Architect problem - I want a refund

2 years ago

Hi there,

We’ve had major problems with our architect and so we have dropped them and began with another at substantial cost.

Problems we had:

Produced only one concept that did not fit the brief nor listen to our conversation about what we wanted in general. The design looked good and they said we could reconfigure it no problem.

So we said ok. We thought this would be another concept however apparently not as they then billed us for a the developed design phase.

They delayed the initial concept by a month meaning we completely missed our chance to start build before winter.

They did not know we lived in a conservation area until 6 months in.

I ended up designing the layout on the first floor as they could not produce anything good.

It took too long to be happy with the rest of the internal layout so I agreed for them to produce elevations with the agreement of finishing the internal layout after planning.

Produced elevations that were very different to 3D renders. Windows all over the place.

Charged me for redoing it.

Got planning permission and on the date it was due to go through they informed us the project would cost £100k more than our initial budget.

Our new architect has told us the main feature of the design is non building reg compliant.

The whole process has been like pulling teeth. This architect is award winning and is supposed to be design led with a decent portfolio for the region we live in.

I’m becoming increasingly aware that we’ve been completely fleeced here. We are living in a house in a bad state of disrepair with two kids. It’s been a real hard slog. They’ve put a year on the project to date and charged us a premium.

Is there anything I can do/should do?

Thank you!

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Comments (4)

Jonathan
2 years ago
In the first instance write to the architect to ask for a refund. State your reasons which would be primarily that their product was not fit for purpose because it did not meet your budget, it did not meet building regs and because there were inconsistencies between what was discussed at concept stage and what was delivered it has failed to meet expectations. The delays and their failure to understand the local planning environment were also disappointing.

Should you get nowhere with them then you can go to their Governing body (you can tell from their website who they are affiliated with). You can only do this route after you have demonstrated efforts to resolve it with the practice directly.

You may not be successful though as it may well be that their design was fit for purpose and your perception of it not being as per your brief could be subjective.
Ula Smith
2 years ago
Thank you for the advice. Im nervous to do this but feel its the right thing to do. There are too many ommisions to ignore. We have a new architect and we are working hard to adapt the design to reduce the cost. Im feeling quite tired after the exprience and so thinking if it would be ok to chase it up once we've at least got our design finished and our technical package complete with the new architect and then try and chase this up with our old one?

Could they legitimately object to us adapting the design which is their intellectual property? The new architect has already contacted them to make sure there were no outstanding issues. Maybe that was more checking us out , i dont know.
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Jonathan
2 years ago
I think you have continued to work on the same design. And you have alerted the first architect that you are doing this.

I think it’s now difficult to claim that you completely reject his design and efforts and so I think it’s unlikely you will get a full refund- most likely a goodwill gesture is now the best you can hope for.
Ula Smith
2 years ago
Good point, however if we could have used thier design we would have. Currently Im paying and architect from the concept stage again but to work wiothin the parameters of our planning permission. Im not sure if it is the same design as everything is being changed quite drastically. Inside is completely different and the structure being reduced. We are simpley trying to work within the parameters of the planning permission. I dont want to take up our current architects time asking him about it but maybe will have a short discussion with him. Thanks again

Architect problem - I want a refund

Comments (4)

Jonathan

Ula Smith

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