#461 - BUYING PLANS ONLINE VS HIRING AN ARCHITECT
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design discuss the difference between buying online plans vs hiring architects. They touched on why architects produce more drawings, clients don’t understand hierarchy of information and phases, pre-fabricated homes vs pre-designed floor plans, how to save money on a tight budget, clients need to know their budget, construction cost isn’t everything, accessibility of building quality homes, difference between The Shift House and generic floor plans, and more. Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Comparing architects to generic plans website
(08:15) Why architects produce more drawings.
“The word plan is too vague. Anytime I'm talking to a prospective client and they have a set of plans from someone else, I want to see what they got. Because are they conceptual design plans, schematic design plans, design development plans, permit drawings or construction documents? These are completely different beasts, not even close to being the same thing. Most often, when clients get plans or construction documents at a discount, what they're getting is conceptual plans, which is the lowest form of plans. They're not getting the rest of the information needed for the project.” (15:11)
(18:19) Clients don’t understand hierarchy of information and phases.
“Oftentimes, when I'm talking to the public or new clients, they come at me with a bunch of information, which is great. I love information, but I have to order it and tell them [the hierarchy of importance and the timeline where each phase comes in.] If there are contractors asking clients to start work that’s 6 months down the track, they can tell them to talk to the architect instead, which is what they should be doing. That's one of the most underrated values of hiring an architect early is using them as a resource to understand all this data that you're being hit with as a client. You just don't know if something is right or wrong, important or not important.” (24:21)
(26:29) Prefab homes vs pre-designed floor plans.
(33:34) How to save money on a tight budget.
“The way that we [architects] keep projects on schedule and within budget is by making sure that the professionals we've hired are providing the services they are responsible for at each phase of the project. You can't do that if you're hiring an architect who's a third of the typical price. It's not possible. It's a quantifiable difference because you are getting less services. They're not going to help you ensure that the contractors are hitting those marks. Why would they do 100% of the work for 50% of the fee? Unless they just love losing money. It means there are work that will not be provided for that price, and you need to understand what that is.” (37:38)
(41:23) Clients need to know their budget.
(46:39) Out of state contractors for fire rebuild.
(49:53) Construction cost is not everything.
“One of the mistakes that clients make when they're embarking on a project is they focus too much on the construction cost. The construction cost is important, but it’s [only a portion of] the total project cost. This is where clients run into problems, because they think that the construction cost is the total budget for the project when that's not true. Let's say a client comes and say, “I have $1 million to build.” Well, you actually have less than $1 million budget for construction because that is your total budget for the project.” (50:00)
(54:45) Accessibility of building quality homes.
(01:01:04) Difference between The Shift House and generic floor plans.
“I have spoken to a couple of developers who are interested in working with us. Developers are very budget conscious and understandably so. A lot of architects don't like working with developers because they're just constantly trying to cut down on cost. With that said, developers are very interested in what we've done with The Shift House and they see great value in it. In a certain way, that sort of proof that what's being offered is of significant value because it's being vetted by people whose livelihood is to build things in an efficient manner, to make money. And they understand that they need quality services to get that done.” (01:02:55)
