Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Oct 18, 2010 8:00 pm Hi there,
First time building new home and first time poster and we are seriously getting worried that we are getting screwed by our architect. Just a bit of background - after working and saving for more than 20 years, we are finally building our dream home in Melbourne (and selling the existing family home to pay for the building costs). It's 40 squares two story brick home on 600 square meters of land. We've hired the architect to coordinate the construction. The original estimates for total building costs was $580k (around 6 months ago). We are now in the process of laying the foundations. The quotes that the architect has been showing us have been consistently over his initial estimates - to the point where the current projected cost is now $730k (and rising). To give some examples of what he originally estimated and the current quotes: Steel works > $10k to 30k (increase of 20k) Framing > 50k to 70k (increase of 20k) Staircase > $8k to 30k (increase of 22k) And the worst thing is we don't know whether this is just market price and our architect did a really crappy job of the initial estimation, or whether we are getting royally screwed because the quotes are ridiculously high. Any opinions will be appreciated. Re: HELP - Am I getting screwed by my architect/project mana 2Oct 18, 2010 9:32 pm I don't think anyone can tell just by looking at your prices. Can you tender it out? I can tell you about window prices if you have a schedule. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: HELP - Am I getting dodged by my architect? With PLANS 5Oct 19, 2010 6:38 am I would say from the plans, that $580k was always going to be difficult to keep to, particularly with the level of detail in your home (e.g. sweeping staircase, two master bedrooms, sauna, etc) - it looks like a beautiful home. I have heard similar advice about architects underestimating building costs, and would suggest if you can tendering out your project to a few builders and getting some quotes that way. My guess is that $730 is going to be closer to the mark as that works about to be around $18k per square (which is not outrageous for an architecturally designed home). Re: HELP - Am I getting dodged by my architect? With PLANS 6Oct 22, 2010 8:34 am I work with architects and they always get 2-3 quotes for everything. They also should have a rate per square metre. If your home has high end inclusions the rates will be substantially higher than if your home was run of the mill say. As for your concerns, I think you need to discuss it with your architect. Your paying his wages remember. If your not happy with his answers - sack him. Find someone else. You cant be unhappy at the beginning. Maybe he is very unexperienced hence the price differences. Market value should not have increased that much in a short time. Have you made major alterations to the plans? Either way, the small amount of upheaval at the beginning is better than the major heartaches at the end. Put a stop to the job until you find some more concrete prices. Who is your builder. Can you discuss with him directly and cut out the architect? You need to put your foot down and let it be known your concerns in price differences. Whos to say the price isnt going to keep going up? Good luck. Remember, its your money, you have a right to say your thoughts to all the tradies. If they dont like it, get rid of them and find someone else. Re: HELP - Am I getting dodged by my architect? With PLANS 7Oct 22, 2010 3:09 pm When we were exploring using an architect to design our extension on a Californian Bungalow (ground level only), our initial quotes were all in the $20K+ per sq. One architect even said $20K+ per sq would be for low end fittings! If we wanted mid to high level fittings (i.e. Caesar Stone, wide floor boards, etc) it would be in the $30K+ per sq range. With that in mind, your initial quote of $580K / 40sq = $14.5K per sq, seems a little low IMO. However, you are building from new so you're revised estimate of $730K sounds okay. I would allow for $20K per sq which means your build costs would be $800K. Good luck! Re: HELP - Am I getting dodged by my architect? With PLANS 8Oct 26, 2010 6:45 am Sounds like a good argument for not using an architect to design and project manage. How do you know if the prices are competitive unless you have had quotes from several builders? Maybe you should stop the process and take your plans to a couple of builders or an independant estimator for costing so you can check whether your architect is on the money. For what its worth $730k seems high to me (although its hard to tell without seeing a full set of plans and specs) but the lower figure is probably a bit low too. Re: HELP - Am I getting dodged by my architect? 9Oct 31, 2010 5:21 pm You will need to refer to the terms of your contract. If it was a fixed priced contract or cost plus. As a general rule, Architects should not be providing firm estimates on building costs only feasibility costs. Further to this, the Architect should not be project managing the build only. He may be involved during the build process to ensure the architects vision is being created, but that is up to you, the client if the costs is worthwhile. I would be stopping the build until fixed costs can be provided. 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