Architect services - detailed drawings, are they essential?

Charley Bear

We hired an Architect to design an extension to our early 1900s cottage. The original cottage is approx 600sq ft and the new size of the house will be approx 1700sq ft. We were very happy with the design and have thankfully been granted planning permission to build it. We are complete beginners to this whole area and if we had our way would have just bought a bigger house if we could sell this one....Anyway the architect's fees for the first stage were €3000. We are now moving to the second stage and need to decide whether to engage the architect to do a set of tender drawings/detailed drawings. We want an energy efficient house as possible and are looking to engage with a consultancy service to provide a report which will inform the construction detailing. We are just a little surprised at the prices we have been quoted and would like some advice on the services that we should obtain at this stage. We have been quoted €4,500 for a set of detailed/tender drawings. €1500 for a structural engineer, €1600 for the consultant on energy efficiency and €600 to get a budget estimate for the build. That's €11,200 (+ VAT) before we even start. Our big question is do we really need detailed/tender drawings? If we hire a building contractor to oversee the build and use the energy consultant to outline what is needed to make the house as energy efficient as possible should this be enough? I suppose we are asking does a set of detailed/tender drawings pay for themselves by ensuring that all contractors tendering for the project price the same product and also help to keep things in budget. Also is there not an awful lot of overlap if there is an architect, structural engineer, energy consultant, quantity surveyor and main building contractor employed on the project.

archtech

As you said yourself you are beginners, so certainly engaging professional services to bring the project to the next stage would in my opinion be money well spent. Are the figures quoted excessive, I can't say, however the best way to find out is to obtain a few quotations.

Remember very few building contractors are up to speed with all regulations (which change regularly) so I would not be relying on the building contractor to get things right without professional imput (construction drawings).

Furthermore without proper tender documents, it can be hard to know exactly what you are getting in the price and if its value for money, as you won't be comparing like with like.

Vandy West

Those fees seem very high for that size of project (dublin prices maybe?), As an engineer I would recommend the following:

-Get the detailed drawings from an architect/engineer. For a house of that size it is unlikely you would need a separate structural engineer.
-Have the architect/engineer recommend the best heating system options suitable for your location/budget/building regulation requirements.
-Send the detailed drawings to various suppliers of the heating systems you are considering.
-Send the detailed drawings to several building contractors you or the arch/eng has experience with.
-Most importantly, have the arch/eng review the quotes from the contractors to ensure they are all supplying the same, and have contracts done up so that contractors are responsible for everything shown on the detailed drawings.

Good luck and take your time with this stage. This is the time when you can save some money on your build, because once you start the price only goes one way!:rolleyes:

Charley Bear

We are Galway based but our Architect is from Dublin! Initially he had qouted us €2750 for this stage but has come back to say that he didn't realise the amount of work invovled so now wants €4500 for detailed plans. Vandy West can an engineer or other architect do detailed plans from a set of planning drawings or are we better off staying with the one person from concept through to finish?

muffler

On face value the fee stated seems a bit high but then again we dont know whats involved exactly. However you would be better off getting someone local to move to the next stage and perhaps oversee the works as they progress.

I wouldn't pay to have someone from Dublin travel to Galway to carry out periodic inspections.

look for a local arch/technician/engineer and get a few quotes. ask for details of previous jobs they have been involved with.

Hope that helps.

No6

Charley Bear wrote: »

We are Galway based but our Architect is from Dublin! Initially he had qouted us €2750 for this stage but has come back to say that he didn't realise the amount of work invovled so now wants €4500 for detailed plans. Vandy West can an engineer or other architect do detailed plans from a set of planning drawings or are we better off staying with the one person from concept through to finish?

Yes they can but you may or may not need them depending on the level of detail included in the original drawings, most west of Ireland builders can build off a half decent set of planning drawings and a good specification, (clients in the west generally don't pay for full construction drawings) but your original architect has copyright of his work (ie the plans so far) so you need to make sure he is full paid up to whatever stage you are at.

Vandy West

Charley Bear wrote: »

We are Galway based but our Architect is from Dublin! Initially he had qouted us €2750 for this stage but has come back to say that he didn't realise the amount of work invovled so now wants €4500 for detailed plans. Vandy West can an engineer or other architect do detailed plans from a set of planning drawings or are we better off staying with the one person from concept through to finish?

Yes, the planning drawings would be enough to prepare the detailed plans. If your happy with your current architect (besides the price) maybe get a few quotes from others and then use those quotes to get a better price from your current architect (better the devil you know..).

Make sure your comparing like for like with the quotes, especially with regard to site inspections, (5-6) site inspections at various stages of the building will be required from the bank to release funds at each stage payment. Would recommend you use the same person for the detailed drawings and the site inspections.

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sydthebeat