Architech Fees

[joannahill1tiscalicouk]

We instructed an architech to produce drawings for an 11x11ft single story side extension. No heating, plumbing required. We have just received his bill £2,900.00 inc. VAT.
His has billed us for 32 hours work - plus £34 for photocopies, £8 for postage etc.
We think this is ridiculous..................or were we totally out of touch?????

 

[^woody^]

What work was done for this?

Was this a proper RIBA Architect - if so you should have got clear conditions of engagement and details of likely costs

In any case, one of the first questions you would ask is "How much will you charge me?"

But that figure does seem like what a registered Architect would potentially charge for all design work from conception to building regs.

If its not a registered Architect then it seems excessive

 

[Richard C]

We think this is ridiculous..................or were we totally out of touch?????

£90 an hour does sound rather excessive but he is an Architect after all; why on earth did you use an Architect for a small extension, it’s way OTT. I’m a bit out of touch with rates now but I would have thought an Architectural Technician (they do all the donkey work anyway) or even a decent draughtsman would have done the job for £30-35/hr, probably less & that would have included Planning submission & Building Regs.

You should have asked his hourly rate & the likely number of hours he would charge you before instructing him, did he not specify the hourly rate he would charge? If he did, all you can really do now is ask for a breakdown on what exactly he spent his time on; & I bet the Technician did it all anyway. This link may help;

http://www.architectsindex.com/consumers/guides/guide.asp?lngConsumerGuideId=101002

 

[joannahill1tiscalicouk]

Thanks. We did ask for an idea of cost - he sent us the hourly rate details, but said he was unable to give us a ball park figure. His first drawings were not to the original brief we discussed with him, but we have been charged a further 5 hours to make these revisions.
I guess we have to put it down to experience - but had we realised that a £13k extension would cost nearly £3k in architech fees then we would never have employed him!

 

[jeds]

Firtly you should not have employed him without at least a rough idea of final costs. But it's done now and it doesn't excuse a rip off anyway.

I am a chartered surveyor but about 50% of my work is drawings and building regulations for extensions, houses and conversions. I can quote to within a couple of hundred pounds on nearly every job I do and in most cases I quote a fixed fee which I always stick to.

For what it's worth a 10/11m² single storey extension is no more than £750 for planning and buildng regs. Often less.

 

[^woody^]

That is a nonsense comment that he can't give a ballpark figure - this must be his first ever job if he has no past work to compare a price.

Also, you should not be paying for work done not to your brief.

You have not confirmed if the guy is a registered Architect, as if he is there are specific terms of engagement and guidelines which he needs to follow. If he has not followed the RIBA guides then you have cause for complaint

You need to dispute the bill

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Assuming he's RIBA then £90 per hour although sounds ridiculous is fairly standard amongst architects practices. I charge £20 hour or thereabouts and am challenged on price by some clients even then! He's a **** for not giving you a fixed fee but then you've been quite naive too. I suspect 'he saw you coming'! Tell him to revise his fee to something more sensible and tell him you''ll report him to the RIBA if he refuses, see what he says. In my experience architects will do all they can to avoid going legal so it may take some wrangling and a little time but you should be able to get the price down.

Assume this was for Planning and Building Regs BTW?

 

[joannahill1tiscalicouk]

Thanks for comments. Think he did see us coming! He is a registered architech - but his assistant seems to have done most of the work.
We have tried to discuss the bill with him - but he was not open to any discussion at all.
We will put our queries on paper and see if we get a response. He has billed us for 5.5 hours for the first plans (not to our brief) and then another 5 hours for the revisions to bring in line with our original brief!!!

 

[^woody^]

He is a registered architech - but his assistant seems to have done most of the work.

That is exactly what happens many people think that the Architect is doing the work, but he just scribles down a sketch and sizes and the technician does all the work.

The Architect must be "open to discussion" otherwise you make a formal complaint - and tell him that too. He seems to be a typical stuck up Architect

Look here

"The RIBA’s Standard Conditions for Appointment of an Architect contains clauses which enable disputes to be referred to mediation, adjudication or arbitration"

 

[ukplanner]

Hourly rate sounds fair - I've known far higher fees than that. Spending 32 hours on such a small extension is more difficult to justify, although it sounds like there were revisions etc.