How much for drawings?

[SillyBlueHat]

We've had recommendations for draughtsman that range in cost for anything between £500 - £2000. How much did you pay, what did you get and were you happy?

I thought the indecision would come later on in proceedings!

We're planning a 2 story extension by the way

For our 2 storey extension we talked to RIBA (architects association) first and they told us that it can cost up to 10% of the value of the build. In our case that would have been 15k.

The first architect we used would have cost £2000, but he just didnt understand what we wanted (a barn type extension). He came round, sounded like he understood, several weeks later he produced drawings which were nothing like we'd agreed. After several reiterations and disagreements we fired him. He tried to get us to pay for all the work he'd done, bloody cheek as he'd done what the hell he wanted, not what we'd asked. Eventually settled on a figure to pay him.

Second architect cost £2500 and did exactly what we wanted, but quite slowly.

We got PP, but now we need building regs and the architect cant even start those drawings until August. Another £2500 aswell.

We paid about £1k plus VAT. Large 2 storey side & back extension, revised 3 or 4 times to get through planning.

I was really lucky and got a graduate who had done many projects while at Uni but hadn't been snapped up in the 2 months since he left. He has done a whole house and all planning etc via council for about £2,300 and will drop in to check proceedings for additional hourly fee. Was v.lucky though as he is now working for a local firm who make him charge a LOT more, but we are still with him independently.
If you can find someone who has experience and just out of Uni looking for projects then that may well work out cheaper, as long as you know exactly what you want as they may need a little guidance (but not loads) :) It was a win win really as I think my house helped his portfolio which in turn secured his job, so I felt good about that and know I didn't con him.

Oh and only had to revise plans twice :)

£1500 for two storey side and rear and a loft conversion, revised several times and steered through planning permission.

An architect will be more expensive than a draftsperson due to the fact that they have insurance, a guaranteed minimum level of qualifications (which is very high) and must adhere to professional standards. These are a legal requirement for architects and they can get fined or struck off.
However anybody in theory can call themselves a draftsperson so some may be good, others worse than useless.
I would always try to go for a personal recommendation, a meeting with somebody and ask for examples of their work. Going for the cheapest option may sometimes cost more money if they don't know what they are doing.
I'm not saying all architects are superior (I am one and know many so I also know they ate fallible) just that they have to meet a level of standards and there is some recourse if it goes wrong. Jo Blogs draftsperson is unlikely to have any recourse. I'd use the above check for anybody working on something as precious as my home... Not just price.

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