Your questions are all interrelated.
Fees
Each architect charges fees in line with the work done.
One fair way to do this is through the percentage fee basis.
The fee is calculated as a percentage of the nett build cost.
This can be in the 8-11% for private houses to take it to completion.
The fairness arises becase its tied to the cost of producing the house.
In this regard, fees during a recession should be lower than in a boom period.
That having been said, you can pay up to 20% in fees for house by a "name" firm.
The percentage also tends to decrease with substantial increases in cost.
Also if a significant proportion of the cost arises through use of exotic materials with little consequence for the design process [e.g. doing a pitched roof in copper as opposed ot slate], you could discuss a reduced fee.
Asking around will help you get a competitive fee quote for the basic service.
Whatever the fee, find out what it includes.
Site costs are almost always excluded.
Let's look at a smallish €200K house, .
€4,000 to planning lodgement is reasonable.
Exceptional pre-planning items may push this up.
A further €11,000 to final certification with tender drawings, limited inspections and administrating contract also seems about reasonable for a small house.
An Engineer, M&E and a QS might add five or six grand to that.
So say around €20K in professional fees on a €200K house [or large extension] = 10% fully certified.
Design Team
If you are going to operate on the level of "vision" [wish there were more people thinking like you are] you will be best served by a design team.
Engineers are not trained to design buildings, but the structure of buildings.
I always try and get the client to use an engineer for structure of houses.
You should use an architect AND an engineer on a visionary scheme.
If you want to push the design limits this in turn can place huge strain on some parts of the structure.
And on a really visionary scheme, you may need a Mechanical and Electrical consulting engineer to advice on the correct specification for the heating and lighting systems.
Where nominated mechanical and electrical contractors are used, M&E consultants come into their own, particulare in reviewing tenders, inspecting the work done and certifying monies.
Finally in terms of overall costs, there is always a trade off between
- cost of build and cost of maintainence
- cost of build and cost of heating
- cost of build and overall size
- cost of build and features
That's why we advise that where there is significant one off design input you should be advised by your own qualtity surveyor.
We refer to this as being the full design team.
[notwithstanding the fact that you might need other specialist designers like Landscape Architects]
A good rule of thumb would be to use the team on anything over €100,000.
Oddly enough, using the full team can result in savings overall on a complex house because everything is properly integrated, plus the peace of mind that comes with having four sets of eyes watching the contractor on your behalf.
Architect
The main thing you should look for in your architect is an ability to listen.
Good design ability is no use if the design doesn't fulfil your brief.
Its called "taking instruction" and "formulating the brief."
Sometimes there are things it would be unwise to to do.
Your architect will state these clearly to you and you'd be wise to take that advice.
Listening goes both ways.
Make sure you use someone who shares your vision.
Compiling a dossier or scrapbpk of wht you want your house to look like outside and in together with special features is very important.
Architects react better to visual clues and examples.
They will test their understanding of your brief by bringing the scheme to the preliminary design stage for you to look at.
If you need to see sketches or models before you can get your head around it, tell your architect - sometimes they forgot some people cannot read drawings - work within your own limits.
Distance
Don't be to focussed on using a local architect in Enfield.
[I have no particular gripe with Enfield, BTW.]
Architects tend to gravitate towards towns and cities because that's where most work is.
They are used to managing their time and the builders time and travelling.
Many design team members work remotely from one another and exchange information using PDF files and AutoDAC drawings without needing to meet.
On one recent job in Donegal I met the client three times over the course of a five month lead in to lodgement and made one site trip.
We're based south of Dublin, the client to the north and the site is in Donegal.
We used two engineers, one in Donegal and one in Dublin.
I met the latter once face to face and stil haven't met the other in person.
Distance means nothing when you have e-mail, a phone and a laptop.
<looks up>
Anyway, I hope I've given you a reasonable intro into what you're getting into and I better stop now.
Couple of things I should mention before I go.
1. Employing the full team means you get a full service.
Everything is specified which means you can tie down the cost even before you get tenders, which should come in at +/- 10%
Be suspicious of anything outside this range, regardless of reasons given.
2. The point I'm making is that employing the full design team means that you can examine different options and understand the effects of design decisions on the cost long before going anywhere near a building site.
This is the cost-effective way to design, and means you have fewer regrets, few shocks and hopefully a pleasant surprise at the end.
Hope this helps.
ONQ.