Pet Peeve # 1- The illegal addition/ unit/ remodel

26. February 2009 by admin.

I recalled a conversation I had a few months ago at the local YAF meeting.  Somebody brought up the topic of illegal remodels and their ilk and how they often get calls from these owners to have the drawings done for them (after the fact).

I have had quite a few of those calls over the years.  The gist of it is that a commercial or residential building was remodeled without obtaining the proper building permits.  Something that is fairly common.  Truth of the matter is that you don’t need an architect to design most homes (you do on commercial projects) and most people don’t see the need.  The problems is that you still need to ensure that the building meets code.

So along comes the building department and slaps the owner with a fine and requires they submit for a proper permit.  The first thing the owner does is to call around the usual retinue of local architects they Googled.

So herein lies the problem.  They never wanted to obtain a permit in the first place because they didn’t want to pay for it.  They see no need for it and for the most part believe it is an imposition.  This viewpoint then carries over to having to use an architect.  They see no need for one and don’t think they should have to pay for their services.  So the first question out of their mouth is, ” How much do you charge to ….?”

Not so much as a,”Hi, how are you doing?”  Well, how do you expect me to know how much to charge if I don’t even know what the project is about?  Plus we don’t just throw numbers out there hoping for it to stick.  We actually have to consider the scope of the work, the budget, the client’s needs, the site, regulatory requirements, zoning, etc before we even start to work the numbers.

One other thing.  For some reason if a contractor tells you that they know what they are doing because they have been building for 25 years, everyone is more than happy to believe them.  Well if they really knew what they were doing, how come you just got slap for that illegal unit?  Yet nobody wants to listen to the architect.

No architect worth his/her salt will take on the project and “just draw what’s there”.  They just took on a whole bunch of liability and risks for something they didn’t do.  Just because it was built does not mean it was built right.

If you want to do something, do it right the first time.  Trying to cheap out tends to end up costing you a whole lot more.  If you already made the mistake once, then listen to the architect that agrees to work with you this time around and don’t expect the process to be a slam dunk.  Man, I can talk about the sushi restaurant that ended up paying double what they expected because they didn’t get the design approved by the local health department.  But that’s another story.

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