When you get an Architect to plan an extension do you show them your own plans?

[united4ever]

Or do you tell give them more of a general idea of what you like, the space you want and how you live. Some of the plans you can do on Room sketcher are so good I worry that an Architect would more or less take the same plan and draw it up for planning. How much does an architect provide creative solutions and give you ideas you never even considered which improve the plan?

Also an Architectural Technician would be cheaper right? What's the difference in engaging and Architect or a Technician besides price and qualifications?

An architect would consult with you to determine your expectations of the final designs, you may well wish to show them your sketches. They will be able to possible enhance your ideas, for see problems and maybe be more creative.

Applying for planning permission and building regulations does involve more than just drawing plans and that is what you will be paying for.
An Archtectural technician will be cheaper, but they will not have the Professiona Indemnity Insurance that a practicing Arcitect must have. So if things go wrong, which they can, you would have little redress.

I agree with JT05 - and some will be OK with the fact that you've drawn up your own ideas, others not. And it is a lot more than a few drawings. Structural advice and cost estimating can be provided via them too, which you will need. And advice as to how much additional budget you might need to get it to the actual first hole dug stage....!

Are you an architect, JT05?

Ooh, that sounded accusatory, JT05 - didn't mean it that way, am just interested to find anyone on MN who is.....(professional nosiness....)

No, I'm married to one! Years of discussions about projects and buildings under my belt!

We just till the architect what we wanted rather than provide him with a sketch as we wanted to see what thoughts/ideas he would come up with - and to be fair he had much better ideas than us! Anyway along the way you can tweak things too.

We showed our architect a rough sketch and told him our budget. Within 10 minutes he'd explained that we couldn't afford what we wanted and had come up with a cheaper solution. He wasn't actually great when it came to running the build - we felt he was on the builder's 'side' rather than hours - but in terms of the actual concept and design he was fab.