Is our architect charging too much for re-submitting plans?

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nina

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We are building a house and are at planning stages. We got refused planning permission due mostly to an error on the architects part. We had to resubmit, but we only had to change our house very slightly reduce the size of the hall) Our architect now wants another 3500 euro off us for re-submission. We already paid him infull when plans went in the first time. I think it's crazy money. Has anyone any idea about prices?
 
Re: Is our architect charging too much for re-submitting plans??

thats nuts is that price just for resubmitting or is it for the total price of paying him. sure it only costs 85 euro isnt it to put it in for pp.
 
Re: Is our architect charging too much for re-submitting plans??

I know someone else who had this same problem. very minor change but had to pay 2,500 for it. I dont suppose the architect gave you the CAD drawings on disc? If you have them in a standard format, any engineer should be able to change them for you and resubmit it for you. Most architects not give them out however so you could be caught by the short and curlies. I know my friend fought his architect over it but ended up handing over the cash in the end.
 
Re: Is our architect charging too much for re-submitting plans??

nina said:
We got refused planning permission due mostly to an error on the architects part.
Click to expand...

Have you discussed with the architect that the initial refusal was partly bacause of an error on his/her behalf ?

Just say
"In light of the fact that the initial refusal was your fault, how much do I owe you for the re-submission" ?

He may back down due to proffessional pride, and charge you nothing, and give you an apology.

Obviously you don't want to get into a serious argument with your architect, especially if you are using the architect to supervise the build, but 2500 is a lot of money to pay for his/her mistake.
 
Re: Is our architect charging too much for re-submitting plans??

"We got refused planning permission due mostly to an error on the architects part. "


What was the error on the drawings/documentation submitted?
 
Re: Is our architect charging too much for re-submitting plans??

I assume the architect is working for you cash in hand if not then a contract of some sought should have been drafted oylining the agreement

If the error is on behalf of the architect I would strongly challenge him on this, i.e that he should have discussed the planning with the local council planning engineer prior to submission. The bulk of the drafting should have been complete and if the resubmisson planning changes are minor it would not cost the architect €3500 to resubmit. It appears he is recouping cost from the previous submission.

Couple of things you could try.

  • Challenge him on the resubmision cost and offer to pay for printing and planning resubmission costs only(as a last resort)
  • Obtain a breakdown, then challenge the costs
  • Talk to the RIAI for advice
Do not be afraid to stand you ground with the architect, you are the client, you are paying for a service.
 
HI. Thanks for all the asdvice.The 3500 euro is just for re-submitting the plans. We had already paid him 7000 as agreed, when he put in for planning the first time. To answer a few of your questions
1) We are not paying him cash in hand. it is all through the books, but we had no written contract. We had a verbal agreement for the first part, which he stuck to, but gave us no indicationof how much this would cost. He asked us for 65 euro to submit the plans, which the county coucil charges and didn't hear anything else until we got the bill.

2) The reason we got refused is complicated. There is an RH1 form the the council makes you fill in in some cases. We got a call from him to fill it in and when my husband asked what it was about he said "It's just a form to make sure blow-ins don't try and build in the countryside." We filled it in, but there is serious criteria involved in it, and you only "pass" if you qualify under certain rules. He didn't check the form and we failed. But he was able to give us the lst of criteria to pass after we got refused. When we got it, we realised that we sholud have put informatiion in differently, which we have done in this form. Told you it was complicated!!!

3) My husband has told him that it was the architect's fault which he failed to deny and that he was charging way to much. In the end, they couldn't come to an agreement, so he told him to drop in what he thinks it's worth so!!! And they if they look for additional information, my husband can deal with them himself!!
 
Sounds to me like you were refused planning permission on the basis that you didn't satisfy the local needs criteria set out in the development plan? Was this the only reason for refusal?

Perhaps I’m getting off topic, but I would strongly recommend a preplanning meeting with the local planner prior to resubmission, if you haven't already done so. This will establish if you satisfy the criteria. If you can arrange such a meeting, bring in whatever documentation necessary to prove you are from the local area/working the land etc. You can also air out any other reasons for refusal on your case.

Regarding re-submission - this is very time consuming and also involves placing site notices, newspaper advertisements, printing drawings, filling out forms, getting planning fee together etc. I'm not justifying the cost the architect is charging - just commenting that it is not a case of simply changing a line on a drawing.
 
7000 for drawings to planning seems very expensive. is this just for planning drawings? I am getting planning drawings and application (including any changes to design to achieve planning) for 4000.
 
Surely the fee originally agreed is to get the full planning permission. If it gets rejected that should be included in the original fee or am I missing something? Don't plans get sent back all the time and have to be resubmitted. Also 10500 Euro fees in total, I think I need to change profession. Maybe the fee is justified for a very unusual, complicated house.
 
Well it's not a complicated house. It's straightforward. My husband hasw given him half of it, so we'll see how we get on. We learned our lesson for the future though..always get your quotes in writing! That way there will be none of this again hopefully!
 
that sounds like a total rip off

i went to mine, got the plans done,, he looked after the paper ad, and the application,,

€65 for ad
€100 odd for maps
€1350 for him

i put up the site notice all right,, they did come back for more info, but that can be normal to give them more time,, i just sent in back up material that i was from the area etc,,,,
 
wow. You got a fair deal there! That was a great price. Was that for a qualified architect?
 
Hi
I am building an extension onto our house which also involves some demolition work and also extension external works to the inside of the house. Our architect charged 2500.00 which included all the drawings, the newpaper advertisement and the fees to the local council.
Honestly 7000 is an awful lot of money to pay.
 
i think my guy was actually a draughtsman,, if thats correct,, anyhow,, the engineer was not too happy with the way it looked and measurements not like she would of done on auto cad,, so she has made some great changes since,, he was cheap, but if i had to go again, i would not have used him,, stuff i wanted , he siad might not be accepted,,, seems the engineer had diff ideas,,
 
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