Cost of plans for an extension?

milltown

Our new house will be ready in a couple of weeks and we are looking to extend it pretty much straight away to build on a playroom, utility room and office to the side (of a pretty standard 4 bed semi). As soon as the final contracts are signed we want to apply for planning permission but, obviously, we need drawings to submit.

A "friend" put us in touch with an architect who would do it as a nixer but quoted us over €2000 for sketches, drawings, planning application, newspaper adverts etc.

That struck me as a bit on the rich side for a nixer.

A guy the wife works with is a CAD designer and he offered to do the drawings for the price of a few pints but I don't think he'd be quite up to drawings that the builder could price/build from.

Somewhere in between is what I had imagined. Am I dreaming?

Can anyone recommend a good (reasonable) architect for such work?
House is in Lucan btw.

kadman

Dare I say, how long is a piece of string. There...I said it.

How big is the extension, single or two storey. Its impossible to say if the cost is overzealous, unless we get more details.

kadman

MorningStar

Plans to apply for planing permission don't need to be massively detailed so somebody with CAD could easily whack them together. Before you spend a penny go talk to the local plning officer. He should be able to tell you what he would let be built there.
It's easy enough to do the lot yourself if you have some basic understanding of drawings. Get a copy of the building plans as part of the purchase, many will give it to you for free or a minimum charge. They may even give you the CAD file if you ask nice enough.
In saying that a person who designs houses for a living tends to avoid simple mistakes like door swings etc.. but I have seen some design things extremely badly. Worked in a bar where the shelves were too small to put a beer bottle in and had no cloak room. You know what you want better than anybody else does

milltown

Sorry. 'Tis a single story extension, roughly 9' by 30'. Existing side window in kitchen to be replaced by door into extension lobby. U room straight ahead, playroom left and office right. Office will be standard four walls and ceiling with window to front. U room just four walls and plumbed for washer, dryer and sink. Playroom will have panelled ceiling with probably two Velux windows and patio door to back garden.
Roof will slope up against side of house and join existing kitchen "extension" roof at a hip.
Possible banana skins would be ESB, gas and NTL boxes on that side of the house and the waste pipes from bathroom upstairs and down.

Hopefully that paints a better picture! I was thinking that the details would make more difference to the price of building than drawing but in hindsight everything that has to be added to the plans is contributing to the work and cost of drawing them.

kadman

MorningStar wrote:

Plans to apply for planing permission don't need to be massively detailed so somebody with CAD could easily whack them together. Before you spend a penny go talk to the local plning officer. He should be able to tell you what he would let be built there.
It's easy enough to do the lot yourself if you have some basic understanding of drawings. Get a copy of the building plans as part of the purchase, many will give it to you for free or a minimum charge. They may even give you the CAD file if you ask nice enough.
In saying that a person who designs houses for a living tends to avoid simple mistakes like door swings etc.. but I have seen some design things extremely badly. Worked in a bar where the shelves were too small to put a beer bottle in and had no cloak room. You know what you want better than anybody else does

I'm not too sure that anybody with cad experience could " whack them together ". :eek:

Throw away comments like that give the impression that any person would be fit for the task.

Does the general cad guy know the regs for disabled access, door widths, minimum height of dormer windows, regs governing stair widths, angles, guard rail heights. And what about roof details, that will have to be shown on sections, can he detail constructional sections to show the best arangements for connecting into existing hip roof. I doubt it.

If you want a professional drawing done , that won't come back to haunt with builders queries, planning queries, get some one with building construction experience to organise them for you.

Unless you know exactly what you want , and have the necessary construction experience to guide a cad guy, get at the very least a cad construction technician. Remember the cad tech you employ may have a clause in his contract that any design work he does is owned by his employer. :eek:

There is more at stake than the width of a bar shelf.

lomb

see if u can reason the architect guy down to 1500 and tell him u want full detail to the contract stage for that.that includes copies of the contract forms to be signed by builders, full specs etc.also ask if it will include vat and if its a nixer tell him 1500 cash and c if hes ok with it. only employ the guy AFTER ***U*** have talked to the planners otherwise it will most probably b money down the pan. u can arrange a meeting with them and they are very helpful as to what u can do and not. bring a copy of the sitemap, and digital photos from various angles. these days they seem to b obsessed by visual amenity from all angles.
the planners dont particularly want to know about much info tbh. plans to the planning stage are very basic and not worth 2 pence when it comes to handing them to a builder.

BaZmO*

kadman wrote:

I'm not too sure that anybody with cad experience could " whack them together ". :eek:

Exactly. It ain't that easy to do construction drawings. It may be easy to draw them, but the work is in the calculations and such.

A friend of mine who has 10 years CAD experience is in the process of building an extension to his house and he's had to go to an Architect to get the drawings done. And once the drawings were done he was able to tinker around with them, i.e. the services positions for sinks etc. (obviously he couldn't mess around with the structural aspects of the drawings.

B.

Branners

Milltown whoever the architect is that qouted you that was a bit unreasonable.
I'm an Architectural Technician by the way.

But you have to take into consideration, printing out A1 drawing costs and i assume hes paying the costs for planning permission and for newspaper adverts yeah?
Coz an ad for planning in the Evening Herald is 400 euro.

All in all though it can be cheaper, where abouts do you live i could do a quote for you if you like!
Thats if your around dublin, I'm from Balbriggan meself!

lomb

Branners wrote:

Coz an ad for planning in the Evening Herald is 400 euro.

400 euro is mad for an ad, surely it can b put in somewhere else for a lot less. i would think 200 was excessive tbh.

prospect

I have a contact that does drawings, and also submits for planning, does the site notice, places the add, everything in one package, for reasonable money.

PM me if you want his details.

Branners

It differs depending on the job. Coz if your working on a big job you have to notify the public so the Herald would be the best, but for an extension the local paper should do.
Like the Northside people or whatever the big local rag is

Branners

If you want to PM me i can go out and have a look at the hosue can't see it being a problem, and it definately wo'nt be 2000!

Enii

Liffey Architects Ph - 01 -8089154

info@liffeyarchitects.com

rooferPete

Hi Guys n Dolls

I love it when everyone is an expert, what are we looking at an extension that will run to how much ? 20 ? 30 ? yes thousands.

The two thousand may be too cheap, it could be the most expensive money you have ever spent, sounds a little silly doesn't it ?

What you need is an experienced person who will work With You, the first thing to do is find the person who listens to what you want to achieve, that person is drawing a mental picture of your project.

Then you listen to your advisor, if the walls are load bearing then you switch the design around, the building regs are great but only to those who understand them.

I have surveyed three roofs in last two weeks, one finished with problems and two seeking quotes, none of the roofs could be salvaged for anything like a reasonable amount of money.

Again sounds silly, two not done but can't be salvaged ?

In the first case the "builder" said he followed the drawings and he did, the pitch at 14 degrees with concrete tiles.

The second had the timber in place similar problem, both were drawn by a tecnician straight out of college.

The third was put together on a home PC and I certainly didn't want to know, when the customer wants the cheapest roof that can't work I will leave it to someone who will roof it and the wash n go phone will be dumped when the complaints exceed enquiries.

A Rant ? Yes I am guilty.

We have the most informed consumers and they are looking at the cents for the critical starting point, good design, with good detailed drawings by an experienced person will save thousands not cost.

My €500-00 ( have to allow for inflation )

.

gregos

How long is the architect going to spend on this work? Who knows - let's say three full days, for the sake of discussion. If you had the exclusive use of your GP, your solicitor or your plumber for three days, what do you reckon you'd have to pay them?