Architect's Cost
My wife and I found a custom designed home on a web-site and want to print it off and then take it to an architect and have it tweaked, walls moved a foot here and there, etc. We want to use this architect for the final blueprints for our construction. Since the architect is being hired merely to tweak these plans, what is a reasonable cost for his services?
For more concise replies to this question....consider the entire construction/blueprints to be 2700 sq. ft. under beam and we currently reside in Southern Louisiana.
Thanks all!
In order to "tweak" he will have to redraw the plans so that means he has to do the entire thing. Call around and get some architect rates. If your municipality require an engineer to seal the plans ask the architect if he is also an engineer of if he works with one.
If you are getting the plans from coolhouseplans or some such they do offer "tweaking" and engineering certification and such
Try Design Tech. We have one in Covington. Plans run approx. $2200.00. Drafters average $0.75 a sq. ft. under roof to draw plans. I would imagine architects are priced higher because of their credentials. I used a drafter who had plans that I liked already drawn and a house that was built off of them to look at. I tweaked some walls but kept the footprint the same. Ran me $1,500.00
We took preliminary drawings to 4 different architects for new construction on a 3700sq/ft home.
The best deal we were offered was $1.07 per foot that included engineering, trusses, site plan, etc. A complete package.
The only extras that she was goint to charge for if we wanted were color artist's renderings. I can do w/o those, but some people want them as a "keepsake." I'm not sentimental--I'd rather put the extra money into into something important... Like NFL Sunday Ticket.
All that and we bought a "used" house.....
By law you better get a "license" to build such.
License, meaning buying a copy of the plan / right to use / build from the original architect / firm / company etc. and then "tweaking" it as you say.
Any 'tweaking" still belongs to the original company from which you bought the plans and not the designer or architect in which you hire.
While I know people will print a copy of a plan off of a site / magazine........if you fail to get permission then it can cost you literally hundreds of thousands of dollars if you are caught....as well as federal copy right laws that are being violated.
You may want to also consider a "home designer" over an architect. Most architects are pricey ....home designers are more resonable. If you can find one that has construction experience the better you are.
Just make sure they also understand load points etc.........."tweaking" often does effect the roof system which in turns will effect structural loads on the house.
There are also excellent programs you can purchase for you to do it yourself.
Also; if you purchase a plan......it is cheaper in the long run to purchase the CAD file, typically a DWG or DXF file of the plan that enables the architect or designer to make the changes quicker.
NC Yank
Quote:
On 2004-11-18 16:57, bargainupstairs wrote:
My wife and I found a custom designed home on a web-site and want to print it off and then take it to an architect and have it tweaked, walls moved a foot here and there, etc. We want to use this architect for the final blueprints for our construction. Since the architect is being hired merely to tweak these plans, what is a reasonable cost for his services?
For more concise replies to this question....consider the entire construction/blueprints to be 2700 sq. ft. under beam and we currently reside in Southern Louisiana.
Thanks all!
I'm building my first spec home as a contracter, not an employee or for myself, in fact the basement is being dug on Tuesday. I found a plan, had it tweeked and it cost $450.00 to have this done. I was told if we started from scratch it would be around $1,000 to $1,500 depending. I'm building an elaborate garage/shop for a local car collector. This garage (100x60) all finished interior, not storage) is going to have a bar, media room, etc.. very awesome museum like garage. It cost $2,000 to have plans drawn from scratch! The going rate where I live is about $70.00 per hour (Green Bay,WI).
Thanks for the feedback!
I believe I will ultimately save something on the tweaking of my plans, I just don't know how much. I don't yet know what an architect will credit for not having to go through the guesswork of what we want, etc. We'll find out soon enough.
That sounds like a cool garage!