architects fees
Discussion
RIBA have a recommended fee structure, but nobody pays it these days!
Architect's fees are now negotiable, so you'd be well advised to find at least 3 Architects who you are satisfied have the necessary skills for your project, then get them to quote competitively against an accurate brief (the brief is very important, as it ensures they are all clear about your requirements and the scope of the work/professional services involved).
Depending on the type of work involved, using a Building Surveyor or an Architectural Technologist can be cheaper, but make sure they have adequate skills and knowledge for the job in hand, and that their Professional Indemnity insurance is up to scratch.
Architect's fees are now negotiable, so you'd be well advised to find at least 3 Architects who you are satisfied have the necessary skills for your project, then get them to quote competitively against an accurate brief (the brief is very important, as it ensures they are all clear about your requirements and the scope of the work/professional services involved).
Depending on the type of work involved, using a Building Surveyor or an Architectural Technologist can be cheaper, but make sure they have adequate skills and knowledge for the job in hand, and that their Professional Indemnity insurance is up to scratch.
Sam_68 said:
Depending on the type of work involved, using a Building Surveyor or an Architectural Technologist can be cheaper, but make sure they have adequate skills and knowledge for the job in hand, and that their Professional Indemnity insurance is up to scratch.
Agreed - pm me if you are interested in a cost comparison and some examples of work!The thing we'll struggle with is that we have a really unique house designed by an architect for himself... so (and i don;t need this to cause offence!) we need an architect involved because we need to add the extensions in an equally quirky way. we're not going to be adding a nice conservatory on to the back of a 1930s semi or something...
but the 7.55 thing is interesting. i'll see what happens...
we're in no rush. i think we would get multiple quotes. the ones we like will come in a couple of weeks and we'll go from there. there is certainly a decent second contender...
the more the better! i may well be in touch with people so thanks for your posts!
but the 7.55 thing is interesting. i'll see what happens...
we're in no rush. i think we would get multiple quotes. the ones we like will come in a couple of weeks and we'll go from there. there is certainly a decent second contender...
the more the better! i may well be in touch with people so thanks for your posts!
I should add that you need to be clear what YOU want them to do for YOU. This is your brief and any fee proposals will be based upon this. It's no good asking for an application for Planning Consent and then relying on the same information for construction and or Building Control purposes.
Are you wanting to hand over the entire project for a person to manage for you or are you just wanting to go for planning? This is very important. Poor briefing by and misunderstanding what is being instructed is the main cause of conflict between client and professional.
Are you wanting to hand over the entire project for a person to manage for you or are you just wanting to go for planning? This is very important. Poor briefing by and misunderstanding what is being instructed is the main cause of conflict between client and professional.
mk1fan said:
I should add that you need to be clear what YOU want them to do for YOU. This is your brief and any fee proposals will be based upon this. It's no good asking for an application for Planning Consent and then relying on the same information for construction and or Building Control purposes.
Are you wanting to hand over the entire project for a person to manage for you or are you just wanting to go for planning? This is very important. Poor briefing by and misunderstanding what is being instructed is the main cause of conflict between client and professional.
all sounds reasonable.Are you wanting to hand over the entire project for a person to manage for you or are you just wanting to go for planning? This is very important. Poor briefing by and misunderstanding what is being instructed is the main cause of conflict between client and professional.
maybe people can be of guidance.
basically we have what's essentially a 'fancy bungalow'. it's got 2 beds at back and one at front and most of the living space in the middle. we want o make it beds at front and living at back. we want to add a couple of rooms. one would be a new large living room at the back and one a bedroom at the front.
so! we know what we want. we even think we know where the new rooms should go and how the existing ones should be subdivided/re-used.
we need someone to:
make what we want to do:
a) look right for the existing building
b) get past the planners
c) get drawings that a builder can use
d) get drawings that building control can sign off on
is it better to get one practice to do all that?
is it better to get the creative bit done by one person and the technical by someone else?
we were rather thinking of trying to arrive at a situation where we have plans that can then be used by a builder-cum-project manager. is this in itself a daft idea? is it better to get a PM and a builder and or a PM and all the trades..?
it might be that we would not commence building until the wife was not working and could PM it (she's IT PM (de de derrr))..
briSk said:
is it better to get one practice to do all that?
YesbriSk said:
is it better to get the creative bit done by one person and the technical by someone else?
No, definitely not (in my opinion).I am often forced (by company policy) to take this approach; we often use external Architects to prepare the Planning drawings (the creative bit), but I am then obliged to use our own Working Drawings team at Head Office to prepare the construction drawings.
Now, our working drawings team are a great bunch of blokes who really know their stuff, but dealing with the liaison, queries and endless cock-ups that come from one guy interpreting another guy's ideas so that he can prepare drawings for a 3rd guy to cost and a 4th guy to build is just one long nightmare. Much better to keep as much as you can in one place... if the original Architect knows he's going to have to prepare working drawings and deal with site queries, it focuses his mind on buildability and costs a lot better.
Edited by Sam_68 on Thursday 27th August 22:59
Sam_68 said:
if the original Architect knows he's going to have to prepare working drawings and deal with site queries, it focuses his mind on buildability and costs a lot better.
Amen to that! Too often I've seen architects drawings which just won't work as they expect - they haven't got a clue about how to actually build what they've drawn and it won't match the reality. Better to take into account the items that will be necessitated in the build early on, so that it can be explained to the client. Taking away something they think they had isn't an easy thing to do..Fees for what you want to do would be
£150 for your Planning Application payable to your local council
£200 approx for your Building Regulation application payable to your local council.
Architects fees, if you were to pay me based on a 2 room extension with some fannying about inside, £1500.
When you start on site you will then have to pay £300 approx for an inspection charge. This is a one off fee payable to Building Control. The first time they visit site, usually to check founds & drainage triggers this invoice. If they come out 1 more time or 20 times is still the same charge.
My fee would include full working drawings that any builder can work off and shows all drainage and sparkie works with a full specification. If anyone is charging more than that then you're being ripped fella!
£150 for your Planning Application payable to your local council
£200 approx for your Building Regulation application payable to your local council.
Architects fees, if you were to pay me based on a 2 room extension with some fannying about inside, £1500.
When you start on site you will then have to pay £300 approx for an inspection charge. This is a one off fee payable to Building Control. The first time they visit site, usually to check founds & drainage triggers this invoice. If they come out 1 more time or 20 times is still the same charge.
My fee would include full working drawings that any builder can work off and shows all drainage and sparkie works with a full specification. If anyone is charging more than that then you're being ripped fella!
herbialfa said:
Fees for what you want to do would be
£150 for your Planning Application payable to your local council
£200 approx for your Building Regulation application payable to your local council.
Architects fees, if you were to pay me based on a 2 room extension with some fannying about inside, £1500.
When you start on site you will then have to pay £300 approx for an inspection charge. This is a one off fee payable to Building Control. The first time they visit site, usually to check founds & drainage triggers this invoice. If they come out 1 more time or 20 times is still the same charge.
My fee would include full working drawings that any builder can work off and shows all drainage and sparkie works with a full specification. If anyone is charging more than that then you're being ripped fella!
I'd love to see some examples of your work mate.....£150 for your Planning Application payable to your local council
£200 approx for your Building Regulation application payable to your local council.
Architects fees, if you were to pay me based on a 2 room extension with some fannying about inside, £1500.
When you start on site you will then have to pay £300 approx for an inspection charge. This is a one off fee payable to Building Control. The first time they visit site, usually to check founds & drainage triggers this invoice. If they come out 1 more time or 20 times is still the same charge.
My fee would include full working drawings that any builder can work off and shows all drainage and sparkie works with a full specification. If anyone is charging more than that then you're being ripped fella!
)herbialfa said:
Fees for what you want to do would be
£150 for your Planning Application payable to your local council
£200 approx for your Building Regulation application payable to your local council.
Architects fees, if you were to pay me based on a 2 room extension with some fannying about inside, £1500.
When you start on site you will then have to pay £300 approx for an inspection charge. This is a one off fee payable to Building Control. The first time they visit site, usually to check founds & drainage triggers this invoice. If they come out 1 more time or 20 times is still the same charge.
My fee would include full working drawings that any builder can work off and shows all drainage and sparkie works with a full specification. If anyone is charging more than that then you're being ripped fella!
FYI Building Control fees _start_ at £160 and rise.... + an inspection fee _from_ £180.. The bigger it is the more it costs.£150 for your Planning Application payable to your local council
£200 approx for your Building Regulation application payable to your local council.
Architects fees, if you were to pay me based on a 2 room extension with some fannying about inside, £1500.
When you start on site you will then have to pay £300 approx for an inspection charge. This is a one off fee payable to Building Control. The first time they visit site, usually to check founds & drainage triggers this invoice. If they come out 1 more time or 20 times is still the same charge.
My fee would include full working drawings that any builder can work off and shows all drainage and sparkie works with a full specification. If anyone is charging more than that then you're being ripped fella!
You're all being really very helpful.
And thanks to the other people who've pm'd me.
We're going to mull a few things over(we've already got our own 'conceptual design' in plan view so i think we'll have a real think ourselves and then move things on a bit).
____
a seperate but connected issue.
can you please advise on the following:
we will probably want to do work in 2 or 3 stages (two exensions plus internal 'fannying around' plus adding a 'quasi-dorma' and/or raising a roof line). Ideally we'd want to come up with a single design that we know will get planning BUT do the work in different stages as funds become available.
in your views is it better go for planning for the whole lot or 3 times or what? what do we do about 'renewing' the planning?
And thanks to the other people who've pm'd me.
We're going to mull a few things over(we've already got our own 'conceptual design' in plan view so i think we'll have a real think ourselves and then move things on a bit).
____
a seperate but connected issue.
can you please advise on the following:
we will probably want to do work in 2 or 3 stages (two exensions plus internal 'fannying around' plus adding a 'quasi-dorma' and/or raising a roof line). Ideally we'd want to come up with a single design that we know will get planning BUT do the work in different stages as funds become available.
in your views is it better go for planning for the whole lot or 3 times or what? what do we do about 'renewing' the planning?
It really depends on what sort of service you require, I'm sure a 1 man band can discuss you requirements, come up with 1 or 2 ideas and then produce a planning and building regs drawings for £1500-2000.
However building regs drawings generally seam to fall short of construction details and will have little in the way of specification. There would also be no over seeing of the project for this sort of fee.
With regards to architects / technicians for any extension I would expect a good technician to be up to the job.
I would look at finding a local guy who is recommended, as with all professions there's good and bad architects.
Most architects seam to offer a free first meeting, this will give you an idea of if you are on the same wavelength with regards to what you are trying to achieve (worth remembering the project is yours and what you want goes, occasionally you'll find architects who feel it should be the other way round) .
Also worth asking a few construction based questions to make sure they know their stuff, i've meet a few great design architects who aren't interested in the construction side of things.
However building regs drawings generally seam to fall short of construction details and will have little in the way of specification. There would also be no over seeing of the project for this sort of fee.
With regards to architects / technicians for any extension I would expect a good technician to be up to the job.
I would look at finding a local guy who is recommended, as with all professions there's good and bad architects.
Most architects seam to offer a free first meeting, this will give you an idea of if you are on the same wavelength with regards to what you are trying to achieve (worth remembering the project is yours and what you want goes, occasionally you'll find architects who feel it should be the other way round) .
Also worth asking a few construction based questions to make sure they know their stuff, i've meet a few great design architects who aren't interested in the construction side of things.
briSk said:
You're all being really very helpful.
And thanks to the other people who've pm'd me.
We're going to mull a few things over(we've already got our own 'conceptual design' in plan view so i think we'll have a real think ourselves and then move things on a bit).
____
a seperate but connected issue.
can you please advise on the following:
we will probably want to do work in 2 or 3 stages (two exensions plus internal 'fannying around' plus adding a 'quasi-dorma' and/or raising a roof line). Ideally we'd want to come up with a single design that we know will get planning BUT do the work in different stages as funds become available.
in your views is it better go for planning for the whole lot or 3 times or what? what do we do about 'renewing' the planning?
Apply for a single overall Planning Application.And thanks to the other people who've pm'd me.
We're going to mull a few things over(we've already got our own 'conceptual design' in plan view so i think we'll have a real think ourselves and then move things on a bit).
____
a seperate but connected issue.
can you please advise on the following:
we will probably want to do work in 2 or 3 stages (two exensions plus internal 'fannying around' plus adding a 'quasi-dorma' and/or raising a roof line). Ideally we'd want to come up with a single design that we know will get planning BUT do the work in different stages as funds become available.
in your views is it better go for planning for the whole lot or 3 times or what? what do we do about 'renewing' the planning?
Apply for Building Control as you arrive at the stage, it would cost a little more in costs for drawings and calcs, i.e. additional startup and downtime, but not a lot more. Building Control would want more money, but then again they'd want a fair chunk of money for a larger job anyway..
As for build detail, we detail _everything_ in our Building Control drawings.
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