Design Blog

Why Hire an Architect

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 04:00:00 GMT

A professional meets the highest standards within any specific industry. When you hire a professional you have chosen to seek specialized knowledge based on intensive academic preparation combined with technical and ethical standards.

The Ontario Government has given Ontario’s architects the privilege and responsibility of self-regulation. Established under the Architects Act , the Ontario Association of Architects “…regulates the practice of architecture in Ontario … in order that the public interest may be served and protected.” Architects Act, RSO 1990, c.A.26 . The Architects Act and the Ontario Building Code list the types of buildings for which you must engage an architect. However, even where it is not required by law, you will want to consult a professional, an architect, to help ensure that your building project is as successful as possible.

Only licensed architects may use the title architect . Be aware that not all “designers” are licensed and educated the way that architects are and are frequently misconstrued as alternatives to working with an architect. The informed decision to work with an architect will ultimately ensure that you achieve a more satisfactory result. Architects meet the highest level of standards. When you are dealing with important decisions and projects don’t you want the best on your team? Architects put the interests of their client, and of the public, above their own.

When you hire Cynthia Zahoruk Architect Inc ., you are assured that we:

10 Ways to Make Working with Your Residential Architect More Successful

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Many people feel a slightly queasy motion in their belly when they even think of needing an architect. Their minds fill with horror stories of arrogant artists and outrageous cost overruns. Fortunately not all architects fit the stereotype. But even if yours does, here are 10 things you can do to make working with your architect more successful.

1. Wake up your architect. Many people think that it helps to have as much done as possible before they call an architect. That’s their first mistake. Better results occur if they talk to the architect before they go out looking for land or seeking financing. A short conversation can result in a realistic preliminary budget, a coherent description of the project and an understanding of how the process can work for you. Get your architect on board with your project early. Yes, you should pay them for this.

2. Have your architect look at your dirt. Place is everything. Even if you are only considering a small addition to your home, the site is important. An architect sees what you may miss: how adjacent buildings affect your project; where utility easements limit height or width of your addition; where natural features like trees, a stream and slope may limit your project or increase the cost. New locations have even more of significance including: soil types, traffic and adjacent noise sources, prevailing wind patterns and apparent setback requirements. A lot of information can be determined by looking at real estate sales documents and local zoning ordinances as well.

3. Have your architect redesign your pocketbook. No, I didn’t say empty it. I said redesign it. How much you can build depends on how much you can afford. But there are many ways to get there. The design process goes from the general to the specific and financial calculations can work the same way. The architect can give you in a few minutes a rough estimate of how much your project is likely to cost simply based on the probable amount of construction. As more information is developed a more accurate cost opinion can be generated. If you allow your architect to assist you in setting a realistic budget you may find you can have all that you want by phasing construction. Your starter home can be the core of your dream home. You can start with a small structure and have the final work completed as your family grows. For financing, an architect can provide you with a preliminary design and an opinion of the probable cost (including a contingency). This will allow your bank to determine for you how the project’s cost compares to it’s value in the real estate market. This allows you to see immediately whether you need to rethink how big or how complicated your home will be. As you proceed, this becomes a guide that tells you your path to your dream home may not look like your neighbor’s. Listen when your architect warns of high cost from feature overload.

4. Have your architect tailor your project to eliminate project waste. Bigger is not necessarily better. Many people believe they need a larger home when the real problem is that their home is inefficiently designed or does not really fit their life style. Pay your architect to sit down with you and determine how much space you really need. Focus on how you want to live and not on how much square footage your neighbor has. Architects call this process programming. You can think of it has making sure you only pay for what you need while making sure that everything you need, you get.

5. Take a foreign language lesson from your architect. Architects, like many other professionals, speak a technical language all their own. There is a legal language of architecture as well. Whenever your architect has given you a document to review or has used a word you don’t understand, don’t be embarrassed to ask about it. In fact you might set aside a few minutes of each meeting to discuss the terms and jargon that he uses. This is critical to insure better communication. Better communication is critical to having the best project you can have. You ask your doctor about medical terminology and your lawyer about legal terminology. Ask your architect about design terminology.

6. Free your architect from the bonds of the mundane. To get a mundane project you really don’t need an architect. Any uninformed person off the street will do. But to be a licensed architect means more than knowing how a building is built. It means knowing how people respond to buildings built in certain ways. The exam required for licensure includes a section on over 3000 years of architectural history. If you want to have an excellent project let your architect expand your experience. Many times clients ask for what they have seen. Or they respond with dislike for something they have experienced which did not appeal to them. The problem is that if you stick to these few experiences, you don’t get the benefit of what you have not seen. Your architect has seen more. Allow her to take you to the design you would ask for, if you knew what to ask.

7. Let your architect review your ideas and desires. Have a relationship with your architect that allows you to discuss what you are interested in and allows the architect to respond. If you are interested in some exotic construction technique that the architect is not familiar with let him investigate it for you. His technical experience may save you from future problems. A person who acts as their own architect often gets the same quality of results as a person who acts as their own lawyer.

8. Have your architect create a choice for you. Two plans are better than one. Most people feel like they are hiring an architect to create the one perfect plan. Often there is more than one perfect plan. No two architects will create the exact same solution to a design problem. Most architects are quite capable of giving you two or more different solutions. Having them do so opens up a world of possibilities. Your perfect solution might include elements of both alternatives. You can not get to that point if you do not ask for two not one.

9. Invite your architect to show and tell. To have a project which really fits you, the architect has to know how you like to live and what is important to you. Within your home, is privacy more important or is community. How do you relate to the rest of the world? Would you prefer to lock it out or invite it in? Is security more important than connection to the environment? Is the use of natural materials and traditional methods more important than lowering the cost? Is the presence of natural light more important in your life that having an elaborately lit space at night? Or are they equally important?

10. Have tea with your architect often while building. There is no more important time to see your architect than while the building is being built. It allows your architect to make sure that the contractor understands how the finished structure is supposed to work. It allows for the clarification of information and occasionally the site inspired improvement to the design. It allows you the opportunity to understand what the contractor is doing and to have a knowledgeable person to discuss it with. Everyday may not be necessary. Try as often as you can though.

Source - AIA

10 Ways to Reduce Residential Project Costs

Sun, 01 May 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Reducing construction costs is usually thought of in terms of reducing material and labour costs. However, the biggest cost savings can actually come from only building what you need. More money can be saved by changing the drawings than by trying to squeeze lower prices out of suppliers. The following 10 tips are ways you can save in the planning of your project and in how you carry it out.

1. Select your architect early before you have bought your land. Well-designed architecture is fit to the environment. You can select the land you like and design to it. Or you can create a preliminary design and seek land that supports it. The same factors apply to existing buildings. Let the architect help you determine if the fit will work for you.

2. Have your architect help you define how much space and land you need. Architects call this programming. They can sit down with you and help you determine the size of home you really need. Sometimes homeowners build homes that are larger than they need because they are used to having to adapt to an inefficient design. Having an efficient design can allow you to spend more on things which increase the quality of your home. Quantity is not everything. On the other hand it is something. Have your architect check to make sure the land you are looking at is large enough for your project. Easements, legal restrictions, site conditions, and vehicle access can limit the practical buildable area of your land.

3. Have your architect review your land purchase. The site orientation, adjacent conditions, soil conditions, slope, and vegetation can limit or enhance your project. The interactions of these factors can be complex and a graphic site analysis might help you decide whether this is really the right property for you. Or it may affect your offer for the land. While architects don’t mind a challenging site, having them assist in your site selection can save you a substantial amount of construction cost. Your architect can alert you to hidden expenses that the land you are looking at will require. Be willing to pay a surveyor or testing firm for basic information on the site. The seller may have such information already. If so, pass it along to your architect. Architects can also perform a preliminary code analysis that looks at zoning and code restrictions on the property as a whole.

4. Have your architect help you plan out your building and financing process. Architects are familiar with what construction of their designs is likely to cost. They can be very useful in helping you determine not only how long your project should take, how much it should cost and how it can be accomplished. This might include building your project in phases or allowing for a later expansion. Your starter home can grow to be the center of your dream home. You can start with building the core area and have the final work completed as your family grows. For financing, an architect can provide you with a preliminary design and an opinion of the probable cost (including a contingency). This will allow your bank to determine for you how the project’s cost compares to it’s value in the real estate market. Including your architect’s fees in the construction loan can make using an architect more affordable.

5. Have your architect help establish the preliminary budget you should have for your project. Architects can prepare a cost opinion for your project in as little as 15 minutes with the basic size and location of your project. Of course such an opinion is rough and includes a substantial contingency but it is a good place to start. This allows you to see immediately whether you need to rethink how big or how complicated your home will be. It is not a reason not to proceed. It is a guide that tells you your path to your dream home may not look like your neighbor’s. Once a design has been established an architect can prepare a cost opinion based on the systems used in the building. This can include innovative mechanical and lighting systems, exotic construction systems (usually for lower cost or higher performance) as well as windows, doors, fixtures, and finishes. This opinion will take much longer to prepare and will be specific to your design.

6. Consider buying an existing facility. Construction costs for similar construction materials were less expensive 20 years ago than they are now. Making use of that embedded value can add to your project. It is often less expensive to renovate an existing building than it is to build a new one. This is true even when the renovation is extensive. The key is to obtain a structure which is in good condition (for what you want to retain) and which is a reasonably close fit.

7. Have your architect evaluate facilities you are interested in. Preliminary analysis and design may cost you a bit when performed on structures you have not yet bought. They can however save you many thousands of dollars. You may find after the analysis that the structure won’t work well for your intended purpose. It might be too small or too large or have insufficient clearance for your equipment. It may have substantial maintenance or structural issues. The cost of buying the wrong property is more than the architect’s fees.

8. Consider recycled materials. If you are considering a high level of craftsmanship for your project, be aware that vintage interior doors, hardware, base and cornice trim, ornaments, mantles, flooring and stained glass are among the elements that can be obtained used in most urban areas. Antique shops and architectural specialty shops are the best sources. Using these items judiciously can allow you to have finely detailed work in your project without paying for a new creation. Be prepared to have your architect spend some time detailing how to incorporate such items. You will need to spend the time to find them. Try and get the shop you are purchasing these items from to store them for you till they are needed on site. Negotiate on the asking price. Remember, these items are only inexpensive compared to making the same item the original way now.

9. Unleash your architect. Albert Einstein is credited with saying that the operational definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and to expect different results. If you insist that your architect give you what everyone else has, it will cost what everyone else paid—maybe a little more. (Theirs is already done.) Give your architect some leeway to experiment with low-cost materials or alternative systems. Have her concentrate on what is essential and minimize the rest. Don’t be afraid to be different.

10. Consider selecting a smaller architecture firm. People often think that a bigger firm is more reliable than a smaller firm. This is not necessarily the case. A small project in a large firm may be assigned to a team of only two or three people. A small firm of only two or three people can easily handle the same size project. With today’s production techniques a team of two or three can easily handle a project of several million dollars as fast and as well as a larger firm would produce. Sometimes, smaller firms have lower overhead and are able to charge you less. This varies as larger firms can sometimes distribute their overhead over more projects and achieve an economy of scale. Still, the project is likely to be more important in a smaller firm. You could expect to have your project assigned a higher priority and receive more attention in the small firm. That may have value even beyond the cost.

Source: AIA

10 Common Mistakes that Sink Construction Projects

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Construction is a costly undertaking. Many people, in an effort to reduce the cost, become penny wise and pound foolish. As in many other fields information is really the key to wise cost management. In general paying for information on your project will allow you to get better quality for less cost. Listed below are 10 common mistakes that can result in an unsatisfactory—and sometimes unfinished—project.

1. Failing to retain an architect when your project is still a twinkle in your eye. The architect can help you evaluate land and determine the kinds of construction that will be necessary for building on your land. They can help you determine what you can afford and how to get what you want. They can also identify things in your project that will likely increase the cost of construction. For example a moderately sloped site near a river or stream will require substantially more erosion control work than a similar site that is not near a stream.

2. Failing to limit your land lust. Why pay for what you don’t need? Why pay for what you can’t use? Having your architect help you set realistic requirements for space and land use can help you identify the right parcel of land. It makes evaluating any land under consideration easier. If it does not meet the minimum size requirements you need not buy it. Similarly it is not necessary to look for land any larger than what your projected needs are. You can include land for future expansion if you are so inclined, but there is no need to buy 40 acres if 10 acres will do. The cost of the additional acreage may be just enough to overburden project financing. In some cases selling the excess can actually help pay for your project.

3. Failing to have your architect help you envision your financing as part of the design process. There are many ways to achieve the same end. Having your architect assist you with determining phasing and value determination at this early stage may allow you to continue with a project that you might have thought could not occur. You might even want to have your architect suggest a cooperative and innovative lending institution. Or introduce your lender to your architect and get them to work things out together. Yes, this can occur before any plans are done by using averages and ranges based on historical data.

4. Failing to have your architect shine a realistic light on your project budget. Many people think that it is easy to build for less simply by declaring it so. They are often rudely surprised. Low budget projects that are not carefully planned often result in inadequate quality. Further, realistic opinions of project costs include more than simply the construction. There are legal and financing costs, moving costs, equipment costs at the new location (computer networks for example). The construction budget needs to allow for circulation and mechanical space as well as the space you actually intend to use. Otherwise the project may be designed to be too small at the outset. Building a building that is in need of replacement or expansion before it is even begun is madness.

5. Failing to allow for contingencies and worse case scenarios. What happens to your project if the builder goes bankrupt? What happens if the soils turn out to be too weak to support your building? Architects have dealt with these issues and more. It may cost a bit up front to have soil borings, percolation tests, and performance bonds, among other things. Having them ensures you that the worst case is being dealt with in design and contracting and not as a crises in the field which jeopardizes your project’s successful completion.

6. Failing to give your architect enough freedom in determining a design. Architecture is more than drawing. To become an architect anywhere in this country a candidate must pass an exam of about four working days in length, part of which covers the cultural history of design in the western world. Many architects supplement this with continual education and reading on design innovations. Architects apply a lifetime to knowing about and creating better design. The best results in working with an architect occur when you allow the architect to share with you the experience they have gained. Be clear about what it is you want to achieve but allow the architect to suggest to you how to achieve it. There is a difference between telling an architect that you want to have two spaces relate in a certain way and telling them, “This is the plan.” Let the architect help you to a design that would be what you would ask for if you knew all that the architect knows.

7. Failing to have at least two preliminary designs done for your project. Design is a creative endeavor much like music. There is no one right answer any more than there is one perfect song. Exploring two or more solutions to your problem increases the likelihood of finding innovative ways of achieving results. Even with the same preliminary diagram, changes in structural systems and visual emphasis can result in dramatically different buildings. What is learned from the two designs increases the quality of the final product. Often the final result will combine elements of each design.

8. Failing to have a clear design concept. A design concept is a simple statement which talks about what governing principles or ideas are essential to the project. This can be based on an aesthetic, structural, ideological or marketing concept. What is important is that the concept be clear so that it can be used to assist in making decisions about the design and construction. Any change order which is not technically needed and which does not support the concept should usually be disallowed. A strong concept will be useful right down to selecting furnishings after the construction is finished. What made Frank Lloyd Wright's work so stunning was his ability to form and use strong coherent concepts.

9. Not taking the time to coordinate between disciplines during design. Is there a downspout drawn in the same place as an electrical conduit? Modern buildings are complex, even small ones. To minimize problems in construction all the working drawings should be reviewed at a coordination conference. This allows mechanical, structural, plumbing, and electrical issues that were discovered during the design of the project to be cleared by the other trades. This prevents many problems in the field, reduces change orders, and allows for more predictable costs. Pay for the architect and the various engineering subconsultants to spend adequate time reviewing this. Insist on it.

10. Failing to have the architect closely involved in the construction phase. Unlike cars where a single design is tested and refined and then 80 thousand to 100 thousand of them are built, every design by an architect is a custom prototype. During construction, technical issues which were thought to be minimal may turn out to be a challenge. Sometimes this is the result of needing to substitute a type of material or piece of equipment because the item specified may be in short supply. Sometimes this is because a design opportunity occurs to the owner or architect while the building is being constructed. Sometimes it is because the poor quality work of a single subcontractor can affect the high quality work of others. Sometimes it is a response to concealed site conditions. Involving the architect in construction helps maintain the quality of the construction and allows you the opportunity to optimize the design. Control of these changes and their costs are essential for a successful project.

Louis B. Smith Jr., AIA

Louis B. Smith Jr., AIA, is a member of the AIA Small Project Practitioners Knowledge Community Advisory Group.

Factors That Affect Design

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Every project situation is different. Each presents a different set of requirements and limitations. Each presents a unique set of cultural, environmental, technological, and aesthetic contexts to be considered. Each presents its own set of challenges and opportunities. Design brings to the surface the major considerations inherent in a situation. It is a process that is both problem-seeking and problem-solving. While every project has a unique combination of design influences, some of the more important ones are discussed here.

Client
Some clients have a clear idea of a program, budget, and other project objectives, including the final appearance of the building. Others look to their architect to help them define the project objectives and to design a building that meets those objectives. In both cases the effectiveness of the relationship between client and architect is a major factor in making design decisions throughout the project.

Program
All clients have a series of aspirations, requirements, and limitations to be met in design. The program provides a place for identifying and delineating these factors and any number of related considerations. The program may be short or long, general or specific, descriptive of needs, or suggestive of solutions.

Community Concerns
Clients and their architects may need to adjust their designs to satisfy community groups, neighbors, and public officials. These design adjustments are often ad hoc efforts to meet objections or to gain support rather than direct responses to codified requirements.

Codes and Regulations
Regulatory constraints on design have increased steadily. Beginning with simple safety requirements and minimal land-use and light-and-air zoning, building codes and regulations have grown into a major force in design that regulates every aspect of design and construction.

Context and Climate
Contextual factors include the nature of the surrounding fabric of natural and built elements. Existing patterns and characteristics of this fabric can provide clues or starting points for approaching site development as well as the building design, influencing its configuration and use of materials, colors, and textures. Climatic factors include the nature of regional microclimates defined by solar radiation, temperatures, humidity, wind, and precipitation.

Site
These factors include site size; configuration; topography; geotechnical characteristics; ecological features, including vegetation, wildlife habitats, water elements, and drainage; and accessibility to property.

Building Technology
Building configuration, materials, and systems are rarely arbitrarily chosen and are only partially based on aesthetic criteria. For example, floor-to-floor height required to accommodate structural, mechanical, lighting and ceiling systems in a cost-effective manner varies significantly from an apartment house to an office building to a research facility. Similarly, office fenestration may be based on one module and housing on another module. In still other cases, these dimensions may be dictated largely by mechanical systems or even by the knowledge and preferences of the local construction industry.

Sustainability
In its broadest scope, sustainability refers to the ability of a society, ecosystem, or any such ongoing system to continue functioning into the future, without being forced into decline through exhaustion or overloading of the key resources on which that system depends. For architecture, this means design that delivers buildings and communities with lower environmental impacts while enhancing health, productivity, community and quality of life.

Cost
In most cases, there is a limit to the funds available for construction. Once defined, this limit has a major influence on subsequent design decisions, from building size and configuration to material selection and detailing. Although most budgets are fixed, (often by the amount of financing available) others may be flexible. For example, some owners are willing to increase initial budgets to achieve overall life-cycle cost savings.

Schedule
The demands and constraints set by the project schedule may influence how specific issues are explored and considered. For example, an alternative requiring a time-consuming zoning variance may be discarded in favor of one that can keep the project on schedule. Another example may include committing to a final site plan early in the process-before the building footprint on the site plan is fully designed.

Client - Architect Relationship

Mon, 01 Feb 2016 05:00:00 GMT

As professionals we have a responsibility to educate our clients about the architect's role and responsibility in the design and construction process. Cultivating an environment of education fosters trust, enhances communication, minimizes unnecessary frustration, and builds successful business relationships with our clients.

A good working relationship between architect and client is crucial to the success of any project. When working well with an architect, the savings are there from the start in terms of time and money.

Architect’s Role
While written agreements may contain the most important pieces of information about a construction project, the process of deciding what will be in those agreements begins well before they are finally drafted and signed. It is important for us to educate our clients in understanding the architect's roles and responsibilities on a typical project.

It is important that our clients understand early that an architect is a professional advisor. Lawyers and doctors do not guarantee the results of their performance, and neither do architects. Educating our client about the scope and limit of the architect's role and responsibility may help minimize erroneous assumptions and expectations.

Client’s Role
Architects can sometimes assume that clients have a broader understanding of the building design and construction process and of the parties' roles and responsibilities in that process than they really do. This can lead to frustration and misunderstanding when the client does not perform the role that the architect expects. We will endeavor to help our clients to fully understand the terms of the client-architect agreement, the owner-contractor agreement, and the general conditions of the contract for construction. While a lack of knowledge does not relieve the client of contractual obligations, it may lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, conflicts, and legal disputes.

Laying the Foundation for Success
We wish to establish an environment in which educating the client about the role of architects, building design and construction is routine. This helps both the architect and the client to understand the process from a common vantage point. The time and energy invested is likely to be less than that required to resolve disputes later and may have the added benefit of fostering a long-term relationship of trust.

The following checklist, while not intended to be exhaustive, may serve as a starting point for discussion and to broaden our client's knowledge.

ALIGNING EXPECTATIONS

We want to take the opportunity to align architectural design and client expectations and to give the project team some options for managing the risks, and to define how we, as designers, can meet or exceed those expectations in order to have a satisfied client and a successful project outcome.

The Standard of Care
Designing a new or renovated building can be a challenging undertaking. Despite the best efforts of the design team, mistakes will occur. No architect or engineer in the business can guarantee perfection. If they did, no insurance policy would back it.

Practicing architects and engineers provide a professional service based on years of education and experience. By entering into a contract with our clients, we imply that we possess the "standard skill and ability" necessary to serve the owner's needs. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee of a perfect plan or even satisfactory results. Instead, architects and engineers are expected to use "reasonable and ordinary care" in the practice of their profession.

In managing the design and construction efforts of any project, one of the most common challenges we face is coaching our clients is on realistic expectations for design documents and construction. A good starting point is to draw comparisons to other professions that apply a "standard of care." For more than a century, the law has viewed architectural and engineering services similar to professional services provided by physicians and attorneys.

Some clients have a tendency is to view architectural and engineering services no differently than lawn care services that guarantee weed-free results. This is especially true in this age of consumer rights and protections, where "satisfaction guaranteed" rules the day.

It is generally accepted that a surgeon cannot guarantee a perfect procedure or a complete recovery, and an attorney cannot guarantee a favorable judgment or verdict. Instead, the expectation is that they will apply their professional knowledge and experience in a competent manner that best serves the interest of their patients or clients, regardless of the ultimate outcome. Architects and engineers, like physicians and attorneys, cannot guarantee the results of their service.

Errors and Omissions
Errors and omissions are an inevitable part of any creative endeavor. Omissions usually add value to a project. Instead of being included at the time of contract award, the building improvement that was "omitted" from the bid package is picked up by a change order. Architects and engineers will normally maintain that the owner should pay for omissions since the owner would have paid a higher contract amount at the time of award.

Design errors, on the other hand, are mistakes made by the designer that, when corrected, do not add to the greater value of the project. While a design error may be recoverable, clients should be aware of the industry and legal acceptance that there is no such thing as error-free design. Even a modest building design effort requires many individuals acting on hundreds of major decisions to coordinate the design of hundreds of building components. A design effort is a unique, one-time creative endeavor that does not have the benefit of product testing. To expect a perfect design would be like believing software will function faultlessly without beta testing.

Buildings are becoming increasingly complex, and are designed on ever-shortening timelines. The demands placed on the construction industry to keep costs low, while at the same time fast-tracking their services, increases the risk that errors will result.

RISK MANAGEMENT

It is possible, however, to manage the risk of errors and omissions and the first step is to budget adequate project contingencies. Clients also need to be aware that there are other methods available to manage the risks of errors and omissions. These include securing liability insurance, employing third-party review services, using the design/build delivery approach, and modifying contractual language. Each option comes with related costs and benefits.

Construction Contingency
It is important to establish a project budget contingency for the changes, errors and omissions, unknowns and unforeseen conditions that will surely arise during the course of the project. Renovation projects should carry higher contingencies as the incidence of unknown conditions is considerably greater.

Professional liability insurance
The cost of professional liability insurance is typically built into our design fees. The client has the option of purchasing a project insurance policy that typically provides a higher level of coverage, but at a correspondingly higher cost to the owner.

Third-party review
The client also has the option to employ a specialty firm to review the documents prepared by our design team. While some clients argue that this should be a basic service already provided by the designer, the reality is that the architect and engineer are usually too close to their work and driven by other forces, to step back and review their work. This is especially true during the waning days of the construction document phase when the architect and sub-consultants are racing to complete their work and wrap it together in a bid package.
The cost of a plan review team can run $20,000 or more for multimillion-dollar projects. This investment will often pay for itself many times over in cost-avoidance savings. It is a "pay a little now" instead of "pay more later" proposition. Rather than create another project budget line item for these services, funding for these cost-avoidance services can come from the project contingency budget, based on the premise that it will reduce exposure to change orders.
The architect's role is to analyze the risk from a professional point of view and provide information to enable the client to assume, reject, or transfer the risk; the actual decision rests with the client.

Acting as your Own General Contractor

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 05:00:00 GMT

When building owners act as their own general contractors there is the possibility of saving between 10 and 25% of the construction costs. But managing a renovation or addition can be deceptively difficult and many owners who opt to be general contractors end up losing money instead. General contractors seek bids from subcontractors, estimate the cost of the entire job, hire the contractors and then supervise the job to completion. The work may look easy on site; however there is considerable planning and risk associated with this role.

Many owner’s don’t realize that their projects typically are not first priority for local plumbers, electricians, framers, roofers and excavators. These subcontractors give their first allegiance to general contractors who give them multiple jobs each year. In addition general contractors usually get better pricing on materials than a homeowner would.

If a value could be attached to emotional angst, most owners that serve as their own General Contractors probably pay a high price. Subcontractors who don’t show up, delay due to weather, mistakes and unforeseen problems that cause projects to go over budget raise client’s stress levels. General contractors on the other hand deal with these stresses daily.

The time commitment requires at least 2-4 hours daily of site involvement during normal work hours or when needed by the trades. This is important to keep the contractors working diligently and to inspect work. A good working knowledge of codes and regulations and well as general construction is necessary. You will also be responsible for coordinating trades, checking for design errors and omissions, and identifying poor work done by subcontractors.

As a self contractor many lending institutions will not lend more than 80% of the projected costs and many will not lend money to cover unanticipated costs on a building where construction has already begun.