Why should I care who's doing my drawings?

Yet again I find myself revisiting my blog many months after I last posted - apologies!

As some of you might have picked up, I am trying to complete a series of blogs entitled "What should you look for from your Architect" the first of which can be found here, who knew that doing a series would take so long!

Earlier in the series I covered why I thought it was important that anyone looking to appoint an Architect should ask questions about their qualifications, memberships and Professional Indemnity Insurance cover. In this post I want to explore why it is important that you know who is actually going to be working on your project - hence the title "Why should I care who's doing my drawings?" 

The actual question that I posed in my original post was: "Would you be actually working on my project yourself or would other people in your office actually be doing the work, if so, what are their qualifications and how will you be checking their work?"

So, you've decided to build an extension, new house, office etc and have made contact with a couple of local Architects (always go local they'll probably be cheaper and know your local Planning Department, Building Control officers and local builders) and have asked them to come over to have a look at your site* and now you're face to face with a very presentable person who seems to know what they're talking about and, frankly, you're convinced that this firm is "the one"!

*note: Most Architects will happily come out to your site and spend about an hour with you without charging you for the privilege, if they won't then go elsewhere as these firms are likely to charge you for ever last minute of their time! Visiting site gives us a chance to understand your site and you and to work out just how big the project is, how complicated the site is and whether we are going to be able to work constructively with you - all factors that affect the fee that we charge - remember we are selling our time and expertise!

So, back to the narrative;

Imagine, having signed up to work with the nice Architect you met on site, that you then meet the person who is actually working up your dream project and you discover that they are fresh from University, don't have a clue about what you want or how to build it and, worst of all, are wearing a dirty Arsenal shirt - not quite what you had been led to expect!

Most architectural firms will have staff with a wide range of qualifications and experiences and the fact that the chap working on your scheme is not very experienced is not, in itself, a major problem as long as they are being properly supervised by someone who is properly qualified and experienced.

So why should you ask the question that I posed at the top of this post - frankly because you need to know that the project is in safe hands. A good practice will have systems in place to ensure that staff with less experience are being guided, mentored and encouraged as they develop within the business and that all the work that they produce is being checked thoroughly by a qualified, Registered Architect.

If the nice, well presented person in front of you is not able to answer the question without looking a bit shifty then walk away - you don't need to be employing a salesman as well as an Architect!