Essential Advice From An Architect

Why hire an architect? A question asked by many who consider building their new home. With the ever-expanding construction industry, architecture has been, for many reasons, an option for the one-percenters. Most people have only a vague notion about who an architect is, or what architects do? Unlike other professionals most people don’t interact with an architect on a regular basis, if ever. The idea of hiring an architect to design a home seems like a luxury to many who are unaware of why architecture matters and the value added to a house by hiring an architect.

Few people realize how complicated it is to build until they find themselves lost in the complexities of multiple design options, bye-laws, contractors and so on. Being in the field could be very tricky if you don’t have experience but even with tons of experience there is a possibility of error.

For those with no insight into construction, the most important thing to do is to hire a good architect. It is a very common practice to get suggestions from people around but it is highly unlikely that the end result will be in accordance with your particular needs and choices and in most cases the jumbling of multiple ideas ends up with something even worse than its counterparts. It is very important instead to invest in a good architect you can trust and be comfortable with, and to discuss your particular requirements and choices so that the architect is able to come up with a customized design to cater to the client specifically. It’s better to pay a little more and have this guidance than save money and end up with a house you are not happy with.

The design of the house will depend largely on your personal requirement but you need to be sure that it is in-fact your requirement rather than someone else’s idea of a good design. Common practice may or may not work for everyone. Sizes, light quality, kitchen requirements, single unit or double unit, lawn or front view rooms all these requirements vary for different families. It is important to have clarity on these requirements and to discuss these with your architect.

Another very important aspect to consider is to have a good construction team. Once you get hold of a good team it is very important to ensure that they are handled properly, and to let go of the idea of a good contractor who will take over everything without any supervision of the owner because that’s next to impossible; the owner’s supervision throughout the whole process is a must. It is not uncommon, although certainly not advisable, to tweak the initial design on a minor scale once construction starts but it is very important to keep the architect in the loop and balancing the requirements of the builder without involving the builder in the design aspects of the house.

The type of contract needs to be taken into consideration as well. If you are going for a complete turnkey project contract with an architect, the contract needs to be detailed and the architect needs to be selected very carefully. This contract is helpful when the owner is not available for supervision and budget is not an issue as the overall budget goes higher and the contract to be made needs to be very detailed to avoid any confusion in later stages. Quality control might also be in question, which could be taken care of by hiring a quality control supervisor to oversee everything. If budget is a limitation and a separate contractor needs to be hired, a labor-rate contract is a much better option than a time and material contract but owner supervision is a must in both cases.

When you decide to build your own house, you are in for quite a ride. By the time you’re halfway there, you’ll probably wish you never started in the first place. But when the house is done, all those little details you thought of and debated on in your head for so many nights will be absolutely priceless. It’s not a house; it’s your house and it was made for you, perfectly shaped to your desires.