Where do I start in building a house??

maggi

Hi

My boyfriend and I are planning to build a house, we have a site but dont know where to start, what to do first etc?
I assume we choose an architect first?
Is there a difference between an architect & an engineer? Which should we go for? (sorry, I havnet a clue!)
How much on average does an architect/engineer cost?
We are planning to build the house direct labour. Would anyone have an extimate as to how much a sq foot this will cost?(in Cork county)

Any info anyone can give us on anything like this would be a HUGE help!!!
Thanks a mill!

pseudo-tech

maggi wrote: »

Hi

My boyfriend and I are planning to build a house, we have a site but dont know where to start, what to do first etc?
I assume we choose an architect first?
Is there a difference between an architect & an engineer? Which should we go for? (sorry, I havnet a clue!)
How much on average does an architect/engineer cost?
We are planning to build the house direct labour. Would anyone have an extimate as to how much a sq foot this will cost?(in Cork county)

Any info anyone can give us on anything like this would be a HUGE help!!!
Thanks a mill!

It's really depending on what you are looking for and your budget. If you are looking for something designed around your needs and have unique features you need someone with Arch... (Architect, Architectural Technician) in their title. Engineers are fine for basic stuff or reproducing plans from a book (together with designing columns and beams).

Currahee01

Maggi,

The first thing to do would be to engage a registered architect and discuss your brief etc with them. They will give you a detailed guide on the whole process from preliminary sketch to planning to tender to construction. If they are BER assessors all the better!
You can expect to pay around 10% of the build cost for your architect's services.
Building costs vary from site to site and county to county, there are lots of examples in this forum but I think a ball park figure of €100/sqft would be acceptable. Again your architect will advise you on this from the outset.

niceirishfella

IO thikn the days of €100 a sq foot are over......I'm in the process of thinking of building and understand its a lot cheaper these day.

WhatsTheStorey

Professional fees are certainly down from 10% also. Welcome to the new reality and come down from the clouds!

Currahee01

WhatsTheStorey wrote: »

Professional fees are certainly down from 10% also. Welcome to the new reality and come down from the clouds!

Fair point, I would be interested to see what general fees are like this year.

I stick by my €100/sqft build cost as a ball point figure in County Cork. I've seen adverts in the local rag for €50/sqft (Wexford) but I'm also looking at two tenders from the last couple of weeks for 138 & 120 (Dublin). It will completely depend on spec, site etc.

Leadership

I am currently building in (North) Cork myself and we are just above floor level. Initially we were in exactly the same position as yourselves with intending to go direct labour and using an architect.

You can contact a architect but there other options, I bought a set of plans online (Irish House plans) and for a small fee I had a set of plans that suited me after they made changes. Instead of an architect I am using an engineer. The engineer helped us prepare the planning application and performed the percolation test. All in all this is saving me a small fortune.

I am also using a contractor to perform the build. After investigating direct labour we decided against it as getting a contractor in the current climate is not that much more expensive.

In Cork now you can get a builders finish for €75 per sq ft and that is a decent finish. We were quoted this by at least 5 builders and even 3 that were €60/€65. In the end our build costs will be €89 per sq ft as we wanted ICF, concrete stairs, concrete floors, extra insulation and alu clad windows.

Oh by the way there is a book you buy in Easons called something like Cork Country House planning guide (you can also download it for free on the cork co web site) it costs €50 or so but gives you an idea of what designs are allowed for planning permission.

So if I were you I would do the following:

• Download/buy Cork county planning guide
• Find out what you afford to build with
• Sort out house plans either Architect or online
• Arrange engineer to perform percolation test
• Apply for planning

Good luck, it took us two years to get to where we are today. This was down to planning permission and the mortgage.

Currahee01

There is no doubt a saving to be made by going with pre-drawn plans and using an engineer to oversee and sign off on your build, and sometimes there is no other choice. However I am a firm believer that a house should be designed to suit the site,even if it does cost a bit extra.
Going with a main contractor should relieve most of the stress associated with building, check prior work examples first though!
As Leadership said, get your hands on the Cork Rural Design Guidelines (link below), this is becoming the standard reference tool for rural design, P55 has a nice contemporary example.
http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/pdf/343708010.pdf

icbarros

You should start hiring an Architect.
I hope you find the above brochure from RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) useful.

muffler

icbarros wrote: »

You should start hiring an Architect.
I hope you find the above brochure from RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) useful.

Can you confirm if you have any affiliation to the RIAI?

I'm

maggi wrote: »

Hi

I assume we choose an architect first?
Is there a difference between an architect & an engineer? Which should we go for? (sorry, I havnet a clue!)
How much on average does an architect/engineer cost?

Hi Maggi,


In terms of difference between architect and engineer - this can be a contentious area, but I'll give you my thoughts having worked with both but being affliated to no group.

I would suggest the main difference is skillset/training/qualification; typically an architect will have the more extensive training in design which allows them to bring a flair to the project which can result in a bespoke design tailored to your requirements.

An engineer will not have had this level of training in design, so will be able to produce plans etc but you may not get the bespoke design that you require.

A firm of architects may have engineers and architectural technicans working as part of a team on projects. The technicans would typically do the actual drawings ( really depends on the size of the firm )

We've just engaged a firm of chartered engineers who have a number of architectural technicans working for them to undertake all services around planning design and application preparation, construction design and certification.

We chose them based on the positive local feedback we got on their relationship with the local planning dept - nothing untoward - just the fact that they adhere closely to the Cork Design Guidelines for one off rural designs and make good use of the preplanning enquiry to ensure the planner's are reasonably satisfied with the design before proceeding to application. The actual design is based on our ideas, so the design flair that they are providing is very limited, but they are keeping us on the right track in terms of what the planners will allow.

We are building a 3.5ksqft house and got quotes from 4.5-7k for all services - all these quotes were from chartered engineers. The reason I don't have any architects quotes was purely down to size of ballpark figures that were being mentioned in initial discussions. I could understand why they would be charging a premium, but given our simple requirements, I was happy to go down the chartered engineer route.

All the best with the build