{"id":4333,"date":"2014-01-30T12:23:26","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T12:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markstephensarchitects.com\/?p=4333"},"modified":"2014-01-30T12:23:26","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T12:23:26","slug":"the-conundrum-of-the-initial-consultation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markstephensarchitects.com\/the-conundrum-of-the-initial-consultation\/","title":{"rendered":"The conundrum of the 'Initial Consultation'"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think i’m going to have to make a list of these ‘Architect Conundrums’<\/em>, here’s a cracker – The Initial Consultation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In order for an architect to get appointed the client needs to choose him\/her. They’d like to meet, discuss the project and see if they think they can get on.<\/p>\n

All good so far.<\/p>\n

But what if the client just wants to get a heap of ideas from different architects and then choose none of them? (I’m not joking)<\/p>\n

What if the client just likes talking about their project (that they’ve been discussing for the last ten years)? (again no jokes)<\/p>\n

When I first started working in Ireland I offered a ‘free consultation’<\/em> at your site. It became increasingly obvious that travelling across 6,868 square miles<\/strong> (for this is what Connacht is and I work beyond this) was economically unfeasible.<\/p>\n

Recently I’ve been providing initial consultations which are effectively feasibility studies on the viability of the client’s project from both a planning and financial aspect. This was intended to offer ‘broad-strokes’<\/em> of a design approach but was not intended to be a fully-fledged design with a full set of design drawings. This was costed at \u20ac400 + VAT. The problem was that many understood the level of typical fees an architect would charge but there were those who did not and were expecting a full set of drawings for a planning application at that price!<\/p>\n

So, where am I now? After a lot of deliberation I’m opting for an approach that seems popular with other architects too; an initial consultation to see the project, have a chat with no expectations of a design (hopefully); the charge for this will be on a project by project basis and depends on travel distance.<\/p>\n

I’m still very tempted however to provide an ‘initial ideas’<\/em> consultation but the problem is that this is the architects most valuable knowledge. It is this that separates the architects from the ‘plan-drawers’<\/em> and should not be given away or sold too cheaply.<\/p>\n

I’d love some feedback on this from both clients as well as architects as both a concept and the pricing…<\/p>\n

ps. I was meeting a solicitor recently (regarding maps and not as defendant I hasten to add) and there’s a large notice ‘An initial consultation costs \u20ac100’<\/em> and as the solicitor succinctly explained that it separated those that were serious from those that were not. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think i’m going to have to make a list of these ‘Architect Conundrums’, here’s a cracker – The Initial Consultation. In order for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5,15,17,21,22,40,53,59,62,70,73,76,78,79,80,81,85,97,100,117],"tags":[217,426,633,728,851],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe conundrum of the 'Initial Consultation' - MARK STEPHENS ARCHITECTS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.markstephensarchitects.com\/the-conundrum-of-the-initial-consultation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The conundrum of the 'Initial Consultation' - MARK STEPHENS ARCHITECTS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I think i’m going to have to make a list of these ‘Architect Conundrums’, here’s a cracker – The Initial Consultation. 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