Implications of changing the architect for new construction?
Mikey
5 years ago
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Virgil Carter Fine Art
5 years agoUser
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Want to change architects, any legal advice?
Comments (15)The AIA agreement is designed to prevent an owner from firing the architect before construction documents are complete and building the project with incomplete documents that bear the name of the architect. The architect can submit an affidavit to the town stating that he/she is no longer responsible for the project but the drawings are in the hands of the owner and it is virtually impossible to get them back without a court order and someone willing to enforce it. In 40 years of practice I have never heard of that happening. There is no realistic way to prevent someone from using a set of drawings. I once saw a building permit issued for my drawings with "NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION" in 2" high letters printed diagonally across the entire drawing. And believe me the architect can still be held responsible by a third party for damages no matter how unrelated they might be to the architect's involvement. A good friend of mine was sued and his insurance carrier settled for $10,000 after a backhoe pulled a gas line out of a house and the house exploded. All he had done was to provide a schematic design sketch as a favor for the contractor. If you are going to hire a highly trained, licensed professional, you should expect to be asked to respect the unusually high level of responsibility and liability attributed to him/her by law and by the public (ie juries) and to allow the architect reasonable control of his/her work product. In my experience, large owners like universities and hospitals request CAD files of the documents for future reference and maintenance programs but they pay a substantial fee for that priviledge and limitations for the use of those documents are included in the agreement. I can't imagine why an architect would do that for a house. As I said before, this is simply a negotiation so don't make it into something more complicated. The best way to approach any construction negotiation is to first ask all parties to commit to the best interests of the project. Then be as fair as possible to the interests of the parties. That has always worked for me....See MoreNew construction - how to know details of construction?
Comments (54)Jackie, You started in the right place. Ask questions on this board. There are a lot of resources available from the experts and those who have been on both sides of the hammer. We will tell you when it's something to really worry about. Respect is a two way street. Hire the best people that you can find. Let them do their job. Monitor what they do. Question things if you don't understand them. Ask if there is an alternate way of doing things. Be flexible. Trust, but verify. Understand that the really good professionals are always busy, but never too busy to answer a sincere question. If something doesn't seem right, ask about it. Don't be afraid to ask why? Question every one of your decisions by asking if there is a better way to complete something? When you are asked to make a decision, give it quickly and decisively. If you don't know the answer, tell them you don't know or don't understand. If you encounter something that you don't like, and you will, talk about it with the GC. Let your GC handle the subs. It's his job to yell at them, not yours. That's what they get paid to do. The GC gets paid to answer to your satisfaction unlimited questions. Try not to bother the subs too much. Always be friendly. A sense of humor will go a long way to get through this process....See MoreHiring Architects: Working Remotely *and* Supervising Construction?
Comments (26)I think something is lost here, so I'm going to try to explain my thoughts.... I understand a lot of folks don't consider architects or designers "necessary" during the construction of a house. I get that. I want one to be involved in my house for many reasons. Aesthetic issues arise, and unless the builder is intimately familiar with the architectural style, I want decisions to be made that respect the style. I know this is weird, but I don't want to simply pick an alternative item that I like (or that the builder likes), to find out later that it isn't historically respectful. We see various aspects of a house not built to drawings/specs quite often here on this forum, and I'd like having someone more knowledgeable than me to bounce things off of. I don't want to make mountains out of molehills. I also don't want to accept something that really should be addressed. It is impossible for me to acquire the education, skills, and experience of either an architect or a builder. Each of the two have different -- yet complimentary -- skill sets that I appreciate. A holistic, co-creative, interconnected approach of building a home appeals to me. What I mean by that is, I like the idea of creating something awesome with a team of people who are all emotionally invested. I would not want to work with an architect who had no interest in being involved and seeing his baby grow. I would not want to work with a builder who was too proud to not welcome the artist to the gallery....See MoreHVAC for architect-designed new construction in MA
Comments (11)We faced similar issues with our build (http://bamasotan.us/2018/11/decisions-decisions-and-ducting/) that sounds like a similar 4 level with lots of steel and LVL's to yours. We did have a meeting with our Builder, HVAC, Architect, and structural engineer to work out these issues. Many issues were worked out (replaced an LVL with steel to allow ducts to get through, changed truss spacing, etc.) but some things didn't get resolved in that meeting that they still needed to work on and everyone said that they would. We talked about a number of alternatives but the trade-offs were all such that sticking with standard forced air was the better decision. We do have in-floor heat (minimal cool if needed) throughout the lower level in addition to forced air. We were quite unpleasantly surprised to find ducts run up a corner of our dining room and through my master closet. We had a couple of meetings to look at alternatives but in the end the recommendation was to keep them and work around them. I'm still quite concerned and unhappy about what impact this will have on the dining room and the loss of space in my closet. The only other 'issue' is that one of the HVAC systems is located above my closet and so nearly above our master bedroom. We were assured by the HVAC folks that they'd be able to isolate everything enough that it'll not bother us with noise or vibration when sleeping. I'm quite nervous about it but for now am relying on their word. * BTW, I didn't look over the structural drawings in much detail but was quite surprised when framing began that there were trusses over non-structural walls. Typically this is avoided (and usually not difficult to avoid) since it creates problems for getting HVAC, plumbing and sometimes electrical in to those walls....See MoreUser
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