How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

How much did he say it would come in at and what's it come in at?

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.

I used an electric spinning disc cutter as a sander/grinder for small tile adjustments (less than 0.5mm) but I guess it depends on the length of tile you're cutting?

Sounds like a nightmare but I’m sure you can get it resolved somehow.

Are you able to switch contractors?

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.

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

Blimey that's a lot more than the original estimate. Our build went over budget but mainly because we decided to get better stuff (radiators, appliances, skylight etc) as we went along.

110k is enough to do a kitchen diner extension and knock through and loft. I know because I have done it.

It should also be enough to do a double story side return.

If I have to guess the builders are price gouging on the labour - a lot of the materials won't have gone up past their peak a year ago. Some materials will have gone down.

You'll have to change builders and get a fixed price.

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.

What sparky hasn't given more details on are stuff like the flooring, the kitchen aspirations, glazing etc.

I mean a bespoke triple glazed 3m x 3m window will cost as much as a decent used car. A 1mx1m upvc will cost a few hundred quid.

There could be 20ks worth of "extras" that could be stripped out and then upgraded at a later date when money allows.

My experience of architects is you basically need to tell them you're poor and might not have enough money to do the job. That way they strip everything to the basics, you see what the cost of entry is to do the work you want done, and you can then upgrade things like windows and doors and floors etc when you see how the land lies with the basics. It makes it more stressful and procurement of stuff a little more last minute as you only see how much money you have as you progress through each stage of the work. But if you give an architect a blank cheque you can bet your bollocks to a barndance they'll take full advantage of it.

I appreciate architects and builders find people like me an absolute nightmare to do work for because they think I'm a total skinflint. Which is true.

I definitely didn't give them a blank cheque. I made it clear at the start, and throughout, what our budget was. He continually assured us that it would be enough to do the work. But he's never, ever given us a breakdown of expected costs, or any costed reductions to bring the current plan down to meet the budget.

At the moment I don't know what to do other than send an email outlining all my concerns and where I think he's not followed-through on what was promised, and wait for a response. But I feel so battered by the process already that my current gut instinct - no doubt just a panicky, reactive, temporary feeling - is to sell the house and run away.

Do you have the drawings the architect sent to the builder for the quote? You can just use those to get your own quotes.

If you'd just had one vague quote come back then I'm not really surprised it's come in so high. Some of the quotes we got were nearly double what we ended up paying so all it means is that it's time to shop around.

Check you local planning site for applications from the last 2 years near you, go to those houses and see if the work's done, and if it is knock on the door and ask who their builder was and if they were good. That and instagram were good for us to find someone (the logic being that if the builder puts their work in instagram they care to some extent about quality).

In my opinion it's important to demand a fixed price and a full itemised breakdown. Otherwise find another builder.

As an architect... it sounds pretty shit, but obvs I can't see the whole picture. I also no longer practice so I'm out of date, hoping someone else more current might chip in here.

You should (must) have written terms of appointment. These should include outline of what to expect when, what to pay when, and importantly what steps you can take if you're not happy. Complaining direct to ARB as someone linked to above is certainly an option but your contract with the architect should include steps which could still resolve the situation.

A "recommended" builder is tricky. Unless they are actually in business together and it's a design+build service, there are quite a lot of professional issues for the architect to do that. It also means you aren't getting competitive quotes. On the other hand it might mean the architect feels more confident that you won't get let down by quality of construction or service. Is there anything unusual about the construction method/materials or is it pretty standard?

If the architect says they've already value engineered the project, they should be able to show you how. That isn't an unreasonable expectation.

If the estimate has come in way high, it isn't really good enough for the architect to just shrug, especially if you have been reassured that it will be ok. In current climate I'm surprised any architect is offering assurances on costs, it's not under their control. Doing another round of options isn't free for the architect, but IMO they should show willing (eg meet you part way), and now they have an idea of costs for this situation, either/and do a quick option on what you can get for your budget, or help you get more quotes.

Putting in writing how you feel about the situation and where you think the problems and gaps are sounds like a good idea to start with.

@Sparky post the drawings on here so we can all give our tuppence worth if you're up for it.

Food $200
Data $150
Rent $800
Architect-designed four-bedroom basement expansion $300,600
Utility $150
someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying

110k is enough to do a kitchen diner extension and knock through and loft. I know because I have done it.

Just because you did it doesn't mean it's possible now, prices have gone mental and continue to rise. I'm really not convinced that would be possible now without at least an element of self-build.

£70k for the loft + £120k for the extension = £110k total

Why are you not convinced?

I feel like lofts are more stable.

However, extensions can vary massively in an of themselves, not to mention the sundries - kitchen, floor, utilityroom, glass, etc.

Sorry to hear about your problems @Sparky

It does sound like the cost of the main contractor is the main issue here, and the situation would be a lot better if you could find a cheaper one. But for relations to break down so early with your architect is obviously not great.

In my experience chemistry and sharing a vision is incredibly important when you use an architect, and realistically if things are falling apart so early that could be a red flag.

Obviously @hoefla knows what she's talking about but I particularly agree with this bit:

In current climate I'm surprised any architect is offering assurances on costs, it's not under their control.

I feel like lofts are more stable.

Aren't they less stable because they're at the top of the house..?

Had to look at that for longer than I'd care to admit!

Sorry I'm getting my lofts and stables mixed up.

Spend less on (diptyque) candles

The cost of the materials has not generally gone up much from a year ago. The cost of labour I'm not so sure about. I know you can still get a basic d ormer for 40k. My polish builder is quoting 55k for the extension I had done for 45k a year ago.
Unless both extensions are enormous and very high spec 110k should be a reasonable budget. But all depends on the spec really and how much the builder is marking up the materials.

Find some more contractors and tender it. Even if they have a preferred contractor they should always tender it to two or three contractors to test the market and make their contractor sharpen their pencil (tell the other contractors they're up against one more so they at least think they'll be in with a shot). Yes their are risks with going with another contractor if the architect has worked with them before, but you need to know what the market rate is. In my experience the residential market is cooling and contractors are starting to look for work so hopefully prices might get a bit more sensible.