FEES
Design House NZ fees are structured differently to the normal. Most firms provide clients with a fixed price for the project which is usually excessive high, well above the cost of the actual work involved. They have to allow for the unexpected but this often comes at the clients cost. We believe in a user pays model, where you pay only for the work it requires to complete the project. Therefore, we only charge a fixed hourly rate, considerably less than a lot of our competitors.
Understandable, clients still want to know an idea of the pricing of the work involved. Therefore based on our hourly rate, our fee proposal is itemised into five possible stages of work that may be involved in each individual project (refer to these stages below).
However, before we provide a fee proposal for any new project, we do an initial Council Planning Check and Guidance Meeting. The outline of this is:
1. GUIDANCE MEETING
We offer a guidance meeting for projects that may require a resource consent, a building consent or both, with no obligation to use our services.
What does the guidance meeting include?
Preliminary Council Check on the existing site
Prior to coming & meeting to ensure we can best advise of what can and can not be done on the property.
Establishing the constraints for the site, to identify any limitations to the site.
Preliminary Council Unitary Plan Check
District Plan rules for your zone.
Recommend Consultants & engineers if required
Resource Consent Planners
During the meeting we will discuss your options and ideas, we will listen to your requirements and will discuss the building/resource consent process. We will also give a copy of the above checks which is generally a 5-7 page document, and discuss the effects of these on your project, if any. We will walk through your proposal with you, and give our advice.
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What does the guidance meeting cost?
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Guidance meeting 1 hour duration
$250 - $350 fixed fee + GST
(The fixed fee is deducted from the project establishment fee if you decide to use our services after our meeting)
What are the outputs of the guidance meeting?
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At the end of the meeting, you should have an outcome to make an informed decision of whether it is a project you want to proceed with. If you do decide that you would like to proceed with the project we can provide an estimated fee for the proposal which includes the following:
2. FIVE POSSIBLE STAGES OF FEE PROPOSAL
Stage One and Two – Project Establishment/ As Built
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Project Establishment: Agreement signed between Client and Architectural Designer with appropriate information gathered to enable subsequent stages of the commission to be undertaken and completed.
As Builts: On site survey is conducted to validate dimensions of existing structures ensuring integrity of working drawings and creation of an as-built set of existing drawings.
Stage Three – Concept Design
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The approved Client Brief is developed into Concept Drawing(s) showing the planned works including relevant site elevations, floor plan & external visuals. These drawings generally consider the constraints of the territorial Authority and regulatory requirements surrounding the Site and Project.
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Stage Four – Developed Design (Resource Consent
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Taking the Approved Design development, it is then applied to test compliance by providing a set of documents (drawings) that identifies and coordinates all the elements of the building and net/gross building areas to establish developmental control calculations set by the District Plan to prove compliance. If there are infringements on the District Plan rules, then we will engage a planner on client’s behalf for Resource Consent applications.
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Stage Five – Building Consent Documentation and Detailed Design
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Refining the Approved Developed Design to produce detailed drawings and specifications that will allow application and lodgement for Building Consent with the relevant council authority.