[Closed] Architects to design our house - what to look out for

Typical cost of the build would be £1500-2000/m2 so, using the upper end of your figures, approx. £400,000 build cost. Architects fees typically come in between 10-15% of the build cost, so around £40-60K for the whole project from initial design, through to completion and end of defects.

First and foremost, meet with them and decide if you like them and get on. You will be talking to them a lot so it helps if you like each other. Also, make sure they are happy to design what you want, not just what they will find interesting to design.

Whereabouts are you?

Thanks Mikey,

My question is really: "How to choose from our short list of architects"

One of the guys quoted a fixed price of around £10k (depending on the plot and work required).

Do your figures of 40-60k include project managing and QS work, as that seems like a lot of cash.

We're based north Scotland so I imagine the price of professionals varies a bit - the cost of land certainly does!!

40-60k is over the top.
My missus charges £45/hr, so 10,000 would be over 100hrs work, which should be about right, depending on the project.
Ask to see some of their work. Seen anything you like locally - who was the architect?

Yeah, the fee I quoted was for the full service, including site supervision and QS duties (interim payments, final account etc). the fee is also determined by how large the practice is.

Too far for us then, unfortunately.

With regard to deciding: meet with all of your choices and see which one you feel most comfortable with and who has the best ideas.

Architects used to work on a RIBA fee scale.

It no longer exists but alot of them still apply it especially to private domestic clients.

Domestic housing falls under Class 5.

Based on £400,000(using mikeys figures) would have been about 8% for full service so more like £32,000. Working on existing buildings would have been even higher more like the 10-15% referred to above.

[URL= http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt59/mrben100/RIBAFeeScalesnewbuildjpg_zpscc45bca0.jp g" target="_blank">http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt59/mrben100/RIBAFeeScalesnewbuildjpg_zpscc45bca0.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

A lot now do fixed fee based on the amount of work/resource for them - as you have found out - it's a bit dangerous for all involved to quote on an estimated build cost as it could go up or down.

What about these wooden kit houses? You can get a decent size for £60k, must work out cheaper in the end even with additional costs, surely?

i wouldnt emply an architect for a nothing fancy build. concentrate on finding the right builder, one you can trust not to cut corners.

for planning and building regs drawings get a Part 1 or 2 student architect or a more established Architectural Technician to do it as a foreigner. start with house packs from new home developers, visit show homes etc get their layouts. produce an outline idea of what you want/need, show it people, get their input etc until you are quite determined with how its gonna look. translate this to the techy and they'll knock up the drawings, using their own experience and initiative to make it work, they will do sketches at first that can be manipulated until youre happy. then they will bang em in for planning etc. they'll probably do it for a grand.

...with no PI of course, or redress in the event of planning not being achieved or building regs sign off.
Why not just get the builder to sort it out?

My parents did this in the 1980s. Thye thought the catch 22 was you can get a building quote without a design. So they felt they risked designing a house and then finding out they couldn't afford to build it.

So in the end they just bought a plan from here

http://www.designandmaterials.uk.com/service.html

I assume these are the same people. Looks like what they do may have moved on a bit

They paid £250 for a plan. Refunded on ordering the materials.

Architect fees would have been around £2000. Total build was £50000

Reading this with interest.
Always fancied building my own house and I'm in the process of buying a plot that has permission for a 5 bed detached house on it.
I have all the drawings that were done by the owners architect but need to do some changes that req full planning.
I won't be using an architect apart from producing the changes on plan.

Think I'd be going for preparing the base and then getting the Germans/swedes over to erect a super dooper insulated prefab timber thing put up within a couple of days 🙂

for planning and building regs drawings get a Part 1 or 2 student architect or a more established Architectural Technician to do it as a foreigner.

So, the OP has asked how one goes about choosing an architect (ie they don;t necessarily know any and are dealing on an arm's length basis), and your response is to skip all of that and engage someone on a mates' rates basis even though they don't know who/how to select anyone?

Genius. Go to the top of the class.

Good point Ourmaninthenorth. From my point of view, building is very risky and I'd happily pay a fixed rate to a qualified and respected architect than wing it and end up with a hashed job.

At the same time it's tempting to save a few £ks! Good discussion and experiences though.

Maybe for the next house we'd do more ourselves . . .

FWIW teacake we're going to have an extension done to our house (and a loft conversion), so I'm happily going to engage an architect to do the design because I only have a broad idea of what I want.

i was just offering another angle, if it was me id be happy to know that i could potentially save ten grand... Draughies, technicians are easy enough to locate, there are ads offering CAD draughting services online. ive done myself many times. dont need a ****ty architect charging you 10% of the build cost, it aint Grand Designs - just need a trustworthy builder who will also project manage. perhaps the builder might know someone who can do the drwgs...?

I'd happily pay an architect to not turn up

But that's just me going from a career full of architect meetings

How fancy is your new house going to be and have you considered the method of construction?
Many of the kit manufacturers will do Planning and Building Standards drawings on bespoke houses for free as long as you sign up to buy the structural kit from them.
Depending on the scale of the property, founds, finishes etc. £1,500 to £2,000 sounds a little excessive. Currently building 4 bed detached, raft foundation, oak finishes, air source heating, real stone cladding for around £1,150/m2 in the central belt.

building is very risky, but its all down to who lays the bricks rather than who does the drawings, IMO.

Do you need an architect? If it's a bog standard house, a structural engineer could knock you out a design which will get through Building Control for a few £100.

They could but no one would want to live in it or look at it.

You could ask the various firms that you've chosen to submit a fee proposal and a sketch design for your house. Be upfront and say that's what you're doing and that you'll pick your preferred architect based on design/ fees/ working relationship.

Why not build a Huf Haus? You won't need an architect, just a concrete slab and some zip ties.

http://www.huf-haus.com/en/home.html

"...dont need a ****ty architect"
Hey, not all architects are ****ty.
I'm working on a few new-build houses at the moment, including redoing one that a plan-drawer knocked up that's completely useless for the client and would be awful to live in (doesn't meet the brief, no daylight, no views etc etc etc). To a certain extent, you get what you pay for.

It would be perfectly reasonable for the OP to ask for a fixed lump sum quote for each stage - I know of very few practices still using % charges other than the really old-fashioned ones with foolish clients.

Make sure they can pronounce architect, unlike that George bloke on the telly

You have the chance to build something a little bit different, a little bit more efficient, a little bit reflecting your personality.
Please don't build 'something average'. The world is full of average because mass builders get away with it. Please put some thought into it.

Sorry if we go slightly off OP's Q:
2tall has it, take some time for YOU to think about what YOU want, family, future, views, air, space, energy efficiency, how you live in the home... do you have a site, each site is individual, south facing back yard important, etc, BUT only you know what you want...
but a good Architect, designer, surveyor, planner, project manager whoever [u]you are happy with[/u] should be able to help, talk to local folks.
How far north of scotchland are you? (don't worry I am south of the border 😉
it's great fun (i think it's fun) thinking about what you want and how to get it within your site, finance, timescale, then putting it on paper (or 3D these days) and thinking some more.
So talk to folk and see how they can help you.
Enjoy the ride...also think about all the homes and buildings you visit for ideas...drive in basement for the bikes, you can with a new build....!

It would be perfectly reasonable for the OP to ask for a fixed lump sum quote for each stage - I know of very few practices still using % charges other than the really old-fashioned ones with foolish clients.

Try london, a friend has asked me to look over a couple architects fee quotes - all referred to basing on 'a recognised scale' which equated to the old RIBA.

Agreed though, most outside london give fixed price, as mentioned in my earlier post.

We've just got our frame up and are preparing for the window install. Very complex house on very tight site and trying to do nearly everything ourselves. It's going to be a very rocky ride but happy to have a chat.

As TooTall. - don't see the point in self building if you just want a run of the mill house but

- look at Potton for dull, traditional, UK style built yo order houses
- HUF if you want post and beam HUF style (not cheap though)
- baufritz for German style complete package with modern styling

But if you want something really interesting get a good architect and builder. Ap's suggestion makes sense.

[i]My missus charges £45/hr, so 10,000 would be over 100hrs work, which should be about right, depending on the project.[/i]

So maybe a couple of hours per week, not sure the OP is looking for so little.

If you are in a remote rural area it might be that you've only one/two firms/individuals who can actually service your build, without incurring large expenses.

Watch out for "jobs for the boys". I was quite happy with the architect I engaged until he started putting stuff out to his mates; structural engineer, building control consultant etc. Getting a good builder is what it's all about, I believe.

If the architects we use came up with figures like those at the top of the post they wouldn't get much work

Try london, a friend has asked me to look over a couple architects fee quotes - all referred to basing on 'a recognised scale' which equated to the old RIBA.

Agreed though, most outside london give fixed price, as mentioned in my earlier post.

I can't believe any architects now use "recognised fees scale" anywhere in the uk. I'm in London as well, and we use a mixture of methods to develop fee proposals, based on activity schedules, hourly rate, percentage based on historical precedent and unit cost.
I'm not going to make any comment about the thoughts of some above on what architects should charge to do a proper job.

My mate got an architect he knew to knock up plans for his new house. But he only paid for mates rates and not a full service and they soon fell out when the builders kept calling to say they needed robust details and sections etc,, non of which were ever part of the fee. He realised his mistake and had to go back cap in hand to get it all sorted but this took time so the building work stalled.

Reckon it's worth getting the house modelled in revit these days as it gives you a good feel for what you are getting. The architects we work with use it (and so do I) and it gives you a great view of the space your getting.

Anything we should be looking [s]out[/s] for?

References?

No typical fees I'm afraid.

Lots of good advice in here. As mentioned it depends on what you want your house to do from, a box with windows to the full "Grand Designs" bling.

We're after a "simple" house, but I feel we need an architect to help get our ideas to the "simple" stage because if I were to draw it now it'd be a cobbled together mess. At the end of the day he'll be doing more than just the plans for the builder, he'll be adding his own experience and creativity to our project - though I recognise not all of you value that input!!

Once we've sold our house we'll be pulling the trigger and I think we've more or less decided on our architect so it should get fun quite soon.

Good for you!

This is a good article worth a quick read: http://www.buildinginspiration.co.uk/articles/charlie-luxton-best-architectural-briefs/

Past experience and how well you get on with them are probably the most useful measures to choose an architect. I use both expected time taken and percentages to help me quote for a fee but it's always a fixed fee with a clear fee proposal letter and conditions of engagement.

For a new build house there are huge variables and build cost isn't a major one for me in terms of my fee. Likely planning complexity is a major one and can have a big impact on my time and therefore my fee. If a client wants a Passivhaus or wants me to design according to that methodology then that tends to cost more as well as it does require more input and time at almost every stage.

I tend to charge somewhere between £10 and £20K for a full service up here in Sheffield. I am a sole trader, though, with all the reduction in costs that that brings.

This is a link to my services document that you're free to use as a basis for discussions with potential consultants if you find that useful.

Finally on the giving mates work comment earlier. There is huge benefit to consultants working where pure existing relationships exist. It's not a sure thing, but the number of unknown structural engineers I've worked with that have caused issues for projects that just wouldn't have occurred had we worked with an engineer that I would normally work with. It's why things like framework agreements exist because working together more than once and learning good collaborative practices and learning from mistakes is beneficial to everyone especially the client.