Getting an Architect is Cheaper in the Long Run than Merely Dealing with Foremen

Actual dream house projects by our friend
Arch. Marvin Mijares. If you want his services, just
use our Contact Form on the sidebar.

Architects are Trained to Help You Get What You Want with Your Budget

A lot of folks planning on building their dream houses or business places think they're getting cheaper deals when they do without an architect. They prefer talking with foremen who act as contractors, and getting the architect's fee out of the way feels like big savings, right? Wrong.

Most of us often don't get to hold big-enough money to build dream houses with, so we better make use of it the smartest way we can. I mean, it's often a once in a lifetime thing to earn money that big--and then you waste it all away by getting a bad deal with small-time contractors who make a mess of your dream house or business place. And often, we get this amount through bank or PAG-IBIG lending which we'll have to pay dearly for after.

In the end, you spend more money dealing with mere foremen than if you dealt with a professional architect. Your building cost often ends up higher when you hire cheap labor to build your dream house. Take this lady I know, for instance. She hired a foreman-carpenter to do her small 5X5-meter studio-type residence, thinking it would cost her less. However, the small project took 1 year to finish (no kidding) and cost her almost a fortune.

She learned a most valuable lesson she'd never forget in her life--never cut down too much on your dream house.

After all, if it's a "dream house" or "dream business place" you want, you have to shell out some. And it's the wisest investment actually, saving you not just money and time but a lot of headaches and heart aches after.

The small architect's fee you'd be paying actually is a good investment in the end. The fee is small compared to what you'd spend with the mess foremen-carpenters are apt to make out of your dream house. I've had a lot of friends and acquaintances make complaints about how some bunch of carpenters turned their dream houses into huge frustrations, to no avail. Once the structure is up, no amount of complaining will change it except that you pour in new cash for a new contract to repair the mess.

And what if you have limited budget? You will have to make do with a "dream" house or business place that makes you sick each time you see it. So, if say, your fixed budget is P1.2 million, you should make sure you entrust that budget to a smart and initiated professional who knows the right system for your requirement and budget and who'd be professionally honest to recommend an alternative in case something is really not feasible.

Here are the advantages of hiring a licensed Architect for your small or big dream project:

1. Backed by educated procedures and schedules that make the project systematic and cost-effective.
2. Architects are answerable to their signed commitments. They have a license, title, and career to protect.
3. Architects can not run away from responsibilities because they are easily traceable from their PRC license and United Architects of the Philippines membership.
4. Everything is agreed on and signed on the architectural and working drawings plus the official cost estimates and specifications.
5. Every construction system used is backed with engineering estimates for structural sturdiness and approved by the city engineer's office. Every phase of the construction is inspected with a professional eye for details.

Foremen and carpenters can always just disappear or deny or ignore client's complaints after the project is done and the contract is paid for. They have no license or title to protect. And I have seen how some of them simply abandoned projects in the middle of everything in search of another more lucrative project. I know a couple who, after giving a huge amount of money to their contractor, one day just found their unfinished dream house abandoned by the contractor for whatever reason.

Because they didn't want any hassle or didn't want to attend court proceedings if they filed charges (and that's additional expense), they just forgot about the contractor and hired a new one--and paid new contract money.

And I know of stories where the contractor-foreman was even a close relative of the client, but the same anomalies prospered, just the same. Well, not all contractor-foremen are probably like that, but why risk your hard-earned money for your dream house or business place?

So, get a licensed and professional architect. They are trained and mandated by law to give their clients nothing but the best the project budget could make out. It's good investment in the end and more cost-effective.

If you need an architect for your dream house--like the ones on the picture above made by our friend Arch. Marvin Mijares--simply use the HOUSEpinoy Contact Form on the sidebar for inquiries or project estimates.