Life of an architect

Investing in a new building or renovating existing premises is a major undertaking involving important decisions and significant financial outlay.

For you, the end result is all important. To achieve the best outcome, you’ll need to think to think about design, materials, getting the work done, managing the project, getting value for money and dealing with a long list of statutory and regulatory requirements.

And, if something goes wrong, you need to know that you can seek redress.

The only way to ‘tick all the boxes’ is to use a fully-qualified architect to design and manage your project.

‘Architect’ - a Legally Protected Term

Most people don’t know that the term ‘Architect’ can be used only by a fully-qualified professional. That’s the law and there are good reasons for it. Architects train for at least 7 years and need to gain experience before they can practice individually. It’s easy to be misled by terms like ‘architectural’ or ‘architecture’, but people who use these terms are usually not architects.

Protection for You

This really matters, as all architects must have professional indemnity insurance. This means that you’ve no need to worry, as you are protected and will be compensated in the unlikely event that something your architect is responsible for goes wrong.

But the best protection you can have lies in the professional skills and knowledge of your architect. Architects are required keep their design skills and professional knowledge up to date through continuous professional development.

Stress Free Construction

There are other good reasons for using a ‘real’ architect.

Value for money is an important issue for everyone and an architect’s skills and knowledge can save you money, by bringing down constructions costs, reducing ongoing running costs (very important as the price of energy rockets) and increasing the long-term value of your property, through its aesthetic, practical and construction qualities.

An architect is a in a position to take complete responsibility for the management of your project from design brief to completion. This includes design work, dealing with planning and other statutory and regulatory issues, providing expert advice on materials’ choice, dealing with other professionals who may be involved in the project and helping to select a builder.

Most importantly, you’ll end up with a building that looks good, feels good and meets the latest standards. And you’ll have saved yourself a lot of work, worry and stress.