ᐅ Issues with the Architect

Hello, I hope you can help me.

Current situation:
We are building an extension, about 110m2 (1,184 sq ft).
We have the building plan and building permit / planning permission.
The excavation has been done.

Our architect wants to create a working plan, but we don’t need one and haven’t commissioned it. He is asking for 1,800€ for it. Our site manager suggests we should pay, so the architect will be cooperative in the future.

I feel pressured.

Is it costly to change the architect? Is it even a good idea?

Thank you in advance

DANI

A permit planning drawing at a scale of 1:100 serves, as the name suggests, to assess the building’s eligibility for approval. Trying to use this as a replacement for detailed construction drawings is basically improvising. Any deviations from what would be ideal can easily cause problems that cost more than the fee charged for this planning service. Changing an architect because they are doing their job properly would, in layman’s terms, be “the other kind of clever.”

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

Hello,

Neelche schrieb:
Our architect wants to prepare a detailed construction plan, but we don’t need one and haven’t commissioned it. He wants €1800 for it.

I can’t really judge if €1800 is reasonable for the detailed construction plan, but how on earth do you want to build without one? That can only lead to mistakes.
Above all, you essentially forfeit any warranty claims, since every contractor can argue that there were no specific instructions given...

Best regards,

Andreas

andimann schrieb:
but how on earth do you want to build without detailed working plans? [...] since every craftsman can just excuse themselves by saying there were no concrete specifications...

I believe the original poster lacks an understanding of what essential details might still be missing even when a planning permission plan is available. To illustrate, I’ll use an analogy: reading a planning permission plan as if it were a full blueprint for building the house is like trying to measure the route of a planned bypass road using only a hiking map.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

We are also working with architects. For the building permit / planning permission application, only the 1:100 scale plans required by the authorities were submitted. That was about half a year ago. In the meantime, several changes have been made to the floor plan without significantly altering the building envelope. A few windows were slightly repositioned. Now we have the nearly complete detailed construction plans at 1:50 scale, along with a separate electrical plan at 1:100 scale. We are reviewing these and can still point out any errors to be corrected. In two weeks, we will approve these detailed plans, the scope of work description, and the specific selection protocol. After that, prices and bids will be collected, presented to us, and then a final contract will be signed. This process works well for us. Additionally, we are commissioning the architect’s individual service phases step by step.

Neelche schrieb:
However, we don’t need one and haven’t hired anyone.

Is that what you say as non-experts? ...

Neelche schrieb:
Our site manager says we should pay for it so he will be cooperative in the future.

He probably doesn’t mean you should pay without receiving something in return (a construction plan), but rather that you should have the plan created.

Neelche schrieb:
I feel blackmailed.

That’s an exaggeration. This cannot be called blackmail.

In that regard, if I were you, I would take a deep breath and consider what actually makes sense.
It reads as if you are simply upset about the additional cost of 1800 euros that was not planned before. That rarely leads to an objective view and blocks a neutral assessment.