Architect/project manager?

funkywombats

Hi all. We have spotted a house which we might put an offer on. It needs some work (bathroom, kitchen, new central heating, new electrics, knocking through a load-bearing wall). We don't have to live in the property during the works and both work full-time anyway. Other than putting up shelves and painting, we have never carried out work on a property before.

So we were wondering about getting a project manager or architect to help design and oversee the works. Is it worth it? Would they sort out the building regs and source the tradesmen? How much could we expect to pay on top of the cost of the works in percentage terms or is it a fixed fee?

Or, is it better to design and source the tradesmen ourselves but we would not be able to oversee the works on a daily basis.

Would value your views...

Cheers in advance.

Doozergirl

It's simply a building contractor that you need. What you and I would call "a builder" They will project manage for you.

Getting your own tradespeople in will save you quite a bit of money, but if you don't have the time, you don't have the time!

It doesn't sound like a job for an architect - it sounds like a fairly straightforward renovation project to me. Knocking down walls doesn't involve a great deal of desigg - you'll need a structural engineer to calculate the support you'll need for your load bearing walls.