ᐅ Is it possible to change architects? What are the costs?

Dear forum community,

We are dissatisfied with the architect we initially chose and would like to change to a different one. But let me start from the beginning:

At the end of January, we selected an architect who is somewhat of a "freelance architect" (so not a general contractor or similar) but works independently under a limited company (GmbH). We verbally commissioned him initially for the tasks up to the approved building permit / planning permission. This was a verbal agreement; so far, we have not signed anything in writing. After the first meeting, the architect gave us a preliminary draft #link removed at the OP’s request; building expert. In a follow-up appointment, we addressed change requests and things we did not like, so the architect wanted to revise the floor plan accordingly. He then developed two new drafts for the ground floor (the upper floor remained unchanged), which were quite similar (just the living room and kitchen swapped places). This process took about seven weeks (and only sped up because we followed up—without our prompting, he probably still would not have responded) and the result was that these new drafts combined pretty much everything we said multiple times in detail that we DID NOT want. We assume he simply forgot everything after seven weeks since he hadn’t taken any notes during the meeting. Objectively, the drafts were just very poor; if I had shared them here in the forum, they would have been heavily criticized because there were many elements considered no-go’s. We were very frustrated to have effectively lost seven weeks for nothing, and the two second drafts were actually less suitable than the first. Yesterday, we had another meeting with the architect, explained everything again, and he roughly sketched some changes on the existing draft in our presence.

However, we felt he absolutely did not want to deviate from his original design, and the back-and-forth shifting of elements on the existing draft only made things worse (e.g., L-shaped utility room with a lot of unusable space). He barely or only partially addresses our change requests, so while the draft is somewhat closer to our wishes, it is far from something we would want to build. He absolutely refuses to change many things (the children’s rooms are too large for us, the bathroom too small with an awkward sanitary arrangement—for example, in the draft linked above the bathtub is positioned very awkwardly and tightly). However, he completely ignored our request to redesign the upper floor entirely. He is really holding onto the draft at all costs. He also refuses to change the staircase position, even after several requests to move it closer to the entrance; this was rejected with the explanation “It will make the entrance too tight.” That may be so, but then we simply need a completely new concept because we do not like it as it is. He won’t agree to that either. The exterior dimensions of the house seem fixed in his mind, even though I explained repeatedly that we would be fine increasing the size by a few centimeters (inches) if there were minor space issues. The elevations are awful and completely not the style we imagine for our house, and shifting the windows around does not improve things. I get the impression he already has the basic shape of this house ready in a drawer from a previous project and absolutely does not want to modify it because it would require more work. At least, that’s how it seems to us.

We are therefore completely dissatisfied; many aspects do not suit us, and working with the architect is a struggle. He only shifts walls on the existing draft and then claims everything is perfect. Every small change we want leads to a fight with him. This cannot continue—this floor plan is completely botched. We need a completely new concept, but he refuses to entertain that. We just don’t feel comfortable working with him anymore. I barely slept last night and get stomach aches just thinking about the floor plan. It can’t go on like this, and honestly, I see no further collaboration with this architect. The trust on our side is gone; we do not believe that continuing will ever result in a draft we like. He also subtly pressured us not to request several more preliminary drafts because then we supposedly wouldn’t know what we want anymore and so on...

In plain terms: we want to change the architect and end the collaboration with the current one. But how does this work? Is it that easy to terminate? And what costs can we expect for the current architect? All three drafts followed the style of the link posted above, meaning hand sketches without dimensions or similar. Does this still count as the preliminary design phase under HOAI (the German Fee Structure for Architects and Engineers) or is it already considered design planning? Does the architect charge according to HOAI even though he operates as a GmbH? Exact costs were not mentioned so far, only a rough estimate for the entire work up to submitting the building permit / planning application. It would be a shame if we have to pay a four-digit amount for this work, since it would be a lot of money for "nothing." But I just don’t see any continued cooperation with him, we’re no longer compatible personally or in terms of style and the floor plan. What would you do? Spend a lot of money for "nothing" and look for a new architect, or stick with this one and try to force a good draft through persistence and discussions? Although I doubt that would work, since he does not see many of the criticisms we raised (for example, the arrangement of sanitary fixtures in the bathroom feels very cramped, and we do not like the bathtub placement, or the size of the children's rooms—potentially reducing their size by relocating the office upstairs; we currently plan for one child but want two bedrooms because you never know if a second child might be desired later, but the rooms don’t need to be that large).

Many thanks in advance for any advice!

Maybe I’m reading more into it than what’s actually there, but I would simply look for an architect who respects me and has time for me, so that the turnaround times are significantly faster and more productive. When they have time to get back to you, you can then let them know that you have decided to go with another architect. I have done the same with two architects myself… although I didn’t even get the chance to announce the change.

I think I wouldn’t hesitate either. Better a quick end with some discomfort... you know what I mean. How is it supposed to get better later during the construction phase? That wouldn’t be acceptable for me either.

I would like to sincerely thank you all for your contributions and also share how things have progressed.

My husband and I put a lot of thought into it and even tried to draw some floor plans ourselves (having been quietly following along for a long time, I basically know the key points to consider), but this didn’t work out very well, especially for the upper floor. However, we realized that we wouldn’t get anywhere with this architect because he dismissed every one of our proposals right away, and we felt he was determined to enforce his ideas at any cost, always responding with “that won’t work” to any changes we wanted, instead of simply coming up with a completely new concept. This stressed me out a lot—I couldn’t sleep at night and had heart palpitations because I was so worried about how we should proceed and what the best decision would be.

Then, through acquaintances, we received a recommendation for another architect, and I just gave him a call. We have an initial “introductory” meeting with him next week. Yesterday, I informed our previous architect that he should stop working on the project and that we would like to end our collaboration. Now we are curious how high the invoice he sends will be. We hope the amount won’t be too high.

After canceling yesterday, I truly felt a weight lifted from my shoulders. A huge burden is gone. The decision has been made. And I think it was the right one. We simply didn’t have a good feeling about him anymore, and no matter what would have happened, the trust was gone. Now I just hope the meeting next week with the new architect goes better, and if not… well, then we’ll keep looking. Either way, we won’t be able to start building our house this year anymore, so we can take our time to find the right planner. It’s a shame we lost 5 months for nothing, but things don’t always go as planned. We’ll just build next year instead. It’s not a drama. We’re still relatively young and have no pressure on time.

A good decision! If the start already caused such "damage," it was the best choice. I'm curious to see what he will charge on the final invoice.

So, yesterday we had the appointment with the new architect. What can I say... it’s like night and day! We really noticed that there is someone who knows their stuff and listens to us, trying to get the best possible outcome for us. We really liked his example designs in terms of style, he took a lot of notes during the conversation, shared good ideas, gave advice, and addressed the specific conditions of the plot. Yesterday, in that one meeting, we made more progress than in 5 months with our first architect! Just imagine that. Yesterday’s meeting was on a completely different level in terms of quality. The personal chemistry was good too. I am really impressed. The architect will now create some drawings based on our input, and I really hope that things will move forward more smoothly now. I definitely don’t regret taking this step. We are confident that we have a building partner who knows what he’s talking about and will respond to our needs. He is already building other houses in our development, and those clients have only had positive things to say so far.

We still haven’t received an invoice from our previous architect. We are still very curious about the amount.