Is architect quote reasonable?

[snoozee 98]

1 hour ago, TheAttorney said:

Hi snooze, 

How does it work to engage an architect? Do they work like contractors/Builders whereby they will drop by and view the place, and we send them the floor plan and they let us know the estimate? 

Would you be able to share what you are aware?

thank you

I’m not an architect by profession so I can’t really speak for how they work. But it does make sense to do a site visit to see the existing house especially when it is a reconstruction project. Cos even with floor plan, some things may not be shown on the plans especially if the house is old. 

They will definitely need the existing site plans and floor plans of the existing house. It will also be useful to purchase the SIP and DIP from PUB as well. These 2 plans don’t cost much and you will need them eventually whether it’s the architect or builder you’re engaging. For site plan/cadestral plan, if you have already taken over the house, you can download them for free from SLA website. Else need to buy as well. Existing floor plans if the previous owner don’t have, you need need to buy them from BCA. BCA will charge you a search fee. After the search is done, you will be informed and then you can purchase the plans from them then download the soft copy plans. 

Basically from the various plans, the architect will be able to advise you on how much you can extend your existing house, assuming you want to max out the GFA.  The PUB plans are needed to determine if you have a public sewer running through your land and whether your land is affected by any drainage reserve or not. If you have a public sewer running through your land, you will need to build a RC trench to protect the sewer should you decide to extend your house over the sewer. Note that if you choose not to build a trench, you are only allowed to extend the structure up to 1m away from the sewer. The trench will be additional cost so it will be a choice of pay more $$ for more GFA or save $$$ but lesser additional GFA. 

Of cos don’t expect an architect to provide you a full set of plans/design if you have not signed a contact with them. Most likely you will only be given a rough additional GFA calculation based on the floor plans which will then translate to an estimate construction cost. 

[MONICA74 0]

Be careful of this Andrew Mah above. 

[MONICA74 0]

In fact, this Andrew MAH is the project manager of MAXZO! He just pretended to sound like he was one of his clients.