Cost Breakdown.

Planning Applications.

There is a lot of confusion on costs for getting a planning permission and architects fees do vary around the country. A quick search on the internet will find many upset clients who were quoted £700 and "now wants another £700 and I found out he's not even an architect" and here there is confusion. There are two main aspects in terms of the specialists for getting a planning permission: • The person who is going to do the survey / technical drawings • The person who is going to provide the knowledge of planning law These may be and often are the same person - but not always Firstly there are four categories of people who will apply for planning for you. 1. Young people who perhaps work in an architects practice but have set up a website from their home computer and will do the work at evenings or weekends - they may have very little experience or they may have been doing this for years and be very competent. 2. Qualified Architectural Technicians or Architectural Assistants who still may work for someone else and do it part time or as a full time job. 3. Planning Consultants will usually have a planning qualification, this relates to their knowledge of the planning regulations and they will sometimes do the drawings themselves or more usually employ an architectural Technician 4. Fully qualified Architects (RIBA) who would usually have their own business. The cheapest option is usually the first and they may be very good and have lots of experience however they may be lacking in some knowledge. Technicians who have 'moved up the ladder' in an architectural practice are usually earning sufficient money that they no longer want to work evenings and weekends. Qualified Architectural Technicians have the experience to provide the full service and so are usually the best option for getting the right job for the best price. Planning consultants can be more expensive as they usually have other staff to do some of the work so there are additional costs to be covered. Royal Institution of British Architects registered Architects will almost always be the most expensive option as the will have spent seven years at University to get qualified and they tend to want to work on the big contracts where they can use their creative flair for design - something not always needed on a garage or house extension!

Costs

The initial dilemma of the 'architect' wanting another payment is due to a lack of explaining that Planning Approval drawings are different to Building Regulation drawings. Planning is the the permission for you to build something in keeping with what the planners say fits the local area (this isn't always the case) Building regulations are the approval of construction details and ensure that you new extension is not going to collapse or is correctly insulated to current regulations. If you are quoted anything less than £1,000 for a full planning service then you will undoubtedly be falling into category 1. We fall into category 2. and feel that we are very competitively priced at £1,200. Prices vary dramatically around the country at anything between £1,000 and £3,000 Planning Consultant fees vary even more as it depends on who does the actual drawings. Architects usually charge on a percentage which is set under RIBA guidelines - these are usually between 5-15% of the contract value with smaller jobs being at the higher end of that percentage but a house extension is likely to cost between £3,000 to £5,000 with an RIBA Architect. We are happy to provide elements of the items required for planning applications such as existing plans or Ordnance Survey Sheets for you to do your own application but our full planning application fee of £1,200 includes any work required towards gaining the planning approval including Design and Access statements, plans, liaising with the local authority, searches and Ordnance Survey location plans (planners do sometimes ask for more details such as window sections, street scenes and sections or even site visits) but not the fees of other agencies: This means that should the Local Authority request Bat surveys, Flood risk assessments, traffic surveys, Tree surveys, structural surveys or indeed any other assessments from Archaeological to Water Quality, we will provide all the assistance to the authority and specialist company carrying out surveys but our fee doesn't cover the costs of that specialist company. There is no need to panic with this list! Most if not all may not be needed - Flood risk and Bat Surveys are the most common but if you live in a location where Great Crested Newts are likely to live or you think Richard III is buried under your car park then you should be aware that there may be further costs involved. We also do not include the local authority fees for either Planning application or Building Control (Building Regulations) We should also point out that Architectural Technicians tend to be positive about your chances of gaining an approval, this is mainly as they want to get the job and it makes no difference to them if planning is refused! Planning Consultants tend to be more pessimistic about the chances as they are concerned about their success record of gaining approvals - either way, it is the planning authority who have the final say (unless you take it to appeal and then it is the government planning inspector) who has the final decision. We try to give an honest opinion on your chances of getting approval and you should avoid anyone who says they WILL get an approval for you. We hope this helps ;-)