by audrey » Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:44 pm
For our current house renovation project, we dealt with David Burgess at Burgess Mean Architects. He helped us with securing planning permission and drawings for building regulations. We already had a good builder lined up (who helped us on two other projects), so there was no need for contract specification work, as we knew pretty much what we wanted, quite in detail. And we also decided not to use the project management services as I'm currently at home and I can dedicate my attention full-time ("how hard can it be?", "better deal directly with the builder" mentality). But each project has its challenges and so far it has proved to be a very stressful job, always being asked to make quick decisions, no time for changing your mind, as it will prove costly, etc. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone the full scope and not try to save on the additional fees (so much easier just to focus on the nice things - kitchen design, bathroom fittings, rather than on the mundane decisions on lights position, radiators, drain pipes, etc.)
For our current house renovation project, we dealt with David Burgess at Burgess Mean Architects. He helped us with securing planning permission and drawings for building regulations. We already had a good builder lined up (who helped us on two other projects), so there was no need for contract specification work, as we knew pretty much what we wanted, quite in detail. And we also decided not to use the project management services as I'm currently at home and I can dedicate my attention full-time ("how hard can it be?", "better deal directly with the builder" mentality). But each project has its challenges and so far it has proved to be a very stressful job, always being asked to make quick decisions, no time for changing your mind, as it will prove costly, etc. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone the full scope and not try to save on the additional fees (so much easier just to focus on the nice things - kitchen design, bathroom fittings, rather than on the mundane decisions on lights position, radiators, drain pipes, etc.)