Renovation Advice

bingsta on 03/08/2016 - 22:20

Hi there.

Am looking to do a reno on our house in South Eastern Sydney (beach side suburb).
Our budget is around 200 for 1 floor reno (small extension) with landscaping.
Have approached Smiths and Sons franchise and they are trying to get us to do a "packaged" approach whereby they organise the architect / draftsman and basically oversee the whole build.
They have quoted us an architect who apparently charges 8k for concept and DA plans.
Speaking to some friends this seems a bit steep, plus my mates say there are likely to be many more charges on top of this (from the architect alone).
Can anyone give me advice about how architects fees are generally broken down. I understand there can be fixed and percentage components.
Also would you guys recommend going with this "package" approach or organising architect and builder separately?

Many thanks in advanced!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • 87percent on 05/08/2016 - 10:51

    in my recent experience with architects vs draftsperson, that sounds about right. All the ones i've spoken to, charge by the hour but then for things like engineering reports, that's extra

  • [Deactivated] on 08/08/2016 - 16:57

    I'd ask what the architect charges for concept. I did a renno and the concept was free, although I had to sign an agreement to say we woudn't take it and go elsewhere for the build. Once you know this, you can work what you are up for upfront.

    • bingsta on 08/08/2016 - 20:05

      Hi bradn
      Thx for your reply.
      Do you know if it is common for architects to do concept for free?
      Was your reno in Sydney and did you obtain your architect completely separate to your builder?
      I think all architects retain "intellectual" rights on all their designs anyway so if you were to take it to another architect they would have to draw (albeit copy) the plans from scratch.

      • [Deactivated] on 10/08/2016 - 07:55

        no - builder and architect work together. the process was 1) deliver concept sketches, 2) accept drawings and cost 4) build! When I use the term drawings it is more of a sketch, than an actual plan. The plan came later. Yes - it was Sydney North. We got 2 quotes, both were within 10K of each other on a total cost of around 130K. We added an 'upstairs'. One tip though, is plan where you place your power points, so that you can piggy back from the other side of the wall at a later stage. Extra powerpoint are overly expensive at build time.

  • chumlee on 08/08/2016 - 20:16

    If you know how you want your Reno to look like, go with a draftsman if this saves money. When I did my reno I used an architect that did some work on the side after his daytime architecture job. I saved money this way. Also I did owner builder and didn't get detailed plans drawn up n where toilet, bath, shower etc where exactly going as we sometimes moved things a metre here or there.

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