ᐅ Preliminary Planning with the Architect – Is Having Your Own Floor Plan Helpful?
Created on: 14 Dec 2013 20:56
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Ben1000
Good evening, dear forum community,
Next week, we will start the preliminary design phase with the architect. My mind has been busy with the house topic for months, meaning, of course, that I have many ideas and a clear personal vision for the house. I have played around with my own hand sketches for the exterior appearance, and I have also thought extensively about the room layout.
Now, I know that many architects here in the forum tend to view homeowners’ attempts at floor plan design, to put it mildly, quite critically. However, I couldn’t resist using the planning software myself. I put all my ideas into one draft. I can’t really tell if it’s complete nonsense or if it possibly contains something useful for the planning process.
The question I have now is: should I just leave the floor plan in the drawer, or should I actually show it to the architect? Would it be better to let the architect find a solution without any preconceptions? Or is it better to present my (our) ideas using the self-made floor plan and then let the architect develop something from it (maybe even something completely different)?
What do you think?
Many thanks and best regards
Ben
Next week, we will start the preliminary design phase with the architect. My mind has been busy with the house topic for months, meaning, of course, that I have many ideas and a clear personal vision for the house. I have played around with my own hand sketches for the exterior appearance, and I have also thought extensively about the room layout.
Now, I know that many architects here in the forum tend to view homeowners’ attempts at floor plan design, to put it mildly, quite critically. However, I couldn’t resist using the planning software myself. I put all my ideas into one draft. I can’t really tell if it’s complete nonsense or if it possibly contains something useful for the planning process.
The question I have now is: should I just leave the floor plan in the drawer, or should I actually show it to the architect? Would it be better to let the architect find a solution without any preconceptions? Or is it better to present my (our) ideas using the self-made floor plan and then let the architect develop something from it (maybe even something completely different)?
What do you think?
Many thanks and best regards
Ben
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Wanderdüne16 Dec 2013 21:54@ Ben1000: I can only share my personal experience, I am not able to give legal advice; there are specialists for that who also review contracts.
Good idea, which is why I am a fan of phased contracts. This way, you can commission individual, successive service phases. But be careful—clients often do this to have the option to part ways with an architect if the chemistry doesn’t work or the results are not feasible. However, it could be stipulated in the contract that although commissioning can happen step-by-step, if you continue to the next phase, it must be exclusively with the architect from the previous phase, which is probably not what you want.
You should specify the budget from the start and also include it in the contract. Then the architect is responsible for ensuring the design aligns with the budget. Some tolerance is allowed, but if the budget is significantly exceeded, the fee claim for the previous phases might be questionable. When architects talk about construction costs, they often mean just the pure building costs — excluding land, surveys, fees, etc. But this is well documented in the forum.
That sounds reasonable to me as well, but any architect could potentially take advantage of a one-time client without them noticing. However, architects also care a lot about their reputation and cannot afford deceitful behavior. Therefore, I recommend having contracts reviewed by lawyers who specialize in this area—it doesn’t cost much and provides clarity.
You mentioned earlier that the site conditions are challenging. Especially in such cases, a good architect can create an exciting building with very high usability. Good luck!
Best regards
WD
Ben1000 schrieb:
We thought we would first hire the architect for preliminary planning.
Good idea, which is why I am a fan of phased contracts. This way, you can commission individual, successive service phases. But be careful—clients often do this to have the option to part ways with an architect if the chemistry doesn’t work or the results are not feasible. However, it could be stipulated in the contract that although commissioning can happen step-by-step, if you continue to the next phase, it must be exclusively with the architect from the previous phase, which is probably not what you want.
Ben1000 schrieb:
First, we want a reference point to see if our budget planning is realistic at all and to create a basis for construction financing. Second, to be honest, I can only tell if we work well with the architect when we actually work with him more concretely.
You should specify the budget from the start and also include it in the contract. Then the architect is responsible for ensuring the design aligns with the budget. Some tolerance is allowed, but if the budget is significantly exceeded, the fee claim for the previous phases might be questionable. When architects talk about construction costs, they often mean just the pure building costs — excluding land, surveys, fees, etc. But this is well documented in the forum.
Ben1000 schrieb:
In the first meeting the architect mentioned that he would initially offer billing based on hourly fees, capped by the HOAI. That means, if the HOAI rates are cheaper for us, those will be charged; if the hourly fees are cheaper, then these will be charged.
At first, this sounds fair to me. Now my question is if there are any legal issues to consider here?
That sounds reasonable to me as well, but any architect could potentially take advantage of a one-time client without them noticing. However, architects also care a lot about their reputation and cannot afford deceitful behavior. Therefore, I recommend having contracts reviewed by lawyers who specialize in this area—it doesn’t cost much and provides clarity.
You mentioned earlier that the site conditions are challenging. Especially in such cases, a good architect can create an exciting building with very high usability. Good luck!
Best regards
WD
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