When looking to renovate your home, hiring an architect Cheshire is an obvious choice, but how do you find the right one?
Hiring an architect Chester can be quite expensive. You may think that hiring one may be slightly out of your price range but considering their knowledge and expertise it can be more valuable to you in the long term.
Did you know that hiring an architect could actually save you money too? Due to their technical knowledge, they are able to help you to negotiate with building regulations, party wall agreements and manage your project from start to finish, saving you valuable time and money.
Architects will have a portfolio of past clients meaning they have a good spectrum of tradespeople that they can negotiate with to achieve better prices. They can also save you money in the long term by future-proofing your home to make it more energy-efficient which can even increase your property’s value.
To find an architect, the best place to start would be to visit Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) website. Once you have shortlisted local architects you can then explore further by looking at their online portfolios and the experience that they have.
It is also a good idea to meet with architects before you get your heart set on one, to see how you get on with them. It is important that you have a good working relationship with your architect to ensure success.
Once you have established who you want to work with, the next step is to draw up a contract, making sure that your brief is as clear as possible. At this stage, you will establish how you will be paying them, whether it be a percentage of the total cost upfront or per hour.
Your architect will then go away and draft some plans that you can review prior to any more work is done. At this stage, it is important that you place your reservations and changes that you would like to make to the design. Remember to see the revised plans too before the finalised plans get sent to your local council for planning permission.
Once all is finalised, your architect will draw up plans for your builders and building control. Make sure that before you start asking builders for quotes, you have the plans ready so they know exactly the extent of work they are quoting for.
