chartered architect fun

[vitoboy]

just wondering how many of you work domestic jobs for chartered architects..and how you feel about their...performance.
ive just got a nice job to quote..for a family friend..architect led..the drawings are so bad...the key is rubbish and has half the stuff left out and half not labled as per the key..???
he wants me to supply a full cable run/layout drawing and written details of every.single.item i supply and fit..

this is for a 300.000 pound bungalow in sunny corwall..

looks like a minefield to comply with the given spec..even more so than the normal nic and building regs
any advice well welcome.

 

[Spudnik]

If he wants a really detailed plan then i would charge for it.

After all, he has.

I would never consider spending that much time on a job that i MAY not get.

 

[GStueyXR]

I am in the middle of first fixing an extensive ronovation for an architect. The cable runs are something of a nightmare, and retracing work done already when he requests amendments is a real ballache.

Margins are very slim, but the job and testimonial will look great on my website once done. Sometimes it's worth investing in jobs, as much as it's worth investing in tools.

 

[UNG]

Seen this done before the architect used the info provided to charge even more on his next job as he "provided" the electrical design & spec. I would try to be as vague as possible with the architect and talk to the client directly if they are a family friend after all they ultimately pay the bill

Been caught out a few times where you do the design & spec and include your cost for it in the quote for the whole job, architect then uses your design to get other quotes who will be cheaper as they do not have to include design costs

These days I gauge the quality of the architect by asking them to email the CAD layouts, if they don't have CAD then they are still in the dark ages, if they supply them the next failing normally is that they have drawn them to scale which means I have to alter them to full size before I add the electrical layers and create viewports for the prints

One last thought is the architect on a fixed price fee or contract value %age fee as it may be cheaper if the client is paying the %age to fit cheap fittings initially and put the fancy stuff in later as it is a family friend

 

[vitoboy]

thanks for that lads..
ive a feeling the arch and the builder would rather use their usual spark.....
so ill need to watch out for the stitch up..
ill supply only the quote.he will have to wait till completion for the rest.
hoping that the job is mine to start with unless i cox it up big time....