Architect issues

[yesindeed]

I am in the process of sub diving my property and build a new house at the back. I engaged an architect who has been working on getting the building consent. I am having a lot of problems with the architect. He is continuously delaying me, acts rude and doesn't seem to be having any intentions of completing the work. His work is 60% complete and he is stalling my work. Tried everything to get him to complete work and it is quite frustrating. Delay is costing me more interest cost as well.

any advice please? -

- would changing an architect midway be too disruptive and expensive?
- can I and should i take him to a consumer court? i feel i am held at ransom and very convenient for the architect to just delay my work.

many thanks.

[motivated]

Ask around and find out how much and when another architect or draftsman can complete your job, When you have that information. its time to confront the existing person and make your decisions

[Petals]

It is possible to make a complaint to the NZ architects board http://www.nzrab.org.nz/assets/probl...0architect.pdf, but your issues may not warrant. If you have drafts of the plans, I would tend to go to a draftsman and get the building consent applicaton done.

Re, your architect, did you agree on timelines for the building consent application to be submitted. Am assuming you have already tried to work with him/her to complete the work.

[garrett]

I am in the process of sub diving my property and build a new house at the back. I engaged an architect who has been working on getting the building consent. I am having a lot of problems with the architect. He is continuously delaying me, acts rude and doesn't seem to be having any intentions of completing the work. His work is 60% complete and he is stalling my work. Tried everything to get him to complete work and it is quite frustrating. Delay is costing me more interest cost as well.

any advice please? -

- would changing an architect midway be too disruptive and expensive?
- can I and should i take him to a consumer court? i feel i am held at ransom and very convenient for the architect to just delay my work.

many thanks.

The contract or terms & conditions that you have with the architect may limit your actions to some extent, however, if he is not performing you can fire him and take him to court/small claims (value dependant) for fees spent to date, especially if you have to start from scratch. If you have documentation that demonstrates his knowledge early on regarding your time frames and pressure from interest then you could claim interest costs against him and probably damages also for the hassle, unless he has a genuine excuse for the delay.

I would give him an ultimatum and fixed time to comply, then would get a replacement designer to get it done in order to mitigate costs, but you will need to chase him for the fees spent to date.

If this is just a good house then an architectural designer qualified with LBP design level 1 is all that is required, rather than an architect at probably twice the hourly rate.

[shahu]

The first issue is to make sure that you are in fact dealing with an architect. Many people market themselves as architects (architectural designers, draughts people, etc) that are not architects. Legally, they cannot call themselves one if they are not registered. You can check on the nzrab.org.nz website listed by petals. Lodging a complaint will surely get their attention and likely get action. If they are not registered, you can point out that they are breaking the law mis-representing themselves which will also surely get their attention!

[Grundy]

I'm curious as to which council your architect is dealing with and at what stage the consent application is at.
Is it a standard build or are there some engineering or planning issues with the site or design?

[elguapo]

- would changing an architect midway be too disruptive and expensive?

Yes, but you need to balance it against the disruption and expensive of sticking with him. If he's not performing it could be the cheaper option.

[thenztrade]

May i know if the usual job scope for an architect is up to the point where the building consent is approved by council? Do architects follow suit during the process of building the house?

[Wayne]

it is whatever you want and agree to - up to consent at a minimum (that was they fix anything that isn't right).