The affix MRIAI means that the architect is a member of the Institute who has passed his part III examination or has demonstrated his ability to perform competently at that level and has been assessed by the RIAI.
The Part III qualification thus gives assurance to the client that the building professional he has retained is well-versed in the several matters relating to professional practice, most of which will have direct benefits for the client, including;
- planning application
- environmental legislation
- building control
- building regulations including new Part L requirements
- health and safety duties
- tender action
- pre-construction
- contract administration
- dealing with disputes
Passing the Part III doesn't in and of itself confer ability in design, but it assures one that the architect has already either passed a five year full time course in one of the recognised and accredited colleges, i.e. UCD or Bolton Street or elsewhere, or has demonstrated a commensurate level of design ability in other ways acceptable to the Institute, which sets the bar high.
Passing the five year course/ reaching this level of design ability is known as getting your Part II's and you should expect competence in design together with the ability to formulate, refine and satisfy the requirements of the client's brief.
The fact that you seem surprised about the cost of building raises the question of whether or not you retained a quantity surveyor on what is likely to be a significant project.
A one off house with special features is likely to exceed the €1581 per square metre cost for rebuilding a 4 bed house suggested by the Bruce Shaw 2009 handbook on P. 45 which you can download here;
http://www.bruceshaw.ie/cost_management/latest_publications/Bruce Shaw Handbook 09.pdf
The final cost will be affected by many factors depending on
- the selection of materials
- the standard of finish
- the degree of insulation
- the ambient energy sources used
- specialist items
- the degree of site preparation
- landscaping
- feature lighting
- feature glazing
- specialist Fire Detection and Alarm
- specialist security system
- remote controlled powered gates
- swimming pool
etc.
You are not obliged by law to retain anyone at all of course - its very much your call - but don't expect your architect to be able to do the job of an entire team.
Unless he has said he can and is willing to prove the point, you would be wise to retain a full set of building professionals for a modernist design with green credentials, which isn't going to be covered by the current building regulations technical guidance documents prima fascia compliance examples.
This implies a greater cost of producing the detail construction design until some sort of consensus is reached in the industry but don't be fooled by greenwash items like a propeller stuck on the side of the building.
Your team will have to balance [or should already have done by now] orientation with glazing, screening with views and adopt a balanced ambient energy source strategy to suit your site, giving the statutorily required carbon savings going forward with an eye to a possible carbon tax on homes in the medium term for those who don't achieve carbon neutral status now.
This build will thus come in somewhere in the €450-700k range and while it is possible to take such jobs to site without a quantity surveyor, I would at least expect to have retained a Q/S to perform a detailed cost estimate.
On such a large house, with specialist glazing and a grassed roof you are straying well outside the norm for traditional domestic construction.
If you have not done so, you would have been well advised to retain the full team in relation to preparing the tender documents:
- architect
- structural engineer
- mechanical and electrical engineer
- quantity surveyor
In my opinion you should have shelled out the extra and had the benefit of a bill of quantities to assist in cost control, tender review and contract administration.
The QS often performs a steadying functioning on the team, focussing them on the production of all the necessary information to tie down as much of the building production information as possible, reducing the incidence of provisional and prime costs sums and getting a good handle on what they are likely to end up as within a tight range.
The Bill of Quantities assists both employer and the prospective contractors during the tendering procedure on one-off houses by levelling the playing field.
A blank BoQ issued with the tenders ensures nothing is omitted from the measure by the contractor and means that comparing the tenders is a matter
inter alia, of comparing rates on like for like quantities.
This way you can see where the economies are achieved within the spread of tenders by the lower tenderers.
It allows your design team to better assess whether these "economies" are acceptable or not - for example, putting in a very low rate for excavation in the absence of any trial hole information.
Oddly enough it also allows the contractor some comfort on a project where there may be several unknowns including possibly unfamiliar building details.
With so much talk about Carbon Neutral Dwellings by 2013 and no single means of achieving this yet agreed [in fact each individual new building could use a different method] agreeing the construction in some detail may well be a necessary prerequisite to tie down tender prices on most projects going forward.
You may find this link useful in considering the matter;
http://www.irishconstruction.com/page/2235
I trust this sheds some light on your concerns as well as giving you an indication of the process ahead of you if this is your first time embarking on such an adventure,
ONQ.
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