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It's a relatively simple and small extension. We told him we had a budget of £110,000 inclusive of everything. It's hard to say exactly what the quote is because there's not a lot of clarity on the contractor's quote. But even with several large parts of the work definitely being omitted, and maybe others that we don't know about, it's already reached £165,000. Despite claiming to manage costs at the start he's never given us a budget estimate - I've had to cobble it together from various bits of baffling contractor emails and random bits of quotes from material suppliers.
Sparky-
Sounds like a nightmare but I’m sure you can get it resolved somehow.
Are you able to switch contractors?
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This happens time and time again and I just dont understand how it can.
Client sets budget of X, I always say you should expect for 10 maybe 15% over budget at a push but before you've even kicked a ball its at 50% over. Joke. These folks should also manage the clients expectations if the budget they have doesnt suit or they won't be able to do what they actually wanna do.
I think a lot of these contractors/architects think its a public funded job and the budget doesnt matter and it'll still be settled.
Hope you get a resolution with them easily and not too costly.
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Our situation was very similar with our architect, in that the stated budget that we were assured would be enough was no where near enough. I think this has been covered in this thread but i was astounded how little our architect knew about the cost of things
However, we got eight quotes, one turned out to be just affordable and with a brilliant builder. So I’d advise to figure out what you can really afford, get more quotes, work out what you can do yourself and be prepared to walk away to get a good deal. Don’t be afraid to push back, you are the client after all.
It’s a horrible situation, and it sounds like our architect was much nicer than yours so I feel for you
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Seems a bit mad.
I don’t quite understand what an architect is supposed to have done for you here but you feel they haven’t delivered.
I’d be interested in what the statement of work or terms of service say - if they provided them.
Id second the above - you need more quotes.
In the meantime try to quantify the gap between what was promised and what has been done. That might help understand if you are obligated to pay them now.
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Check the appointment document you signed with the Architect and use the schedule of services to compare what has been delivered and what hasn't - it should make it pretty clear. Also note there should be something about dispute resolution.
As for construction costs - the whole point of employing an Architect for stage 4 is to design to a level of detail that is adequate for a building regs check and obtain comparative tenders (3 minimum) Typically this could be:
Stage 4A
Developed design drawings, integrated with Structural and Services design (provided by others) - submitted to building regs for a plan check.
Stage 4B
More drawings and schedules of finishes and joinery etc.
Schedule of works (many many page line by line list of all the work items, the more detailed the better)
A materials and workmanship specification (usually NBS) cross ref' to the drawing and SOW. Setting out what-of and how it's to be built.
Then...
Send to 3 contractors, 1 month for pricing - then choose the cheapest - on the basis that all of them come recommended and are reputable in the first place.It's a serious chunk of work
chrisbmx116
konastab01
fredtc
Howard
Sheppz
How much did he say it would come in at and what's it come in at?