Planning cost- is it too much?

garbo speaks

Hi all,
My engineer wants to charge me €2000 for lodging a house planning application of mine. In addition to this, I've already paid €600 for a percolation test, and there are other fees for maps, newspaper advert etc, not covered in his €2000. Is this guy taking me for a ride, or is that the go of it now? A friend of mine got a bungalow drawn up last year for €800.

893bet

Go to you friends guy.

sydthebeat

garbo speaks wrote: »

Hi all,
My engineer wants to charge me €2000 for lodging a house planning application of mine. In addition to this, I've already paid €600 for a percolation test, and there are other fees for maps, newspaper advert etc, not covered in his €2000. Is this guy taking me for a ride, or is that the go of it now? A friend of mine got a bungalow drawn up last year for €800.

Sounds actually cheap for a professional.

The house plans are quite often the easiest part of any planning application

snowcat

sydthebeat wrote: »

Sounds actually cheap for a professional.

The house plans are quite often the easiest part of any planning application

Check their qualifications and get references for previous planning applications they have submitted. Look through the planning website of your council for previous work they have completed and contact the applicants directly for opinions. Pay them at agreed stages in the process, never pay someone upfront. Have a preplanning meeting with your local council and with your planner before submitting anything. Anyone can call themselves a planner/engineer/architectural consultant without any qualifications/experience whatsoever.

mickdw

There is a difference between drawing up plans and doing a whole planning application.
2k sounds very reasonable indeed. In my opinion, it cannot be done for less.

Gumbo

garbo speaks wrote: »

Hi all,
My engineer wants to charge me €2000 for lodging a house planning application of mine. In addition to this, I've already paid €600 for a percolation test, and there are other fees for maps, newspaper advert etc, not covered in his €2000. Is this guy taking me for a ride, or is that the go of it now? A friend of mine got a bungalow drawn up last year for €800.

2k for a professional to design and lodge a planning for a new dwelling. Cheap in my opinion.

Percolation tests are always extra. They are required for the SUDS design. Maps, newspaper etc extra. You also have printing costs and site notice costs.

Someone’s friend always have others that done it cheaper, by call them and ask if they can do it now for that price.

garbo speaks

2k is 'cheap'? Are you people serious? I have contacted some people I worked with and asked them what their planning consultants charged, and the dearest one was around €1500. The house I am going for planning for is a modest bungalow, not the Taj Mahal.

Effects

kceire wrote: »

Percolation tests are always extra. They are required for the SUDS design.

Are they always required? I don't think our engineer did them. But then I wasn't entirely happy with his drainage plan anyway!

sydthebeat

garbo speaks wrote: »

2k is 'cheap'? Are you people serious? I have contacted some people I worked with and asked them what their planning consultants charged, and the dearest one was around €1500. The house I am going for planning for is a modest bungalow, not the Taj Mahal.

Yes
2k is cheap to design a house and administer a planning application.

Gumbo

garbo speaks wrote: »

2k is 'cheap'? Are you people serious? I have contacted some people I worked with and asked them what their planning consultants charged, and the dearest one was around €1500. The house I am going for planning for is a modest bungalow, not the Taj Mahal.

Sounds like you should use your mates mate for €800 then.
Also sounds like it’s a nixer price so no tax, VAT, overheads etc so can’t compare that to paying a professional for the service.

Effects wrote: »

Are they always required? I don't think our engineer did them. But then I wasn't entirely happy with his drainage plan anyway!

Did you connect to the public system?
They are required of a soakpit is to be used on site.

Calahonda52

garbo speaks wrote: »

Hi all,
My engineer wants to charge me €2000 for lodging a house planning application of mine. In addition to this, I've already paid €600 for a percolation test, and there are other fees for maps, newspaper advert etc, not covered in his €2000. Is this guy taking me for a ride, or is that the go of it now? A friend of mine got a bungalow drawn up last year for €800.

garbo speaks wrote: »

2k is 'cheap'? Are you people serious? I have contacted some people I worked with and asked them what their planning consultants charged, and the dearest one was around €1500. The house I am going for planning for is a modest bungalow, not the Taj Mahal.

Just before I add you to my list of ignores: there is a world of a difference between a planning consultant and an engineer's services.

Its a bit like the difference between chosing between a vet and a doctor to perform a colonoscopy on you: the end result might be the same but the experience would be very different.

Effects

kceire wrote: »

Did you connect to the public system?
They are required of a soakpit is to be used on site.

Yeah, we had to have a retention tank to deal with storm water. We connected to foul and surface water drains. Drainage plan wasn't in line with codes of practice.
Managed to get it sorted in the end no thanks to the engineer who went awol!

Gumbo

Effects wrote: »

Yeah, we had to have a retention tank to deal with storm water. We connected to foul and surface water drains. Drainage plan wasn't in line with codes of practice.
Managed to get it sorted in the end no thanks to the engineer who went awol!

Attenuation Tank maybe

Ground test may not be required with these tanks as you basically allow them to fill with storm water and then they slow release to the public system at about 2 or 3 L/S. Usually controlled by the diameter of the outfall pipe.

Effects

kceire wrote: »

Attenuation Tank maybe

That's the one!

dellas1979

I paid an architect far far far more than that (he did design a non bog standard house from scratch). He is RIAI registered.

He outlined a payment schedule for me. Did you not agree a price with the engineer?

So, 2k for initial design and planning sounds cheap to me. If its a bog standard house, sounds reasonable to get an engineer rather than architect to do this (as per above, architects are far more expensive).

PS: You do know youll have to pay for tender/building drawings aswell? Its not going to stop at 2k.

garbo speaks

dellas1979 wrote: »

PS: You do know youll have to pay for tender/building drawings aswell? Its not going to stop at 2k.

I got my engineer to drop it to €1500 (after a few heated exchanges!) so happy enough with that. I'll be going direct labour after so I'll be able to build off the planning drawings.

sydthebeat

garbo speaks wrote: »

I got my engineer to drop it to €1500 (after a few heated exchanges!) so happy enough with that. I'll be going direct labour after so I'll be able to build off the planning drawings.

no you wont

Metric Tensor

When you get your planning OP:

1. Thank your engineer profusely
2. Write him a little letter after planning making it clear that he had no part in the construction or supervision of your house. It might give him a safety net when you or a future owner tries to sue him for all the balls-ups you are going to make during construction.

I'd have politely declined your business in similar circumstances.

P.S. Are you getting a mortgage for this house? That will make a lot of decisions for you!

JimmyMW

sydthebeat wrote: »

no you wont

Yes they will and when and when problems are coming thick and fast on site then you will see several threads on here

sydthebeat

JimmyMW wrote: »

Yes they will and when and when problems are coming thick and fast on site then you will see several threads on here

the poster cannot submit a valid commencement notice with building regulation compliant drawings and specifications.....

so either they will build illegally (probably, based on their posts so far) or they will have drawings and choose not to use them.

JimmyMW

sydthebeat wrote: »

the poster cannot submit a valid commencement notice with building regulation compliant drawings and specifications....

In theory I agree with you, however the amount of commencement notices I have seen being submitted with planning level drawings, the part L standard details attached and a general builders 1 to 2 page specification, and they get the passed at that, its a joke but thats how Ireland works.

Gumbo

JimmyMW wrote: »

In theory I agree with you, however the amount of commencement notices I have seen being submitted with planning level drawings, the part L standard details attached and a general builders 1 to 2 page specification, and they get the passed at that, its a joke but thats how Ireland works.

It’s because the staff is not there to read through every commencement notice lodged. The building owner is signing a form to state that the info is correct so if the sh1t hits the fan at a later stage it’s them that will be held accountable and nobody else.

garbo speaks

JimmyMW wrote: »

In theory I agree with you, however the amount of commencement notices I have seen being submitted with planning level drawings, the part L standard details attached and a general builders 1 to 2 page specification, and they get the passed at that, its a joke but thats how Ireland works.

So? I remember before you just lodged your commencement notice and that was that. Too much red tape these days.