Custom Home Cost Control

How to confidently make the most of your investment in an architect.

A custom designed home opens up a world of opportunities. It is your chance to create something you really love…a place you will enjoy with family and friends, with the perfect ‘fit’ for your needs and lifestyle.

Why you need the expertise of an architect. The first question is: do you really need an architect to design your home? Having spent many years in the building industry, and seen the difference a good architect makes to the outcome, our answer is most emphatically, YES.

First let’s explain the differences between Architect, Designer and Draftsperson.

1. What is an architect? A person who designs buildings and in many cases also supervises their construction. To be identified as an architect you must hold a degree in architecture, applicable insurances and be officially registered as an architect with the governing architecture body in your state. An architect usually has completed 5-6 years of study and 2 years practical before being recognised as an architect.

2. What is a building designer? Anyone can operate as a building designer with no qualifications or credentials whatsoever, however, to call yourself a building designer in Queensland you should hold a current QBCC building license.

3. What is a draftsperson? A person who makes detailed technical plans or drawings. Whilst many study at tertiary level, a large amount of drafts people are self-taught As you can see they are definitely not the same thing. Designers may have great cosmetic ideas, but they only have basic knowledge of how a construction actually comes together.

Similarly, while a draftsperson may be an absolute whizz with computer assisted design, their role is simply to formalise a design that has been developed by an architect. Depending on the scale of your project we advise going with the architect. A registered architect will: > Absorb your brief, > Study your site conditions and > Visualise precisely how your home will take shape on your land, right down to the last nut and bolt > Balance the aesthetics with the functionality and practicality of your project Good architects will combine creativity with functionality, and take into account factors such as orientation, ventilation, and potential construction problems and opportunities. Most importantly, a good architect will spend considerable time in the initial stages, helping you to articulate your ideas. This ensures that the entire project is on a solid footing, with a clear direction and objectives.

Not all architects are about functionality and liveability. Some start from an aesthetic base and planning follows and with some the built form follows the functionality of the design. Not all architects are experienced in the spatial requirements of a functional home and the bottom line is, you live in the home. But all architects should have a comprehensive knowledge of not only building codes and standards but the local by-laws, overlays, covenants and codes relating to your property. That said, most architects do a thorough analysis of these prior to putting pencil to paper. No good designing your dream home to have the planning authorities knock it back. Architects are highly knowledgeable creative specialists who – depending on their skill, experience and reputation – can command fees of between 8% and 15% of your final construction cost. With the skill set highlighted above this is an appropriate investment, PROVIDED the relationship is well managed from commencement to completion. With this in mind, there are three things you MUST do to control costs. One, you must work out what your budget actually is, keeping it as realistic as possible. It is well documented that everybody’s brief is bigger than their budget. So be open about your total budget and contingencies.

Two, you must seek the advice of a reputable builder such as Civic Steel Homes as to what is and, more importantly, what is NOT achievable for your $$$. A Builder is the one who estimates, schedules and ultimately builds your home, so their advice on what the projects real costs are is gospel. Three, and here’s the kicker, you must learn how to manage your relationship with your architect, and quantify the costs pre and post build changes. It is no good making changes to your design brief without the all-important cost information. For example, a freestanding bath might be on your wish list but the extra money it costs has to be put into the budget column. No design decisions should be made in isolation of the costs.

Your architect is NOT there to look after your budget. The architect is there to design you the home you’ve briefed him or her on, not to be an estimator or scheduler. Architects should have a basic understanding of building costs but not to the extent of a reputable builder. A good question to ask early in the process is who is taking responsibility for your budget? Unless you have an open chequebook, your budget could spiral out of control – it’s so easy to burn money unless someone is taking a PRAGMATIC approach. Every decision in the design stage should be a compromise between: • What you want to achieve • Practicality • Cost With a fee of up to $15,000 for every $100K you spend building your home, how can you make a decision to part with that kind of money, WITHOUT having a commitment to budget control.

The solution: Get your builder to provide a reality check.

At Civic Steel Homes we have our own remarkable inhouse architects, who bring untold value to the table; their input is invaluable…still it doesn’t stop our builders sitting next to them with a big red pen. This is the best of both worlds. All the creativity and knowledge of a registered Architect working in the cost controlled environment of a building company. You need a builder’s eye, experience and expertise to bring everything back to reality, to convert a brilliant design on paper into something that fits a manageable budget set by you.Don’t expect miracles though, be prepared, that along the way we may need to rescue, change, adapt and solve a few issues. There are numerous steps involved before your home is ready to build – refining, adding, changing, cutting, shifting, rethinking things. Each and every change in the discussion stage should involve an update on the impact on costs those changes will incur. Then and only then, when your builder is certain that the home is achievable within budget, they will call on the services of estimators to provide a rough guide and finally schedulers who detail costs down to the dollar.

And THAT is how you make the most of your investment in your architect.

Footnote: Do you have architectural plans you can’t afford to use?

If you’ve commissioned an architect to draw up house

We are supremely confident that with a bit of lateral

plans, only to discover that the plans have blown out

thinking and creative problem-solving, we can rescue the

and are now way beyond your budget…don’t despair.

situation by reworking your plans to suit your budget.

All is definitely NOT lost!

Give Civic Steel Homes a call today.

You’ve put in a lot of groundwork and now is not the time to be throwing the baby out with the proverbial bathwater. We have rescued many projects over the past 20 years that have initially been too far over client’s initial budgets. Narrowing down the non-negotiable and with an open mind we have knocked many external architect designs into shape.

Phone: (07) 3714 5900