Real Life MMD: Should I let bro-in-law do the architecture?

tenuissent

I had bad experience of using a cousin as architect for house conversion. She was so useless and difficult we had to pay £2000 to break the contract so that we could move on to a non-family architect. One reason I asked her was that she and her architect father had done a reasonable job on an earlier house conversion - but it turned out that without her father (he died) she was no good. My bad mistake, and we are completely out of touch now. On the other hand, another cousin did a brilliant job as construction surveyor here and was a joy to work with. So it all depends on how much you trust this young man, and what sort of building he is specialising in in his training. It turned out the first cousin worked mainly in hospital sanitary ware and had not much experience in constructing buildings!

jamespir

although he is family and its always nice to help i think you ahve to look for someone else as if things go wrong it could cause reprocussions

Marco12452

He may be more particular with the drawings as they are for a relative and likely his first commission, but as mentioned many times in earlier threads, nearly qualified is not the real thing and does not guarantee he will actually qualify.
The benefit of using a fully registered architect is that they would be covered by a governing body that would provide protection against any mistakes or foul play. I'm sure any individual would work to put things right in the first instance but this is additional security.

And it's cheaper !!!

FattyBettyBoo

He's not doing you any favours with the price so you don't need to do him any favours by giving him the work. Get the most competitive quote.

My OH worked for his cousin's OH and ended up getting fired - family relations are now really strained. I'd stay well clear. Architects are always likely to have disagreements with their clients, which could cause long term bad feelings.

joehoover

How kind of him to 'offer' to do it at an inflated price if the quotes you have are correct.

Treat it like any other transaction you make, go for the best deal for the best quality you can get, look at everyones previous work and get some references.

Family doesn't come into it, let him come and help at the paint party once the extensions done.

If he's about to qualify he should be lokoing to do some work for free or at a drastically reduced rate to try and build a portfolio, a newcomer to the market charging in excess of going rates is a bad idea in any business, how does he hope to succeed.

System

joehoover wrote: »

If he's about to qualify he should be lokoing to do some work for free or at a drastically reduced rate to try and build a portfolio, a newcomer to the market charging in excess of going rates is a bad idea in any business, how does he hope to succeed.

and how does valuing yourself and your services at zero make a good start for a successful business??

I have thought more on this since my first post: If these quotes are for a full service, i.e. site survey, pre-planning design work/discussion, planning application, building warrant information, tender works and on site works - none of the above figures can be correct for an arb registered architect, there are days of work in these works - if you can find a registered, insured architect to do an extension for 450 quid bite their hands off, a deal like that will not happen every day!

Inverness

You should choose an architect whose work you know and who specialises in the kind of projects you intend. Ideally see his/her customers work in reality too and get references.

swmbo60

This scenario is a definite no no! Old saying "never mix business with pleasure"

Gattemelata

"I have thought more on this since my first post: If these quotes are for a full service, i.e. site survey, pre-planning design work/discussion, planning application, building warrant information, tender works and on site works - none of the above figures can be correct for an arb registered architect, there are days of work in these works - if you can find a registered, insured architect to do an extension for 450 quid bite their hands off, a deal like that will not happen every day![/QUOTE]"

Depends on how big the extension is, and how easy it is to get work. My father's an architect and charges about £15 an hour because it's all people will pay, and in fact will work more hours than he charges for because he's a perfectionist. He does small extensions and the like now because he's semi-retired, and if he charged more he wouldn't be able to get the work. It doesn't mean he's crap (he's had decades of experience in his own firm, doing town halls, magistrates courts and the like), just that ordinary people wanting small jobs don't have the money.

Incidentally, he's doing a small extension for us, for free. But because I know him well (he's my dad!), and because I've seen many examples of his work over the years, I know he'll get it right. The brother-in-law presumably doesn't have this kind of experience, so I certainly wouldn't be paying full price for it. Otherwise, what's the point? Go for a firm with experience (dealing with planning etc) and insurance.

My_Digital_Self

Just typed a long post then lost it...
My thoughts are absolutely no!
1) he's not yet ARB registered so won't necessarily be protected.
2) that's an awfully low range of rates for full works - are you sure they're not just quoting for producing drawings only (and even just for Planning Submission)? Query how they've come to those figures I.e. Fixed fee/ variable - based on time or contract value - as a figure per square metre?

BTW I have produced drawings for friends & family on the past, but for the purposes of Planning Submission only & been crystal clear that they are not to be scaled off of, or used for construction. My rate was at the low end based on my time & being newly registered.

If you do decide to use him, be clear about what is & isn't expected, and consider negotiating his rate.