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You are thinking of building your Dream Home and are considering if you need to hire an architect. It is legally required that your house is designed and supervised till completion by a registered architect.
However why is it that many are not aware of this and they rely on the advice of their friendly contractor that they can design and build their house for a lump sum price based on an agreed set of design and specifications? Many consider the services of an architect as expensive and unnecessary. Why do you need to pay someone so highly when you already know what you want in your Dream Home? All you need is a trust-worthy contractor to execute it according to your liking. After all there are countless issues of magazines and books brimming with ideas on the interiors and even plans that you could select, put together and get the contractor to build from, right?
The other popular method is building your house through a trusted ‘Designer’, a term used by those who do not have the qualification or credentials to call themselves as architects. They put together a team of consultants, suppliers and contractors and offer a one-stop solution for what is commonly known as a Design-and Build or Turnkey Contract.
There are many disadvantages of these sorts of arrangements and here are 10 reasons that need to be considered.
The Price
A lump sum price given to you by the Design-and-Build contractor or consortium already includes the fees of the architect, designers and engineers plus the contract management fee and profits. There is no transparency to see where your money is going. The reason why it can appear cheap is because the architect used by the contractor charges a nominal fee to help with the submission and obtaining the approvals. He has very little involvement in the project and leaves the bulk of the work to be done by the contractor/designer team. If your contractor is both your consultant and builder then there is no check and balance and you will find there are many hidden costs that will only reveal itself later as you do not have full breakdown of the costs required to complete the house.
The Quality
In Malaysia particularly contractors are not governed by a body that regulates its licensing. As such it is very difficult to gauge the quality, especially for lay people when they are not able to decide what constitutes acceptable workmanship and what does not. Your only gauge is word-of-mouth and recommendations but this is a huge risk to take, considering you are spending millions in building a once-in-a-lifetime house. Once the price is agreed and works commence and if you are not happy with the quality of works there is little avenue for you in terms of what action can be taken, as you do not have an architect who can act as a quasi-arbitrator to make judgement calls on workmanship and quality. If communications and negotiations fail to resolve the issues, you are left with no alternative but to seek legal recourse which could be a lengthy and expensive affair.
The Design
There is little difference in buying a house from a developer and building one with the help of a contractor with the absence of an architect. The quality and expectations are very similar in both scenarios, the main difference being that in the latter the plans can be done according to the requirements of the client. Quite often contractors will ask the client what ‘pattern’ they like, be it classic style with Roman columns or ’Modern style’ with flat roof or ‘Traditional style House’ with pitched roofs etc. The choices are not many and there is zero innovation or creativity expressed in the design. A client who does not understand design will simply choose Type A, B or C or a combination of them and will end up with an ordinary house that does not reflect the personality and lifestyle of its owner and one that is devoid of a soul.
Ultimately a well designed house is timeless and will always hold its value in the future, as good design sells and has better re-sale value.
The Materials Used
In a Design-and-Build Contract the price is determined at the very beginning. After the agreed plans are draughted, 3D perspectives and visuals produced, the client will be given a simple specification of finishes and materials used with the quoted price. Should the client decide to change the finishes during the works for whatever reason then they pay a Variation Order (VO) for the upgrade or change of material. To many, this is simple and good enough for them to sign off on the final price after negotiating a discount. What is not revealed is the detailed specifications. For example the type and brand of the water-proofing may not be revealed. The type and brand used can vary significantly in price. The contractor will explain that this is a standard material used for all their projects but will eventually use the most cost- effective product. Another example is the aluminium windows used may be of a standard brand and the client will not be given the choice to select the aluminium section thickness, the type of powder-coating, the accessories and locksets or whether they are China or Italian made. These are just two examples, but in a house this list can run to countless items from the type of paint, varnishes, adhesives, tiles, type of lumber or timber, doors, locksets, type of pipes used in the plumbing works, type of glass, silicone sealant, skirting details, handrail detail, main gate detail, fencing, autogate sytem, lighting and wiring, type of water pumps used etc. Multiply that with the fact that they will be using the cheapest product you can gauge the hidden cost and value in which you have lost simply because you were not given the choice to decide where your money is going.
The Lack of Individuality
The fact that your Dream Home is designed and built by a contractor, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be little innovation or unique character or detail used in the house. Most of the details will be standard details used on their previous projects and everything will be done to protect their interest especially in terms of cost. Your house will end up looking the same with slight variation from their other projects. The whole point of building your own individual house is to avoid having to buy standard cookie-cutter type houses offered by most developers; ultimately the Design- and -Build Contractor is offering a similar product. The reason is that the Design and Build Contractor will not come up with new or inventive ideas due to fear of not being able to commit to the cost, and they will tend to take the safe, uninspiring solution that works for them. An architect however will try to use innovation (and experiment to a certain extent) with new materials but would inform the client of the benefits as well as the risks in which the client will make the final call.
The Carbon Foot-Print
When you build your house on a vacant plot of land, you inevitably contribute to destruction of the natural landscape and add on to the world carbon-footprint. The irony is that when we commit to building a house we create a home that will last generations, yet we forget that it is also our responsibility to reduce the impact it cause to the environment. It is our responsibility to ensure that the Earth is not subsequently destroyed for the future generations we intended the house for in the first place. Contractors do not have the expertise to consider sustainable design in their proposal to you. Their only priority is to use the most cost effective materials and will not consider selection of low-carbon materials, building orientation to capture the breeze or window positions in relation to the sun-path etc or any other innovation to create a green home. An architect is trained and has a social responsibility in protecting our habitat and the environment and will go the extra mile to ensure that the environment takes priority.
The Lack of Transparency
Unlike a traditional procurement system for construction where the architect calls for a tender and invites a number of contractors to provide a detailed price breakdown in the building tender process, a Design-and-Build Contractor provides only his price with no detailed breakdown. There is no way to check how competitive the prices are without an apple-to-apple comparison. This lack of transparency ultimately translates to higher costs as there is no competition for the contractor to ensure fair prices.
The Lack of Accountabilty
As mentioned earlier the Design-and-Build Contractor or so called Designers, are not governed by any legislative bodies. As such when things go wrong their liability is only limited to the contractual agreement in which you have signed with them. Many can close down over night or declare bankruptcy when faced with a legal suit they are not able to handle, therefore it is quite common for these contractors to abandon the works when there are unresolved disputes. When an architect is appointed directly by the client, the architect owes a duty of care that goes beyond the terms of their appointment, not only to the client but to the general public as building safety issues can affect others. He is accountable to the Board of Architects in ensuring he has acted in a professional manner in all his dealings and has been fair to both the client and the contractor.
The Conflict of Interest
In a Design-and-Build contract, the client has an agreement directly and only with the contractor. The contractor in-turn has an agreement with the consultants which includes the architect and engineers for the production of drawings and obtaining the necessary approvals as well as carrying out the necessary inspections to certify the building as safe and fit for occupancy. As the consultant team including the architect are appointed by the contractor and not the client, they will take instruction only from the contractor and will act in the best interest of the contractor NOT the client. This is what is known as ‘conflict of interest’ as the contractor’s consultants will never act in the best interest of the client but rather the contractor.
The Piece de Resistance
An architect’s specially curated and designed house will always be a work of art at least to the best abilities of the architect, as he is appointed by the client to create something specifically for the client based on his needs and his vision of his dream home. The contractor on the other hand will produce a house based on the contractual agreement with his client always ensuring that the cost and profits are in check. There is no pride once the house is completed, it is and will always be just another job.
The above is a brief summary of things to consider before considering buying a property or piece of land to build your Dream Home. The journey to achieving the successful completion depends on a lot of factors however the most important one is the team of consultants followed by the quality of the contractor that you hire, neither of which should be compromised.
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