My architect doesn't communicate

We hired an architect back in September to create plans to convert our art studio over a garage into a living space. Our architect is a very nice and a talented guy and the younger architects that work for him have also been very nice. The firm has great reviews too. The problem is they never communicate. We always have to contact them and they rarely get back to us. The last few times we “checked-in” they didn’t get back to us until a month later. They keep billing us but we don’t have anything yet, not a single plan. They will bill us, but never respond to our simple questions of asking where we are in the process. It’s almost June and we don’t have a plan. The last time we heard from them they spoke about “photo renderings” which we really don’t need and didn’t request. Is this what is holding up the process? They won’t communicate so we don’t have a clue what’s going on or if this is normal. We only hear from their billing office. Can someone let us know wha t we should do or say, or give us an idea what is going on? How should we approach our architect with our concerns without offending them?

posenelias

in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago

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xtinaillustration | 2 years and 5 months ago

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hi, you can find my contact info here: https://www.studiohw.com/

brownstone89 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Hi studioHW architect, are we allowed to ask on here if you are for hire in manhattan and how to contact you plz?

asaph718936 | 3 years and 2 months ago

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Sounds like most unfortunately. The problem is that they are quick to bill for every last conversation, in addition to time that they claim to have spent at the city office. Do you have the plans yet? Which company?

xtinaillustration | 3 years and 2 months ago

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As an architect, I can confirm that this is not normal! It should not take 9 months to get you initial drawings to review. I would not bill a client before sending at least preliminary drawings, and I respond to emails within a day. Something is very wrong. If you didn’t ask for or agree to 3D renderings in their proposal, and you don’t want them, you should definitely let them know, as they may be billing you for those – so at least make sure that it’s not going to be billed as additional services to whatever fee you agreed upon. But for sure, you should email them and politely request a response to your project status by ‘x’ date, indicate that you are not happy with their turnaround time, and that you want to see drawings by (set a deadline). It’s not clear if you have paid them or not – if not, be sure to let them know that you are waiting for drawings before paying their bill… just to be sure that they are not waiting for payment before sending you the drawings!

cate | 3 years and 2 months ago

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Hopefully your contract specifies deliverables tied to payments. Does the art studio already have plumbing and electricity? Is it already considered a living space in the eyes of the DOB? I have heard it’s very difficult to get the DOB to approve converting a garage to legal living space. If the garage is a former stable that had living space for humans originally (some did but not all) and you can prove it to the DOB with old documents, you may be able to proceed. There may be some kind of occupancy/tax document change required too, since you would be going from house and garage to two residences on one lot. You may need an architect or expediter with experience in this area, but that may be difficult to find since afaik this is rarely possible. Another option, if the garage already has electricity and plumbing, might be to focus on updates that do not require permits (such as new finishes, new plumbing fixtures in the same location, etc.). It might not be legal to rent out, however.

randolph | 3 years and 2 months ago

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you started with them in September and still have seen no plans whatsoever?! How much have you paid them and on what basis?! yikes.

when i worked with an architect their fee was broken down into 4 phases of the project with roughly 1/4 of the total fee due each time: Schematic Design phase, Design Development phase, Construction Document phase, Bidding and Construction Administration phase.

the first drawings i got were about 3 months after i starting working with them and they were intended to get the demo underway, and from there i saw updates frequently as we refined the design of the house and moved into the actual construction phase.

along the way they would provide 3D renders in order to give me a sense of what the rooms might feel like with furniture or cabinets or plumbing fixtures, but really the focus was on getting the construction drawings ready so the actual construction could begin, and then more modifications were made and refiled with the DOB as the construction went along because there were unforeseen structural issues that had to be addressed w hich also impacted other aspects of the projects (electric, plumbing, etc). it was complicated in ways i never could have imagined.

long story short – i would be very concerned if i were you because 10 months and no drawings and getting billed sounds like you are being neglected/taken advantage of.