Which professional do I need ?

metalscrubber

Afternoon all,

As some of you may know from my post a few weeks ago we have recently been granted planning permission for our new home in county Meath.

As we now have permission we will be parting professional company with our Architect. This was decided upon from the outset – He did not want to be involved with the build process and was employed by us to get us through the planning process with the house plan we wanted. We have been very happy with his involvement but it’s now time to find a new professional to help us build our house.

So what do we need to do here – and please correct me if I leave anything out:

Decide on construction method
Calculate BER / DEAP / insulation requirements
Create construction drawings, including engineering detail / loadings etc
Decide on heating / DHW / utilities / kitchens / bathrooms / windows / doors etc etc etc
Create Bill of Materials
Canvas for quotes / assess quotes from builders
Conduct contract negotiations
Monitor construction quality, daily / weekly etc
Arrange hookup to services, ESB, water etc
Signoff builder’s work / mortgage payments

So by my reckoning we need an Architect / architectural technician, a quantity surveyor, a structural engineer, an energy assessor and a site engineer!

Now if I was to employ and pay all of the above there wouldn’t be much of a budget left so what is the answer? Is there a person / professional who does it all?

And I will gladly accept PM’s from anyone touting for business

Metal

sydthebeat

you MAY get an engineer that does it all, but by my reading you should only need :
1. a technician that can do site inspections and signing off and is also an energy assessor.
2. a QS (if required).... may not be depending on detail in tender drawings
3. a structrual engineer MAY be needed if elements of structure need to be specifically designed....

RKQ

I am always wary of "inheriting" a project. Its difficult to inspect / Certify a house you hven't designed, as you usually find problems with it. Some planning application drawings can be very vague or ill thought out! I avoid these projects whenever possible.

If you appoint a Building Contractor then you will need an Architect / Technician or Engineer just to inspect works and issue stage payments.

A Site Engineer / Project Manager could be useful for direct labour. You will definately need an Architect / Technician or Engineer to regularly inspect works and issue stage payments.

A Project Manager will usually charge a percentage fee. His sub-contractors may not be the cheapest but they will do the work on time and to a good standard.

How complicated or unusual is your design?

I'm not sure on a Bill of Quantities for a domestic house. An Approximate Bill weould be fine. Some hardware stores offer a "materials list" service, which is quite accurate and reasonably priced.

A BER Assessor will work from your plans & site plan, for an agreed fee, prior to construction.

Get professional advice before a sod is turned!

Supertech

That's quite a design team you're putting together there metalscrubber ....

Realistically, one office should be able to do most of the jobs required for your build if you do your research properly. You will find that if you go to a decent Architectural / Architectural technology practice (or Engineer or Building Surveyor ) that they will handle most of the items on your list. They will likely outsource structural works to a qualified engineer (for a seperate but likely small fee ...unless you're re-building the Taj )

I personally wouldn't see a need for a Bill of Quantities on a house, so no real need for a QS. If you're going with a building contractor, he'll have his own 'site engineer' or equivalent, and as far as Project management is concerned - YOU are the best representative you can have on site, backed up by your Architect / Technician for advice on Technical / Regulation / Planning Issues.

If your going direct labour, forget everything I just said and employ ALL the consultants you've listed along with a Doctor and a Therapist for the 2 years it'll likely take you to get the place habitable :D:D

Maybe that's what RKQ means when he says

Get professional advice before a sod is turned!