Architect vs Builder: A valuable house design tip that can save you thousands of dollars
Do you want to know a valuable house design tip? It’s not your standard design tip, but it can definitely save you thousands of dollars when it comes to designing your home.
Select your builder before you choose your architect.
We know, it sounds a little counterintuitive but trust us, the best advice we can give you when it comes to designing your new home is to choose your builder before you start working with an architect.
Why? Simple… Because going to an architect before speaking to a builder is potentially going to cost you a lot of money and you may not end up any closer to having the home of your dreams.
Well, technically, you’ll have the home of your dreams on paper. What we should say, is you may not end up any closer to the house you can realistically afford. Because architects are great at designing homes. Not so great at keeping your budget in mind or even knowing how much it costs to build a custom home. Builders, on the other hand, are immersed in the costs and know-how of building houses on a daily basis.
An architect will design a home to include everything you want. A builder will advise you on a home you can have that will fit into your budget.
So, if you go to an architect first, they are going to ask you all the questions about your home…
- How big you want it to be
- What you want to include
- What design styles you like
- What details are important to you
And they will talk you through all the details you need to know when designing a home…
- Working with the size, shape and slope of your land
- The orientation of your home
- The best layout and flow for your family and lifestyle
All important questions right? But sometimes, they miss asking the most important question of all… What is your budget?
Even if they do ask what your budget is, anyone who has used an architectural service before knows that draft plans go through multiple stages and revisions. Once concept plans are created, the project takes a life of its own, ideas start flowing and the budget gets lost somewhere between the kitchen layout and the lighting plan.
How about double doors here… Or a bigger window there… What if we raise the ceiling height or widen the hallways? These are all great ideas. But by idea 157 and revision 18, does anyone even remember what the budget was?
Architects are simply not cost-focused. Don’t get us wrong, they are great at design and can produce some beautiful home designs that may be perfect for the homeowner, but rarely do they factor in the cost to build the home.
And that is why up to 70% of all architecturally designed homes are not built. That’s right — 70%! Architects may be great visionaries and deliver you a perfect set of plans that showcases your perfect house, they are not so great at the practicalities of building. Very few know just how much it actually costs to build their perfectly designed plans.
Think about it. An architect is paid whether you end up using the plans or not. And their goal is to bring your dream home to life.
So, after all the ideas and all the revisions, you may have your dream home laid out on paper… Everything documented in beautifully presented, well-thought-out plans… But that beautifully designed home could end up being very expensive to build.
And usually you won’t find this out until after the plans are finalised. After you’ve spent a considerable amount of time going over the details and even money making sure the plans are just right.
It’s only when you go through the details with the builder, show them your plans and tell them your budget and you receive a ‘not possible on your budget’ conversation that you realise the mistake. The mistake of going to the architect before speaking to the builder.
And boy can it be a costly mistake… Sometimes up to $50,000. Depending on the amount of time you spent with the architect and the number of revisions made to the plans… Time and money that is difficult to recoup.
This is a common mistake. And the saddest thing of all is that while some homeowners will go back to the drawing board and have the plans revised to fit within their budget, a lot more will simply shelve the entire project. They will give up on the idea of building their own home and look at other options. When all they needed to do from the beginning was speak to the builder first.
Architect vs Builder — A better approach
It’s about now where you’re probably thinking, but if we go to a builder first, how will they know what to price if we don’t have plans? We get you. This is why we said this house design tip was a little counterintuitive. And why so many homeowners make this mistake. A builder is going to require some tangible information to be able to offer you more detailed pricing. This we can agree on.
And there is a way around this. There is a way to have the best of both worlds and fuse the vision of your home with the practicalities of building.
Speak to both the architect and the builder at the same time. Have your architect and builder work together on your project. The architect works on the design and overall concept of the home. The builder provides a breakdown of how the design will actually be built. And by working together they can make minor tweaks and modifications to the design to achieve the same or similar design aesthetic — all while staying within the constraints of your budget.
When your builder and your architect work together, you achieve:
- A design that is beautiful and functional
- A design that is affordable to build
So when building a home, remember, it’s more financially beneficial to choose your builder first. Then find an architect. And then get them to work together.
We told you this wouldn’t be a stock standard house design tip. It definitely won’t help you decide on paint colours or kitchen designs. But it will ultimately give you the best home build journey… Right from the start.
