I have purchased a Block of Land with a house on it. My intention is to demolish the house and build two townhouses.
The Architects that I have spoke to about this say that their fee would be $30K – $50K. Is this normal. Seemed very pricy to me.What if I just wanted a DA? How much should that cost?
I'm interested in hearing from people who have first-handexperience with developing.
Do you want someone to design with consideration to the environment, use, aesthetics, liveability, workability, constructibility etc or do you just want someone to put something on paper for you? An architect is trained to listen and understand your requirements as well as to interpret the council requirements in order to achieve the best results ie 5-6 years of uni don't come cheap as opposed to a year at TAFE.
If you want a boutique solution, go to an architect, if you want a solution go to a design/construct firm (haute a coture vs pret a porte).
it depends if you want the architect to do the admin for the project (go to regular site visits and deal with the builder on your behalf)
if you want the architect to do admin. then they generally charge around 7%-10% of the contsruction price, (probably 7% at the moment given the state of the economy)
that price should include the following;
– sketch design
– town planning (if necessary)
– deal with council directly
– working drawings
– tender process
– deal with builder directly
– project admin.if you dont want them to do the admin. then its usually in the ballpark of around $10k – $20k (depending on the size of the job)
iv worked for an architect for just over 2 years and that is what we do
im actually a building designer, (3 years at tafe compared to an architect with 5 years at uni, once i have 4 years experience with an architect, i can complete a 6 month thesis and become a registered architect, so not all architects have done the 5 years uni)
i do private jobs on the side and charge around $30 an hour or approx. $1000 for sketch design, $1000 for town planning & $2500 for working drawings
on top of that the client pays directly for consultants fees (structural engineer, soil test etc.)
i would deal directly with council, and once approved and working drawings are done, then its up to the client to find a builder and thats it as far as im (building designer) is involved.
if theres any issues and drawings need to change, i charge my $30 and hour (unless it was a stuff up on my end)
so if you go with an architect it cuts the client out of a lot of the process, so if your time poor or have no knowledge of the building industry and can afford their fees, id go with an architect
otherwise id recommend a building designer
and as for the actual design, theres probably no difference, both architects and building designers have to comply with the rule and regulations, im sure some architects are better than building designers and vice versa
where i work, half the time the building designers do the sketch designs and the architects deal with the clients to get the brief, the clients believe the architect has done the design, but in actual fact was the building designer, as the architect often does not have the time to sketch design as they are doing project admin. (out on site, doing RFI's, progress claims, etc.)
hope this helps
Unless you are looking at absolute top end of the market (ie, multi million dollar properties) then just go to a draftsperson and get them to draw up designs. I have never known a developer to use an architect for straightforward developments.
We just use a draftsperson and have no problems at all. Find a good one through recommendations in your area.
Cheers
K
Hey Marty
The guys above are on the right track, but I think I should go to Joshua as he is abit cheaper then my planner and designer.There is a couple of things to consider around planning to start with , which include consulting with a planner to ensure you can actually build the townhouses. Then you get the designer involved to complete planning drawings so you get planning approval.
Once you have planning approval and believe me the few lines above seem easy, but it isnt alwasy the case. You would then move on to working drawings for builders to quote.
I have missed quite abit in between but some of the cost estimates would be
Land surveyor – $1200 to start with
Town planner – could be $5k I would need to look through my last subdivision
planning drawings – $2500
council costs – $1-2,000
landscape design $600
working drawings $5000
energy report $600
land titles office $700If I remember my last two lot subdivsion to the point of construction was $20-$25k
cheers
JasonThanks guys. This is really helpfull
The most I have ever paid for drafting fees is $2500 and that was for three houses that the Council had problems with and required a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with the draftsman.
Get some recommendations from people and then get quotes. The prices quoted above seem a bit steep to me. However, I am in SA and things might be a lot cheaper here.
Cheers
K
The Land is in ARMIDALE , NSW. I did some research and found only 2 Architects. They both quoted roughly the same figures ($30K – $50K). I did not even know that you could get a Building Designer or Draftsman to do the drawings to for the initial DA Application.
I didn't now there was planning and working drawings. I assumed that you just got plans drwan up and that was it.
So Im guessing that the Architect would cover sourcing the relevent people such as surveyors etc and they would take care of the feasibility study etc.
Otherwise if I go to a draftsman I would have to get and pay for the Feasibility study etc myself and also find these people.
Building Designer & Draftsman are the same thing, the new name in Building Designer, however a lot of people still refer to us as Draftsmen
it depends on the company of course, but most companies would have consultants they consistantly use. so both Architects and Building Designers are able to get these services done for you. you do not need to source these consultants for yourself.
i know that for me, and for the Architect i work for, we add the consultants fees to our fees, they are not included in our fees. i imagine this to be the case with most Architects and Building Designers.
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