Building should deliver joy - 10 things you should know before you start.
loggia sorrento - pool area & alfresco
You’ve finished your scrapbooking and style boards, and found inspiration on Pinterest, Insta saves and follows (@dibartolo_architects btw!). There are a million images floating around in your head and stored away on your electronic devices.
Now, you need someone to distil these thoughts and realize your dream build. To navigate today’s building industry and the plethora of details, performance solutions, regulations, contracts and standards to adhere to, it’s a complex journey for the uninitiated.
Enter the architect, they will work collaboratively with you, provide a bespoke design solution tailored to your needs, while instilling their own design flair. Scribing it onto paper to make a tangible, compliant and coordinated building project.
How To Choose an Architect
You’ll want to select a practice with the appropriate qualifications, experience and insurances. I’d recommend comparing at least three. Choose someone who communicates well, who shares your vision, and has a consistent representative or point of contact. A building project will last many months and, in some cases, even years, so you need to make the right decision.
While weighing up fee proposals, carefully compare the scope of services as this may differ from one practice to the next. Scope of services refers to documentation, design process, and the level of involvement the practice has during builder selection and construction. The extent of services you negotiate will significantly impact several factors — the quality of design, the resolve of detail, how the project budget is managed, contract negotiation with the builder and level of your own time/involvement during construction.
Things To Consider Before Building
With 30 years’ experience in the design and building industries, I’ve spent the majority of my professional career as an architect. I started in building and completed a carpentry apprenticeship, before deciding to undertake an architecture degree. Following a solid stint in the corporate architecture world, I decided to open a studio of my own in Melbourne. In the developmental stages of starting my practice, I assumed the role of project administrator for a building company. Now, I’d like to share my insights into having experienced both sides of the fence.
During my time as a project administrator, I reviewed drawings and documentation from a number of designers, drafts people, and architects. It was my job to compile the documents into separate trade packages and pass them onto subcontractors for pricing. The builder, in most cases, uses these collated quotes and produces their own lump sum building quote. If the information is not readily available in the drawings provided by the architect or designer during the tender period, the builder would either:
make an assumption
make an allowance
OR exclude it from their final quote
This is where I saw clients fall into several traps causing unnecessary cost blowout.
It highlighted the importance of ensuring that the information on your drawings and documents is correct, clear, and concise, so the builder isn’t missing anything or making their own assumptions.
Design decisions also play a major role in project costs. The complexity of detail, scale of the project, or choice of finishes can add to the cost of a build. This may come to a massive shock to an unsuspecting client if, during the design process, the designer did not check-in with their client and align their design to the project budget. A building designer or architect that provides ongoing cost feedback throughout the design process is invaluable.
Ultimately, building is exciting and the end result should bring you joy. Read on for the 10 most important things you should know to make the design of your new build an enjoyable, stress-free process.
1. The Documentation Scope
Having experienced the project management side of the building industry, I’ve priced many projects based on ‘lean’ sets of drawings with barely enough detail to obtain a building permit. The client had purchased a set of documents based on a very limited architecture or drafting scope — either willingly or unwittingly. They’d somehow been convinced that their dream family home or another important project can be sufficiently constructed based on a building permit set of drawings.
In many cases, you’ll see a note on the drawings stating “for building permit issue only” or “not for construction”. This generally means that there’s insufficient detail in the documents for most builders to build or accurately tender from, particularly for an open tender. These documents are generally missing details; a door schedule, finishes schedule, a window schedule or specifications, all because the designer or architect has omitted it from their scope to save the client some money upfront.
2. Budget
What is your budget? An honest answer to this question is crucial to a successful outcome. It does not help you or the project to set an unrealistic figure or withhold any budget information from the designer. You must establish a realistic budget from the outset in assisting the designer work towards a collaborative resolve.
If there is anything I have learned in my years of experience is - Your budget is the key!
It is an architect’s responsibility to design a project within budget and to advise the client when crucial design decisions may send the project over budget. The project budget will dictate whether the building floor area or the quality of finishes may need to be adjusted to suit.
How much will the building cost? I hear you ask. In this current environment it is a particularly tricky question to answer. (Increased shipping costs, Fuel costs, Covid related staff shortages leading to protracted procurement dates, material shortages, increased steel and timber costs, staff shortages) In fact, these days, most will not provide an answer.
We can either base our calculations on a square meter rate based on our experience of a project of similar construction method and quality or on published data to provide ‘an opinion of probable cost’. Alternatively, you might seek a more detailed estimate prepared by a dedicated building cost professional.
3. The building scope
Have you thought about the spaces and defined what you need from your new build? How do you live or work now and how do you want to live or work?
When designing commercial spaces, some practices have executed staff questionnaires to see how staff will utilise their surroundings effectively. When it comes to your home, I am not suggesting that one interview the family but takes a step back and critically looks at how your family goes about their lives on a day to day basis. You may find that 6 toilets are too much!
What spaces do you wish you had and what spaces do you actually need? Bigger buildings with more rooms and larger spaces are more expensive to build, more expensive to run and at times, detrimentally effect the extent of outdoor area serving your building.
It's best to put your priorities down on paper, establishing details such as room function, their preferred sizes and even how they might connect to other spaces. Critically assessing how you use your space or how your facility operates can reveal what is required to live or work most productively and efficiently. You will find that bigger is not always better.
4. Building Design
If you have a vague idea of the building style and little to no experience in building, then I implore you to seek guidance from a professional that has spent their career in the research and design of buildings. A professional that will:
· provide a solution respectful of the context and environment
· select materials and finishes with full knowledge of their performance and suitability
· monitor regulatory and budget constraints while designing within them
Consider the orientation of the building on the site in relation to solar access. Basic environmentally sustainable design principals can make a significant impact on the quality of air and comfort in your building with minimal upfront cost impost by reducing your ongoing running costs. Another point to consider is wellness design, a subject that is gaining more traction as it has demonstrated results in healthy living, creating an environment that sustains good mental and physical health
5. Planning Permit
Do you need a planning permit? Firstly, check with the planning authority for any caveats or encumbrances. Your architect can assist you with this.
If your project is pushing the envelope of planning constraints, an architect will also be able to advise you on achieving the best possible outcome. A good architect will be familiar with the local regulations and how to make them work for the project rather than against it. They’ll also tell you when to seek external planning advice to help a project achieve its fullest potential.
In certain circumstances, you may need to proceed to VCAT, in which case external professional representation must be sought.
6. Finishes
I highly recommend the preparation of a finishes schedule for both the interior and exterior surfaces of the building. It will not only determine the aesthetic and quality of build, but will also have an impact on the project cost. If finishes aren’t selected at the time you go to tender your project, then you need to ask; what are the builders pricing? Without a selection of finishes, the builder will have made their own allowances. If you chose the cheapest builders quote, they’ve most likely sourced the most inexpensive fittings, or even excluded them altogether!
When it comes to finishes selection, there are a large variety of manufacturers to select from for any one finish. Laminates are the prime example, there are dozens of companies with hundreds of finishes and prices to match.
The key takeaway here is to check your finishes selection before you sign your contract.
7. Building Details
Are you the type of person that fixates on the smallest details? An architect considers these obsessions as part of our practice. Floor and wall junctions. Joinery details. The way a window performs and opens right down to the hardware used to open them. Unless these details or quality of finish have been properly designed, coordinated and documented, then there’s very little chance of it appearing on your project.
8. A Competitive Tendering Process
Provide as much information as possible to the builder at tender — you want to make sure that you’re comparing apples with apples. Less information at tender means more room for variations during construction (more on this later).
For a properly competitive tender, be sure to capture your desired scope, level of detail, specifications and finishes in your documentation. Submit to at least three competent builders and critically assess each of the tenders, because we all know that the lowest prices are rarely the best tender.
9. Variations and Low-Ball Tenders
The most significant cause of cost blow out, aside from latent conditions, are variations. A variation claim is triggered by a change to the scope of work during construction, be it an omission, substitution or addition. Please be wary of variations, as they will incur an inflated builders’ margin in addition to the actual cost of works.
This is avoided by ensuring documents are complete and thorough. Some builders are opportunistic and can see that there are several missing items in the documentation. They’ll make sub-par substitutions and submit a low ball tender (which proves irresistible to some clients). The client will be charged with variations at every conceivable moment with the intention to re-coupe their profits from their lean tender.
10. Contract Administration
For the best results, one would have the architect continue through the build to administer the contract. The architect's scope of work should not stop at the completion of construction documentation, or in the worst case, issue of the building permit. An impartial entity should stand between you and the builder during the tender and construction phase, regularly inspecting the work to assess the quality and level of finishes against the documentation.
Conclusion
A new build is exciting and can be immensely rewarding. It requires a significant commitment from many parties. An architect’s professional responsibility to their clients is to ensure that the build is seamless from inception to completion, coordinating all the key parties, consultants, and builders.
Our work doesn’t end with the drawings. Drawing is not the architect’s profession, but are only the representation of the work we do. Traditionally, the architect would administer the build through to the very end, including site and defects inspections.
You may not need any or all of the services mentioned above — and that’s fine! Not all projects are complex or have extensive finish and design requirements.
But don’t say I didn’t warn you.