How much should I expect to pay Architect to make change to plans?

juniorballyc

Hello,
I've full planning on my house (4 yrs now) but never got to build it. Anyway, we are starting the process at last but want to scale down the house by 300sq ft. Any idea what we can expect the architect to charge? We paid nearly €4000 originally. The changes we require are minimal enough. House is square with square rooms - just need to scale down and remove an en-suite.
Any ideas? Thanks

DOCARCH

Firstly, are you going back to the same architect? If not, do you have CAD files?

archtech

You will require to go back to the planning authority, as scaling down the house is altering it from what was permitted under the planning permission, (as generally set out in Planning Condition No 1) ie it is not in accordance with the drawings and documents submitted. It may be possible to address the matter by way of a Section 5 declaration, otherwise it will be a new planning application I'm afraid. Wordings on Opinions of compliance and what banks consider acceptable these days are far tighter than in the past, so if you haven't got it in black and white you could run into difficultly. I would seek clarification on this before engaging anyone.

You also need to bear in mind a number of parts of the building regulations have changed on since you got planning permission and now may be difficult to address/ achieve compliance with in you design.( applicable whether you scale back the house or not) so this also needs to be factored into any cost.

If getting a professional at this stage to prepare/amend drawings, you would be as well off to get a set of construction drawings, to enable you get accurate prices, ensure compliance with the building regulations and construct the dwelling.

As for a cost, the best way is to seek a number of quotes. If you have the drawings in their native format ( eg autocad) you should get a better deal, otherwise the chances are the house will need to be redrawn and not a whole lot may be saved.

juniorballyc

Yep- same architect. Thanks

BryanF

juniorballyc wrote: »

The changes we require are minimal enough.

if I had a €....:D

juniorballyc

BryanF wrote: »

if I had a €....:D

Fair enough Brian! I'm a graphic designer- totally understand!!!

archtech

Talk to him/her and see what s/he says. €500 should go a long way in terms of changes, if no major redesign work is required, however still check out the planning issue

juniorballyc

archtech wrote: »

Talk to him/her and see what s/he says. €500 should go a long way in terms of changes, if no major redesign work is required, however still check out the planning issue

Thanks archtech....spoke with council already- weren't much help. Told me to resubmit drawings and then they'd determine if material or not.

BryanF

juniorballyc wrote: »

Fair enough Brian! I'm a graphic designer- totally understand!!!

so you'll appreciate that any architect/ house designer worth his/her title will offer you more than scaled version of what you already have.

if your confident that you'll only want one meeting, one revision etc then ask how long its going to take, and what is the hourly rate.

why not take a look at the passive house standard and what's happening at the moment with renewable energy requirements and thermal comfort for new builds, try and see past planning permission and design a house to the highest standards, performance and style, if a graphic designer doesn't who will.

as a graphic designer, what would you say is a reasonable price for doing a job to the highest standards V just banging out any old sh!t ? there you go there's your price range

juniorballyc

archtech wrote: »

Talk to him/her and see what s/he says. €500 should go a long way in terms of changes, if no major redesign work is required, however still check out the planning issue

Just an update, met with architect and he's quoted €300 for revision. Happy with that. Thanks for your input archtech.