Re: Re: My architect won’t listen to me.

@Meccano wrote:

Hi Pico. I thought I’d revisit this thread to update you on my situation.

Its been over a year – and so much has changed!

Firstly, I sacked the useless muppet who gave me all the grief.
I got my Planning Permission, and then hired an engineer to work up the drawings.
A breath of fresh air, a practical guy. No airs or graces, and no lip.

I moved into the house 2 weeks ago, and I’m very happy with it.

Meanwhile I see that my architect friend has had his other ‘major contract’ flop. All work stopped on the site before the foundations were dug. I expect he’s sufferring now, like so many others in your business. Perhaps he’s gone bust. Good riddance.

Looking back on YOUR comment, one can see now the ARROGANCE and HUBRIS of your profession, and I admit to feeling a warm glow inside that you also are probably now on your uppers.
15% flat rate fees on a residential dwelling? You were creaming it for too long. What a gravy train it was for you.

All gone now.

Pity it didn’t happen earlier.

You can’t judge an entire profession based on your experience of what you yourself called a USELESS muppet.

From re reading this thread, your architect seems to have been a particularly inflexible and unprofessional character.

However, it also seems that you had the house pretty much fully designed and purely needed someone to draw it up and lodge it for planning permission. There was obviously a misunderstanding as to the function of the architect and this is why a very clear definition of scope of works is always extremely important. Everyone needs absolute clarity about their role in the project.

You also clearly do not understand the amount of time and effort needed to design and build a house – their budgets make it extremely difficult for an architect to profit from doing one off houses – even when ‘creaming’ 15% fees.

Your final comments are discourteous and churlish in the context of half of our profession – many with families, mortgages etc – now in the dole queues . Just because you’re feeling bitter and resentful for your own mistaken choice of a bad architect don’t tarnish the rest of us with the same brush and it’s horrible to wish poverty and hardship on anyone.