{"id":2613,"date":"2012-10-05T09:35:16","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T09:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markstephensarchitects.com\/?p=2613"},"modified":"2012-10-05T09:35:16","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T09:35:16","slug":"architects-and-architectural-technologists-lets-work-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markstephensarchitects.com\/architects-and-architectural-technologists-lets-work-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Architects and Architectural Technologists – let’s work together…"},"content":{"rendered":"
Now I like my job. I like every aspect of my job; from the sketch design to the certification but in today’s market balancing everything out gets tricky. It’s a cut-throat business out there when architects are undercutting each other and the customer (sometimes) is just looking for the cheapest price. I don’t consider that I am the cheapest (especially when you take into account the retired woodwork teachers) and nor am I probably the most expensive – I have to charge a reasonable amount considering the level of service and time that I provide.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was posting that I was looking for work; now the post is possibly to get help with the work I currently have. Feast or Famine<\/em> – these seem to be the words the architect lives by. <\/p>\n The conundrum therefore is the perpetual question of when you should get staff and where do you put them? <\/p>\n Now as you may know I work from home; I designed a nice little office in a mezzanine in the roof space. I like working from home and I think it would be difficult for someone to travel here to work (plus I don’t think the ‘other-half’ would put up with it).<\/p>\n That got me to thinking about the relationship between Architects and Architectural Technologists.<\/p>\n Firstly Click here<\/a> for an explanation between an Architectural Technologist and an Architect on the BuildingDesignExpert<\/a> Blog<\/p>\n Now let’s look at the typical sequence of events in a domestic project in Ireland, I’ll thrown in a few other observations too as we go:<\/p>\n * I work to the RIAI Domestic Agreement which separates a project into 4 stages (I’ve changed the titles a bit to make it easier to follow):<\/p>\n 1. Inception\/Sketch Design Each stage is 25% of the project and also 25% of the fee.<\/p>\n * The Planning Permission is a key event; and (especially at the moment) it triggers a mad panic to get started. The bank will only process a mortgage when the planning permission is obtained and then only gives a 3 month window in order to complete working drawings, go out to tender, start on site and then do a significant amount of work in order to make the first ‘draw-down’. Absolutely crazy. It’s impossible to do that amount of work (remember more than 25% of the entire project) in that time-frame.<\/p>\n * Now I don’t think the client truly understands the amount of time stage 3 should<\/em> take and it led me to think that why don’t I use an Architectural Technologist at this stage.<\/p>\n I’m not looking for a CAD monkey, it would need to be someone that understands design and how to build and it seems that an Architectural Technologist would fit the bill perfectly.<\/p>\n * The trick now would be to resolve any conflict of competition and for the Technologist to work on a freelance basis ‘as and when’ the need arose. I would suspect also that the ideal candidate would need to have & use Vectorworks.<\/p>\n * Operating in this manner could free up time to obtain more work, which would benefit the both of us – win-win<\/p>\n * I don’t even think the ideal candidate needs to be in Ireland. There’s no reason why an Architectural Technologist in the UK (or further afield) wouldn’t be suitable. <\/p>\n Let me know what you think, and if you think you’re a candidate simply comment with your contact details and even if we don’t work together it’ll be a nice link for you.<\/p>\n A special thanks to:<\/p>\n wmdarchitecture<\/a><\/p>\n CIATechnologist<\/a><\/p>\n BD_Expert<\/a><\/p>\n Dantechnologist<\/a> <\/p>\n annvanner<\/a><\/p>\n MacmillanArc<\/a><\/p>\n CIATHub<\/a><\/p>\n ShropsArchitect<\/a><\/p>\n
\n2. Developed Design – Planning Application
\n3. Construction information – Tender
\n4. Construction – Contract, Inspection & Certification<\/p>\n