Selecting a contractor and designer / architect

When we mention our house project to people, they always ask how did we get started? How did we find the contractor? How did we get to the plan / layout that worked for us? How did we pick the designer / architect? This is how it went down for us.

We like the character of our neighbourhood a lot and many new builds were cropping up among the older houses. Some fit in quite nicely but others stick out like sore thumbs. We knew that if we were going to build a new house we would like it to fit in the neighbourhood. We asked the owners of the new houses that we liked about the contractors and architects they worked with and how they felt about them. We also asked friends for similar information.

Also as we went to open houses we were keeping an eye out for properties that were similar in dimension to ours so we can compare the best layout internally that maximize the limited floor space. What really helped us out was that at one of these open houses, we found our desired layout on a lot size that was exactly the same as us. This was our starting point and we were able to approach some of the contractors we found from talking to our friends and people in our neighbourhood. We showed them our lot and current dwelling before asking them about the work we were planning to do. The contractors we contacted were very professional and very insightful. They have worked in our neighbourhood and were familiar with the bylaws, dealing with the city and also how to work with the neighbours. This is very crucial because an upset neighbour can very easily stall your project for months with complaints to the city. They were also very helpful in providing us names of designers / architects who they have worked with in our neighbourhood. They recommended we get the plans finalized and then contact them for quotes.

We interviewed 4 architects / designers. What is the difference between a designer and an architect? A designer or architectural technologist as we found out is also know as a building technologist. This is how Wikipedia describes them: "The Architectural Technologist , also known as a Building Technologist, provides building design services and solutions and is trained in architectural technology, building design and construction. They apply the science of architecture and typically concentrate on the technology of building design and construction. They can or may negotiate the construction project, and manage the process from conception through to completion.

Most architectural technologists are employed in architectural and engineering firms, or with municipal authorities; but many provide independent professional services directly to clients, although restricted by law in some countries. Others work in product development or sales with manufacturers.

In Britain (Chartered Architectural Technologist), Canada (Architectural Technologist or Applied Science Technologist), and other nations, they have many similar abilities as Architects and can work alongside them. There, they are sometimes directors or shareholders of an architectural firm (where permitted by the jurisdiction and legal structure). To become an architectural technologist, a three year diploma (or equivalent) in Architectural Technology is required, followed by structured professional and occupational experience." Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_technologist

We narrowed our list to 3 finalists after we interviewed them about their past/current projects and also asked for referrals. We asked for a quote for our project and were surprised by the big difference in cost between the architect and the designer. We were also surprised by the type of proposal we received. Some were very professional and detailed all their involvements and steps along with their costs. Some simply provided a $$$ amount. We decided to work with the designer that one of the contractor we spoke to earlier, referred to us. He was very professional, flexible and also very attentive to our needs before he put together our preliminary plans. He researched other similar projects in our neighbourhood for comparison and also to understand where the city will allow us to bend some of the existing by laws. His referrals were excellent and we also saw the work he did on a street just north of us. For a fee (also charged by an architect), he also represented us at the COA hearings we had for our project. We are so far very pleased with his work and will recommend him to others.

Once the drawings were finalized, we were able to provide these to the contractors for quotes. We found out that some of the contractors we talked to earlier, had other projects lined up already and would not be able to work on our project in our desired time frame. We were a bit disappointed by this but needed to forge ahead. Here as well we received some very professional quotes and big gaps in pricing. We understood that it is hard to compare these as they may include different finishes in their quotes but the instructions we provided everyone were to quote on mid-level finishes for pricing. We were able to negotiate a little bit as 2 contractors were very close to each other in their pricing. We finally awarded our project to the contractor who worked with our designer on other projects as his was the one closest to our specifications and also because he stayed in touch with us throughout the entire process.

We have not started digging yet so we cannot comment on our relationship with our contractor. We will update this as we go through the process. Now it is time to start packing, throwing unnecessary things in the garbage, calling the utilities and moving out as quickly as possible so we can start building our dream house . . .