r2i forum

Can someone recommend an architect? What are their fees?

Hi there,

I am an architect but in States right now, although I do have a practice in India as well. However, an architect's typical fee ranges between 5-10 % depending on the scope of services. Does that help?

Many architects here charge fees ranging from Rs 15 per sqft to Rs 75 per sqft. Not sure why it has to be per sqft as opposed to a flat rate. Assuming construction costs of Rs 2k per sqft, this translates to 1 - 4%.

May be someone can explain to me what they do? Is it something we can do with a software application from Punch or equivalent?

I dont' mind paying the money but just want to know more details about the value they bring in. What distinguishes someone at the low end from some one charging top dollars.

I am new to this whole thing. Hence these rudimentary questions.

I also wanted to understand the role of an Architect and what does he bring to table.

May be snamer can answer this better.

We also have an engineer who actualy supervises the construction. So does Architect only brings visual diagrams or does he work thoughout the construction with the engineer.

All good questions.

A good architect will make sure that he understands your requirements and designs your house that fits best within your BUDGET. In a nutshell, he will work with industry standards and should be responsible for the getting things constructed the way are are intended to.

A good architect (even though slightly expensive) will make sure that you will get bang for your buck and keep you informed of things like Budgets, imapact of changes to the project, etc. Even if he charges 4% which is cheap by the way, he might actually help you in saving costs by providing an intelligent design that should be energy efficient, funtional & visually pleasing.

On contrary, a bad architect will be happy to charge you less fee but will compromise on the quality of design or will get his money one way or another. Relying solely on an engineer or a contractor is putting too much at risk since typically, all those issues are not their problem.

So I suggest, drive around, ask people, and interview architects and you should be fine. Keep in mind that it is the relationship of the owner, architect & the contractor that make the success of a project. The option of flat fee generally works more economical (both for the architect as well as the client).

And humbly put, NO you do not get any software that designs by itself. Software is merely a tool, not the brain.

Architects fees vary from 3 to 5%

Depending from the scale of the project. I guess in your case it should be 5%

Regards,

Just a thought, if the architect is bringing some new desgn it is okay. But if some one finds some of the existing home design and would like to replicate the same. In such cases how an architect would be adding value?

If you intend to replicate an existing house, you still would need to furnish engineered drawings to the contractor. So for all practical purposes, you simply need to get measured drawings, get them engineered for the city's approval. So we are not talking about any significant value being added by the architect although he/she won't take any accountability for the design part of it. Hope that helps.

Just amazing the way people are used to discarding the role of an Architect.

It sounds very offensive. Well buddy mr. SNAMER, I have done significant works in my architecture span so far and even after coming to India I continue to do so.
Design is why we are here. I have a few clients by now, but fortunately for me, today they do understand the role that I play on their project(s).

There is a ton of meticulous thought process involved in the making of a project, so don't just go on offending my profession.

If honesty is lacked in my profession as per the tone of your statement, so it does lack in every other.

That's the real India.

...And what did I say to offend you? I am not too sure I understood your comment as I have no reason to demean any profession.

The question asked by this gentleman is very genuine...The question at hand is about the value added by an architect to "replicate" an existing house...the key word is replicate. So my friend, why don't you educate us about the value added by you if somone asks you to ditto an existing house...how would you value your input besides 're-engineering' the design to meet the new site conditions and bill for that time.

Although, if your client asks you to design a new house based on an existing building, then that is a different story.

So take it easy dude! No one is challenging the honesty of any profession...we are simply discussing.