The architect: fees for extensions, new builds and planning

What an architect does

The work comes in stages, and you can hire for some or all of them:

1. Feasibility. They look at the site or the home, the planning rules for the area, and what you want, and say what is possible and roughly what it costs.
2. Design. Sketches, then drawings, of the home or the extension. This is where the layout, the light and the look are decided.
3. Planning. They prepare and lodge the planning application with the council, deal with the council's questions, and handle any objections or appeal.
4. Construction drawings. Detailed drawings and a specification that a builder can price and build from. The tender goes out on these.
5. Building control. For most new builds and larger extensions they act as the assigned certifier under the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations, called the BCAR: they inspect during the build and sign that it complies.
6. During the build. Site visits, answering the builder's questions, checking the work, and signing the stage certificates your lender needs before each drawdown.
7. Completion. The certificate of compliance, the final inspection, and the paperwork for the lender and for a future sale.

When you need one

For a self-build, from the start. Do not buy a site until an architect has looked at it: the planning rules, the ground, the access and the services decide whether a home can go there at all.

For an extension, before you talk to a builder. An extension of up to 40 square metres at the back can be exempt from planning, but it still has to meet the building regulations, and the exemption has conditions (height, the garden left, no earlier extension). An architect tells you in an hour whether you need to apply.

For a renovation of an older or vacant home, before you bid. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant needs costed works, and the costing starts with a design and a schedule of work.

For a top-up mortgage, the lender wants drawings and a cost before it lends.

You do not need an architect to buy an ordinary second-hand home. That is the surveyor's job.

What it costs

Architects charge in three ways, and many mix them:

• A fixed fee for a stage. Planning drawings for an extension, for example, are often quoted as one sum.
• A percentage of the build cost. For a full service from design to completion, a percentage of what the build costs is common. The percentage falls as the project gets bigger.
• An hourly rate for small pieces of advice or extra visits.

For an extension or renovation, expect €2,500 to €15,000 plus VAT at 23% depending on how much of the service you take. Planning drawings alone are at the bottom of that range; a full service to completion is at the top or above it. A new build is more, because the work runs for a year or longer.

On top of the architect's fee, budget for the council's planning fee, an engineer where the structure needs one, the BER assessor at the end, and the assigned certifier's inspections where they are a separate person.

The RIAI publishes guidance on how its members charge. Ask for the fee as a written proposal, stage by stage, so you can stop after planning if you need to. The table below gives the typical range from our costs config, not a quote.

Architect, technologist or engineer?

Three professions overlap here, and all three can be the right choice:

• A registered architect is on the RIAI's register (the title is protected by law). They cover design, planning, building control and the build.
• An architectural technologist focuses on the technical drawings and the building regulations. Many do planning applications and extensions, often at a lower fee. They may not be able to act as the assigned certifier under the BCAR; ask.
• A chartered engineer (Engineers Ireland) designs the structure: the foundations, the steel, the beams. Many self-builds use an engineer for the structure and the stage certificates and an architect for the design. Some engineers do the whole thing on a simple house.

What your lender needs is a stage certificate from a qualified person with professional indemnity insurance, for each drawdown. Each lender publishes who it accepts. Check that list before you hire, and ask the professional to confirm in writing that they can sign for your lender.

How to choose

Start with the RIAI's register for an architect, or Engineers Ireland for an engineer. Then:

• look at work they have done nearby, ideally a home you can visit
• ask for a written proposal that lists each stage, what it includes, the fee for it and what is extra
• ask who will do the work day to day, and how often they will be on site
• ask how they handle the budget: a design you cannot afford to build is the most common failure
• ask for two references from clients whose build finished in the last two years

Meet two or three before you choose. The relationship runs for a year or more, and you need to be able to say no to them.

A local architect knows the planning authority's habits and the rural housing rules in the county. That matters more on a self-build than on an extension.

What can go wrong

The problems to watch for:

• Designing past the budget. The drawings are lovely and the tender comes back at twice what you can borrow. Give the architect a hard number at the start, and ask for a cost check at every stage.
• Planning refused or delayed. A rural site with a local-need condition, a protected structure, or a neighbour's objection can add months. Ask about the risks before you lodge.
• The builder's drawings are too thin. A tender on sketchy drawings means extras during the build. Pay for proper construction drawings.
• No one certifying. A lender will not release a stage payment without a certificate. Agree at the start who signs, and that they are insured.
• The build runs over. Interest on a self-build mortgage runs from the first drawdown, so every month of delay costs money. Agree a programme with dates and check it monthly.

If a dispute arises, the RIAI has a complaints process for its members, and the contract you signed with the builder says how disputes between you and the builder are handled.