RTÉ's "Room to Improve" -Dermot Bannon has Quantity Surveyor on board for new series.

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Patrick2008

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I was watching the new series of Room to Improve on RTE last night and I was glad to see that Dermot Bannon has a Quantity Surveyor on board for this series.

Its about time the series reflected the realities of how a project should be carried out with a competent Architect and Quantity Surveyor working on behalf of the Client

I hope all self builders take note and make this small investment in employing a Architect and Quantity Surveyor.

I have to disclose that I am a Chartered Quantity Surveyor but my comments are not biased.

The only thing I did not like was the Quantity Surveyor was portrayed as someone who is there to keep the Architect in line and to cut costs etc.

In my opinion a good Quantity Surveyor is all about adding value to a project and to work in collaboration with the Client, Architect and Builder.
 
I read an interview with Bannon at the weekend. He seemed to be bemoaning the fact that the banks are very strict with what they are lending clients now and he can't afford to go over budget. He said a few years ago he could go come up with a design that would go over budget and the clients could just go back to the bank for an extra 10k or so.
Didn't sound very responsible to me.
 
Would you believe I missed it!

I was out at a meeting until nearly eight, then had a shedload of things to do when I got home.

Bannon is now legendary for cost overruns, but most of the projects I have seen him complete have offered very good value for what was delivered.

When clients start off with an unrealistically low budget, its always tempting to blame the architect.
The simple rule of thumb I have adopted is to multiply by first -

€80.00 per square foot = €861.12 per square metre

and then

€124 per square foot = €1345.50 per square metre

in the current economic climate.

That seems to be the upper and lower ranges for compliant work for simpler to more complex work using a contractor.

You will pay more for larger work and more adventurous designs with expensive materials.

The prices are being kept up for building materials, which have not come down significantly, although labour seems to be at subsistence levels.

If you're seeing savings of more than 10% claimed by direct labour self-builders, I would be worried that non-compliant work is being done, or they simply aren't totting up everything, or they have left some items unfinished and are claiming completeness.

I'd be interested in your comment on the above price ranges, Patrick.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
ONQ. €80-€124/sq.ft is about right. Expect a very standard finish with low quality materials (upvc windows, concrete roof tiles etc) house that meets the very minimium in terms of current regs and more towards the upper end for a decent level of finish and insulation, airtightness etc. Typical exlusions are land costs, loose furnishings, contingency.

Irish construction prices peaked in 2007 and that by the end of this year they will have fallen by 35%. There are increased costs with Sustainable/Renewable energy requirements from the Department of Environment and the latest revisions to the Building Regulations (and also having to comply with revised design standards in terms of new minimum areas and heights of dwellings). This is adding on average 10% to construction costs.

Even though labour costs have reduced since 2007 the same cannot be said for some material prices. Material prices have reduced somewhat but by less than might be expected since local manufacturers are experiencing smaller production volumes and imported commodities such as steel reflect global demand. Indeed, there has been an increase of between 10-20% in prices for materials such as timber, insulation, plasterboard, lead and other commodity related products.

I do feel somewhat sorry for Dermot Bannon and other Architects out there as they are trying to get into a Clients head to visualise what they want. I also think it is important that Clients are introduced to materials such as zinc, copper etc as these materials can really enhance a house design when incorporated properly. Hence, that is why I said in my previous post that I hope the Quantity Surveyor in this series does not just look at the design in terms of a cost cutting excerise and look at it in terms of adding value. You dont need a Quantity Surveyor to tell you to get rid of the copper roof in order to cut costs.
 
I always thought the work he did was superb but he always seemed to have a blasé attitude to budget, which seems to have been confirmed in the interview referred to above.

As said, a lot of it is to do with managing expectations.
 
+1 Derek

Client expectations are the hardest things to manage.
They often come to a development with unrealistic expectations of cost and time to delivery.
Many do not fully engage with the process of design, not wishing to consider issues before they reach site.
This leaves them wide open to being hammered by builders and subbies on variations due to changes left until far too late.
Then the architect gets blamed for cost overruns.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
@ Patrick,

I should qualify my estimates by saying that costing for extensions will seldom be as low as €80 per square foot - they will be more expensive.

Additional cost in any extension is buried in load transference in both the ground at the foundations.
E.g. where you are plugging in "seamlessly" by removing all downstand beams to offer a continuous ceiling.

There is also additional cost within the 1st floor structure and if there are openings in the rear and/or side walls.
Temporary works and propping may be required as well as significant alterations and re-routing of existing services.

The plan area associated with these kind of works may be minimal, so this doesn't translate directly to a area-related cost.

Any extension also has additional cost-inducing restrictions due to -

- ongoing occupation
- increased health and safety risks
- restricted working hours
- limited site compound
- limited site access
- protection of adjoining property

Taking all this into account probably rounds up the cost of an extension to well over €100+ per square foot.


ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
Apologies. I should have stated that I was talking about new builds. I am always very reluctant to use indicitive rates / m2 for any renovations, extension, rebuilding costs due to fire etc namely due to the reasons outlined by ONQ. No two renovations or extesions I have worked on are the same. Now I am not talking about a typical lean to extension onto the back of a house. However, if you are to use this crude method for budget purposes for an extension or renovation then it is more prudent to work from a figure of €100/sq.ft upwards but there are many factors to take into account such as backpropping, underpinning, wrking around existing services etc etc.

Anyway going back to the heading of the original post I am delighted that Demot Bannon and his Clients are now working along side a Quantity Surveyor as I know the budget over runs used to frustrate viewers in the past. However, as has already been pointed out, some budgets were client driven in the first place and dermot Bannon had to try and design more for less so to speak.
 
In a similar vein I think that managing client expectations is the first thing that any architect, including Bannon and the QS, should be doing.
Accepting unrealistic budgetary constraints day one is giving the client a stick to beat you with.

Even simply "not challenging" or "parking" them is not good enough.
At the risk of losing the job they should be addressed at the outset.

That was one reason I asked Patrick to post a list if cost headings in a recent post
This is intended to help people get their heads around the various kinds of costs involved.


ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
After the last series i wrote an email to the makers highlighting this very point and i am glad to see that they have increased the design team in the programme
 
Are his designs not very 'samey' though?

Every single episode I've seen has him turning the back of the house into a 'garden room', and having big huge glass doors that fold open?

Having said that the design is lovely, but the backs of the houses seem to always have that feature in it.
 
That's a fair enough comment but its a general reaction about not placing the kitchen between you and the garden and thereby creating a dark, unwelcoming interior space.

To be fair to him he tries to ring the changes but this is a relatively acceptable means of extending.

I'd love to see some more pavilions in his work, where the new interior space is created away from the house and there is a n external space, a courtyard between them, with perhaps a further courtyard beyond, a series of courtyards, perhaps with some screened areas on the roof of the space.

Variety is the spice of life.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
Missed it again last night - working on my registration with the RIAI this month.

One-on-one meetings between professionals can be very effective, and the architects job is sometimes to know when to stand back and let people come up with cost-effective technical solutions.

Unless you empower other Design Team members, you will end up driving all meetings and discussions, when people of experience are perfectly capable of taking things involving their specialities along up to a point and then presenting the developed proposed solution to the architect for comment.

The alternative would be like a managing director sitting in on every staff meeting. It could actually hold back the work of the meeting in many cases and reduce the effectiveness of individual team members.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
Cyrstal said:
Are his designs not very 'samey' though?

Every single episode I've seen has him turning the back of the house into a 'garden room', and having big huge glass doors that fold open?

Having said that the design is lovely, but the backs of the houses seem to always have that feature in it.
Click to expand...

I always think his kitchens are very samey. Last week he showed the couple from Cork a kitchen which wasn't white and I was great he's changing the kitchen but no he gave them another Dermot kitchen.
 
I agree with the samey kitchens, another ultra modern square box with large sliding doors on to patio which bears no relationship to the rest of the house.
 
What are AAM readers views on the "ultra-modern" designs favoured by Dermot Bannon?
Would people prefer a more traditional design solution?

If so, in what sense traditional?
I'd love to hear about it.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
It's hard to answer. I'd come down on the modern but not ultra modern. I don't want a busy looking kitchen but I do want it to look like it doesn't have to cleaned every five mintes. My friend has a dermot kitchen which she loves but she wipes the empty mug of tea off you 2 seconds after you leave it down.

Here is a link of some kitchen looks I like. Take the first, third and sixth pic. I do keep pics from mags of looks I like in folder, very old school.

http://elliebalfe.blogspot.com/2011/09/home-loves-touch-of-aqua.html

I have no assocation with the blog except being a reader.
 
His designs are very samey alright. I like them. But he seems to go the expensive route with everything. I like how he opens things up and gets lots of light in. I like the clean uncluttered look too.

But I think theres a case for a traditional design. They are often more practical and less harsh visually. When it comes to fittings and bathroom. Some of the modern fittings and designs, are not as practical as old ones. All these concealed fittings are often a nightmare to work on. For example those plunger plugs instead of the old style plug and chain. They seem to be designed to clog and break.

I like a mix of new and traditional.
 
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