How much would you expect to pay an architect?

[HeartShapeStone]

Hi, looking for people with more experience in this area than I have. I'm planning, what should be, a very simple extension. Knock out wall at side of house, add extra space to turn small kitchen into big kitchen/diner, possibly a downstairs loo and porch if we can squeeze them in. All should be permitted development, so plans only have to be approved for building regs, not planning permission.

So, first question is do we need an architect (most people seem to say yes, even for simple extensions, so I'm assuming we do)?

Should the size/simplicity make a difference to the cost?

Is it worth shopping around and getting several architect quotes, the same way you would with builders?

You don't need an architect as that will cost you a fortune, you just need someone who will do the dwgs for you and sort the building regs.

Ask around for recommendations. DH does this as a second job and he charges £13-£1500 if it needs planning/PD dwgs but an architect will be double that in my experience. If you know what you want then you don't need an architect design service.

We paid £500 for an architect to do drawings, first set for planning and second set for building regs. We also paid an engineer £300 to do his part. Based on what others on here have told me, this was really cheap. We start our build on June 9th. If you are anywhere near Birmingham then message me and I can pass on his details.

Unfortunately nowhere near Birmingham! We've got a quote which is going to be just over £2000 (including the structural engineer bit).

Anne - is your DH a technical drawer? (is that what you call someone who does technical drawings? It doesn't look right written down - too much like a chest of drawers!) Where would I go about finding someone like this, if I don't know anyone locally who can recommend?

I have now found a friend who only paid £300 for architect services. He did forget a window, but this was rectified before plans went to the builders.

Given I just want a rectangular box and I'm happy to check the plans to ensure all the windows I've asked for are included, would I be crazy to use this guy? We'd still need a structural engineer to do the complicated calculations, so he's unlikely to be able to make any mistakes which would make the whole thing structurally unsound...

Sounds good to me-ask him if he can do what you want & maybe ask to speak to a happy customer if you're worried :)