Architect fees

50Twuncle

We are looking to extend our home with a single story extension consisting of a bedroom, wetroom and a kitchen extension - max cost around £40k

The architect has quoted us £11k for the plans, overseeing the tendering process, 5 on-site visits etc

This would appear excessive

So - We are looking at alternatives and have a large building company with their own architect department - is this a good idea ? I thought that an architect should be independant from the builders (to allow them to pick up faults ?)

seradane

Usually having an architect oversee the tender process and have multiple site visits for a £40k extension is a bit excessive unless you are going to be completely absent for the duration of the build and won't be able to visit yourself.

Have you got them to quote for just proving the plans, etc up to tender? 

Otherwise, shop around - go have a chat to a few different firms and see what their prices are. You may be looking at firms that are too large-scale and need to go for someone smaller that is more suited to the scale of your project.

Mistral001

I would get more quotes.  A builder employing their own architect will have to pay that architect's fees and include those fees in their quote.  Also the architect will be instructed by the builder and not you, so there could be a conflict of interest.   

ComicGeek

Sounds very high to me, they probably don't actually want the job. Our architect is less than half the price for a larger £150k project, which included all work from planning to completion.

DevilDamo

Do you already have any builders you’d like to approach to quote? If so, you won’t need the architect to get involved with the tender process, which in my opinion would be a little over the top for works of this nature. Similarly to their visits, this is better just dealt with by Building Control and them only. No need for any additional visits by a third party for what I see as smaller works.

Ask your architect what their fees would be without monitoring/co-ordinating the tender process along with not including for visits.

theonlywayisup

You don't need an architect to draw plans or carry out the works you are hoping to do unless you want one specifically.  You can do it professionally arranging it all yourself.  If you don't want to dip your toe in then employ a builder to oversee the whole thing.  Your builder will deal with Building Control if you prefer but quite honestly BC are the most helpful of people.   In Cornwall I would expect to pay £3k for Planning drawings and Building Regs drawings (albeit I prefer to work on a Notice for some works).  There are fees associated for the Applications on both. 

ironmanjason

That is a lot. Where in the country are you? We recently commissioned an architect for our extension and costs us £2500 but this included current layout, proposed options (3 options and 5 revisions, structural engineer calculations, building regs drawing, planning application (fee to council not included), ME drawing which I requested, detailed scope of works which I can render out to builders and I live in London. The max we received in terms of quote was around 6k and we contacted about 7 architects! We also wanted RIBA certified architects but there are also architectural technologists who essentially do the same but are cheaper. 

A few resources we used were the ARB and RIBA websites, Houzz profile for prior project reviews and finally reviews on checkatrade, my builders etc.

50Twuncle

I am in the westcountry

I have even drawn up the rough plans myself - using Sweet home...

The architect is now, not even responding to emails - I am guessing that it is time to look elsewhere ?

50Twuncle

His hourly rate is £95 - this would appear to be the problem..................

What would you expect to pay - per hour ?

He wants over £1800 for a preliminary sketch !

And a similar figure for a measurement survey - this is on a £40k extension.

WilliamG

He's ripping you off, it should only cost a few hundred a grand max for all the drawings and planning. You don't need him for anything else. 

theonlywayisup

50Twuncle said:

His hourly rate is £95 - this would appear to be the problem..................

What would you expect to pay - per hour ?

He wants over £1800 for a preliminary sketch !

And a similar figure for a measurement survey - this is on a £40k extension.

You don't need anyone on an hourly rate.  Get your drawings from a technician or a firm that draws plans for newbuilds/extensions, they are not expensive.  

If you are having a timber frame extension then try a few timber frame companies locally to you.  They will have their own in house designers and structural engineers and if you find a good one, you will get further help and advice for next to nothing.  Where in the west country?  I can recommend one west country company if you like.