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Keep Your Architect Honest
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Keep Your Architect Honest Prepare your own cost plan
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Article on the true cost of architects by Jonathan Drane Keep Your Architect Honest Architects are honest by nature. After all they are part of a long standing profession and a tradition of design that goes back to early civilisation. In fact in the beginning, (not the biblical one) there was always an architect and a 'master builder' or artisan. The builder would stick to his/her role, and the designer the same. The builder would say " what do you want me to build", and the architect would respond "build what is on my drawing". The problem was that the whole process involved more than just designing and building. In between all this there was the need for a third role, which covered the matter of cost, quality and time management. It is called 'administration' or 'project management'. The architects of old, being artists first were not always proficient at this third aspect, even though they were responsible for it as the 'default' 'supervisor' or leader of the project. As time went by, and as architects kept paying homage to design before administration, projects became more and more problematic, as the architect continued to hold the purse strings, and particularly as the industrial revolution and the era of commerce prevailed. |
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I Thought It Would Only Cost...?! Blew your budget in the first few days!!? |
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Fail to Plan?. Plan to Fail Prepare your own family masterplan |
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Evolution: The 'Third Role' Architects who adapted, found that they were really good at what they did and that is 'design buildings'. So many passed the purse strings to modern day building consultants, who include 'quantity surveyors' , cost consultants' and 'project managers'. In effect a new role had emerged from the past life of the building process. With the role came a new development. |
I Jumped In the Deep End And Found I Didn't Have any Floaties!
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Costing The Design Instead of waiting until the building quotes arrived to find out the cost of the project, a tool was developed which allowed the design itself to be costed as it emerged. It was called a 'cost plan' and a new profession emerged in the form of a 'quantity surveyor', who basically measured the quantity of various elements in a project and estimated a cost prior to building contract commitment. The cost plan was refined to allow for costs per m2 to be applied to the actual spaces in the building, so that you could work out the cost even before a design was drawn by an architect. In fact all you needed was a schedule or list of spaces, the area of each, a quality statement and the relative cost of the spaces per m2. A bathroom for example would have a rate per m2 that was higher than a living room or a verandah. A vogue kitchen would have a higher cost per m2 than a normal kitchen, and so on. Old Architect New Architect So the thing you need to know, is whether your architect is willing to hand over the third role to someone else and stick to the art of design, or if he/she wants to administer and run the project. Due to history their standard architectural service agreement will always include the offer of design, administration and on-site supervision. Not all architects will disclose this at first for fear of confusing ( and in some cases enlightening) the client, and so you will sometimes learn from hard experience. Separation Means Probity It is important that you separate the administration function from the design function, and allocate the latter to an independent party*. From there your will find the architect will perform what he/she is good at, and leave the rest to others who are good at costings. In this process a cost plan will emerge as the design brief and early sketch plans are created, giving early warning signals about the cost of the project. Architects are honest by nature. Separation keeps them that way even if they think they don't need it. Article by Jonathan Drane First published March 2009 on www.jondrane.net this article is copyright all rights reserved .
If you are already in a bind with this topic, then here are some ideas*: - Check to see if your architect is offering a 'full service' which includes design, administration and supervision. -Ask him/her for a revised proposal which separates out the three functions -Ask him/her to include the offer of alternative sketches in the concept phase which are supported by space schedules. -Prepare your own schedule of spaces with m2 areas and quality statements as a brief to the architect. -Research or obtain independent cost opinion.
Learn More About This Topic This topic is covered under the following on our web site: -our e-guides called 'Getting Started', 'The Concept Phase' and 'The Cost Plan', see our Catalogue - Our 'Cost Planning' and 'Design Brief' tool see Tool Kit - our Starter's Webinar
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| * The ideas we offer are for assistance, however enactment of them requires that you undertake your own review, seek separate advice or brief a lawyer if the situation is extreme. We take no responsibility for the effectiveness of the ideas, nor are they to be taken as direct advice, as we are not privy to the actual situation you are facing. Each situation requires its own special assessment by you and other required parties.
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