Many people may wonder why they should hire an Architect. Some people may perceive that hiring an Architect is an extraneous cost in their building or remodel process. The truth is most cities don't require you to hire an Architect for residential projects, but as with anything in life, experience matters and in line with that adage, professional experience matters also.
It is an Architect's job to facilitate the client's ideas, interpret them and put them on paper in a way that the client can understand and a contractor can build. The following is a list of reasons for hiring an Architect for your project.
- Experience: An Architect comes to a project with a variety of experience in the building type and will be able to look at the project from several perspectives.
- Knowledge of budget: The Architect should always have the client's budget in mind and help direct the client so that they make the most effective choices for the money they are willing to spend or what the neighborhood can support.
- Knowledge of materials: The Architect has knowledge of materials and how they can be used and what the pros and cons are specific to the choices in a given application.
- Knowledge of trends: The Architect will know what design styles, layouts, materials and concepts that will give the client a design that they are looking for and will be salable in the future.
- Ability to extract abstract ideas of the client put them to paper for contractors to build: This is one of the main strengths of an Architect, their ability to take a clients ideas, sketches, dreams and put them into a form that can be discussed and refined and then into a format that a contractor can build.
- Architects can help solve problems inherent in the project or between differing opinions of the client's main decision makers.
- An Architect can save you money in the long run: Their profession experience in the construction process allows them to create an organizational timeframe in which both client and contractor can utilize the most from pre-planning meetings, discussions and also provide experience that will help prevent changes or disappointments with the design during the construction process.
- The Architect can act as the owner's agent during construction: The Architect can act as the owner's agent and advocate during the construction process between the contractor and owner to make sure the contractor is following the plans as per the owners request, settle minor disputes, clarify the plans on site.
- The Architect will help with aesthetic choices to improve the design: What each individual client finds aesthetically pleasing can be different for each person, but an Architect can take the basic set of principles of form, space, symmetry, and balance and help each individual find what they like and make it work for the desired outcome.
- Simplify decision process: A good Architect can take the multitude of decisions that need to be made over the course of the design and construction process and make them more manageable for the client.
- The Architect will understand the local and national codes: Every project has a set of parameters that are set up by the local and national codes for safety and for zoning purposes the Architect will help the client negotiate this maze and determine what can be done and how to make these items work for them.
- The Architect's experience in putting together accurate thorough drawings for bid: This is another of the main advantages of hiring an Architect. Putting together an accurate set of drawings is crucial in helping the contractor understand what the client wants and how it should be constructed. Accurate drawings are imperative for the speed and ease of construction. Remember time is money!
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