Two architects' wildly varying build costs

patricia1066

Thanks for the fee advice. I'll put the offer of £1500 for work to planning and building regs to the two architects who have quoted.
Can anyone recommend a builder who works in SE London? Preferably on victorian extensions?

iamcornholio

Just be sure that these are actually Architects (capital A and RIBA or ARB registered).

If they are, then I don't think that they will do this work for less than 10% of project costs. They have to follow certain guidelines from their associations and do charge high fees for the privalige

A non-Architect designer will normally charge much less - in fact should charge much these than a registered Architect.

It is suprising just how many Architects don't know much about building regulations and planning issues, and equally it is supprising how many prepare a nice fancy sketch ... and then hand it all to a technician to do the actual drawings!

Only use an Architect where design (non standard or fancy design) is a significant factor. Then his ideas may be worth the extra cost. But in terms of standard building work, then personally, I don't think they are worth their high fees

leveller2911

Spot on post Iamcornholio.......Very,very true...

One local Designer/ non Architect does some lovelly drawings, including people walking dogs, People flying kites, birds in the sky etc but when it comes to knowledge of building regulations they know very little , its very surprising when you talk to them and have to go into great detail on a subject they should know about.

lapat

im a little confused here. what is your architect doing for his £9k. is he engaing the builders and other associated trades, is he going to liase with them and gaurantee the work aswell on your behalf, will he arrange all the cdm regs and collate all the neccessary building regs forms and liase with the council for you. if so hes worth the 9k....... if hes just going to provide you a set of drawings and come once a month to check the progress then £2k is to much. you need to be looking elsewhere for your drawings see if anybody else local has had extensions on the same time of property carried out.

also is your prop a listed building..?

darich

AS has already been stated - an architect is not necessary for a single storey extension - even a large one at 30sq m.
I would imagine for drawings you'd have change from £1o00, although that can vary depending on the area of the country.

Incidentally, although you say it's not structurally complex, who has told you that? I realise it's only a single storey but an architect cannot provide calculations for the foundations, walls, lintels or roof. All calcs need to be done and signed off by an engineer. That may be included in your architects high costs but even still, a decent engineer would rattle those calcs off in half a shift. Might still cost you a couple of hundred pounds for the engineer though.

For most extensions architects are unneccessary - all design can be done by the person doing the drawing and the client.

Doozergirl

iamcornholio wrote: »

Just be sure that these are actually Architects (capital A and RIBA or ARB registered).

If they are, then I don't think that they will do this work for less than 10% of project costs. They have to follow certain guidelines from their associations and do charge high fees for the privalige

Our lady is RIBA - the 10% of build cost is typical for project management; just drawings should be much, much, much less.

patricia1066

Thanks lapat, thats what I need to ask if we go for full architect services. The £9k is for services A-L. No, its not listed. So the work he is proposing is site inspections, not overseeing daily.
Stage 3: Our fees for RIBA Work Stages, K+L would comprise 20% of our
overall services and we propose a fixed fee in the region of £2,000, excluding
standard disbursements + vat for administering the building contract from
inception through to the completion of the works, carrying out monthly site
inspections during the construction period and attending to the contractor’s
final account.

I know there is one quote of £3k for drawings for presenting a permitted development planning app. We probably wont go to him, but on design issues rather than cost alone as we have seen examples of his work.

I think the complexity of the drawing for planning permission should be irrelevant in costing it; the cost of build will be related to how structurally complex we want it to be. For instance we can have an opening door wide between our kitchen and the extended space, or to remove the whole wall by supporting it with an RSJ.

Again if anyone can recommend a builder and structural engineer I'd appreciate it.