had to use a project manager.

 

As it turned out, the only chap I felt comfortable with was the architectural technician, but because we had a long delay in completing the purchase of the plot he'd retired when we came to start.  As a consequence, I opted to do the design, drawings, PP and BC submissions myself.  I also opted to project manage the build.  A steep learning curve but it did save quite a lot of money.

 

My advice would be to look a using an architectural technician as well as architects if you know what you want.  In general, architectural technicians do a lot of smaller, domestic scale, work, and can often have as much, if not more, practical knowledge.

[the_r_sole]

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Edited September 26, 2019 by the_r_sole

[epsilonGreedy]

15 hours ago, steve77r said:

I'm just starting out on my first self build project and about to start looking for an architect

 

 

Do you need one and what for?

 

Some people pursuing a "forever house" grand design need an architect to add value to a special or difficult plot. Others need an architect with specialist local knowledge to win over the planning office particularly when building in a conservation area. Later during a build an architect can offer an inspection/warranty service.

 

At the other end of the scale with say a build budget of less than £200k you could avoid architect fees entirely by selecting a timber frame design off the peg.

[JamesM]

I had the unfortunate position of my Architect going into administration so have just hired a replacement only a two weeks ago. As people have mentioned, architects vary their prices in 3 main ways: Hourly, Fixed and % build cost (or a mixture of any combination). Mine is generally a a straightforward build of a small 3 bedroom detached house made with traditional brick and block. I was quoted £8k-30k from various architects. They all included planning, building regs, tender and contract administration. Tender and Contract administration is certainly not needed if you are project managing your own project and does take up a considerable amount of the cost.