ᐅ What responsibilities do an architect and a property owner have?
Created on: 28 Jan 2017 18:25
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Matthias9541M
Matthias954128 Jan 2017 18:25Dear future homeowners,
We plan to build a house measuring 8 m by 15 m (26 ft by 49 ft) on a gently sloping site. From the street view, the garage should be attached to the right side of the house, where the entrance door is also located. There is a 3 m (10 ft) distance between the house and the right property boundary; the garage should be built directly on the property line and adjacent to the house.
The building regulations from the local building authority state that the top edge of the floor slab must not exceed 30 cm (12 inches) above the highest ground level point where the building’s corner cuts into the natural terrain. Accordingly, the floor slab’s top edge could be at a maximum of 200.13 m above sea level, about 18 cm (7 inches) below the lowest point of the street. At this floor height and considering the slope of the building plot, there would be a height difference of approximately 1.30 m (4 ft 3 inches) between the house entrance and the driveway to the garage. As a result, the architect said the stairway to the front door would have extended up to 1.30 m (4 ft 3 inches) into the driveway.
After the architect explained this issue to me, I asked about possible solutions. He offered only one option: lowering the entire house by about 75 cm (2 ft 6 inches) to reduce the height difference between the entrance and the driveway. This would shorten the stairway’s intrusion into the driveway, allowing a car to pass by the stairs to enter the garage. I agreed, since the architect said there was no other alternative. I simply trusted the architect as the expert. After that, I received the building permit / planning permission.
When I was asked to sign the documents for the contractor again after the permit was granted, I took a closer look and realized that there had been another possible solution. If the entire building had been shifted about 1.30 m (4 ft 3 inches) to the left, from the street perspective—there was still space on that side—the house would not have needed to be lowered by 75 cm. This would have created a gap between the garage and the house wall on the right side. Naturally, I prefer the house to be only 18 cm (7 inches) below street level, not 93 cm (37 inches). Since this is what I want, I am now facing additional costs according to the architect: a flat fee of 500 euros for the developer, new site survey, new structural calculations, and a new building permit / planning permission application.
One might argue that I should have examined everything more carefully before obtaining the permit. However, one could also argue that the architect should have presented this second option to me. I am very interested in your opinion on this matter. How should I approach the cost issue with the contractor?
Thank you.
We plan to build a house measuring 8 m by 15 m (26 ft by 49 ft) on a gently sloping site. From the street view, the garage should be attached to the right side of the house, where the entrance door is also located. There is a 3 m (10 ft) distance between the house and the right property boundary; the garage should be built directly on the property line and adjacent to the house.
The building regulations from the local building authority state that the top edge of the floor slab must not exceed 30 cm (12 inches) above the highest ground level point where the building’s corner cuts into the natural terrain. Accordingly, the floor slab’s top edge could be at a maximum of 200.13 m above sea level, about 18 cm (7 inches) below the lowest point of the street. At this floor height and considering the slope of the building plot, there would be a height difference of approximately 1.30 m (4 ft 3 inches) between the house entrance and the driveway to the garage. As a result, the architect said the stairway to the front door would have extended up to 1.30 m (4 ft 3 inches) into the driveway.
After the architect explained this issue to me, I asked about possible solutions. He offered only one option: lowering the entire house by about 75 cm (2 ft 6 inches) to reduce the height difference between the entrance and the driveway. This would shorten the stairway’s intrusion into the driveway, allowing a car to pass by the stairs to enter the garage. I agreed, since the architect said there was no other alternative. I simply trusted the architect as the expert. After that, I received the building permit / planning permission.
When I was asked to sign the documents for the contractor again after the permit was granted, I took a closer look and realized that there had been another possible solution. If the entire building had been shifted about 1.30 m (4 ft 3 inches) to the left, from the street perspective—there was still space on that side—the house would not have needed to be lowered by 75 cm. This would have created a gap between the garage and the house wall on the right side. Naturally, I prefer the house to be only 18 cm (7 inches) below street level, not 93 cm (37 inches). Since this is what I want, I am now facing additional costs according to the architect: a flat fee of 500 euros for the developer, new site survey, new structural calculations, and a new building permit / planning permission application.
One might argue that I should have examined everything more carefully before obtaining the permit. However, one could also argue that the architect should have presented this second option to me. I am very interested in your opinion on this matter. How should I approach the cost issue with the contractor?
Thank you.
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Matthias954128 Jan 2017 18:40I need to correct myself, the house should not have the dimensions 8m by 15m (26 feet by 49 feet), but rather 8m by 11m (26 feet by 36 feet).
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nightdancer28 Jan 2017 20:08Who owns the plot of land? Are you building a turnkey home? Who is paying for the architect?
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Matthias954128 Jan 2017 20:13The land belongs to me, I am building a turnkey house, and I am paying for the architect. The developer provides the architectural services and hands everything over to a general contractor after obtaining the building permit / planning permission.
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Matthias954128 Jan 2017 20:16Poorly phrased: I pay the developer, and the architect is employed by the developer.
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