YOUR PROJECT
Thank you kindly for your enquiry and for considering Enrapt Ltd to assist on your forthcoming project.
We have a broad range of experience in all types of project - including refurbishment, reconfiguration, new-build, commercial and residential... but for the most part we work on schemes similar to your own. Our specialty is to work within constraints; turning challenges into opportunities, for unique and well-considered designs. Whether your site has stringent planning policy demands, you have a limited budget or require a certain approach to aesthetics or procuring the build for example, we can assist at every stage.
As Architects Registration Board accredited, we deliver a high level of service in line with their codes of conduct. This includes acting with the necessary skills; being competent, diligent, fair and honest; keeping you informed at each stage; regarding the wider environment and the impact of our work on others. We maintain full professional indemnity and public liability insurance policies and operate a feedback and complaints procedure should you be unhappy with any aspect of our work. Please refer to the terms and conditions of our appointment below and don't hesitate to ask us for further details of anything you are unsure about.
Our pitch herein is to undertake detailed architectural services, as set-out in the next schedule.
The schedule on the next page sets out our proposed services, the deliverable items such as the drawings to be prepared, associated fees and the dates we will initially work towards, in chronological order. The fees given after planning permission has been obtained are shown as estimates only at this stage, whilst some of the scope and criteria of the project are as yet unknown. These can be firmed-up once our level of involvement in detailing further work has been ascertained. Any additional work requested by you shall be undertaken at our standard rate of £120/hour. Some other amounts shown in grey italics give you an approximate guide to other costs and expenses you can expect as well. Whilst we have tried to be as clear and concise as possible when describing these, we appreciate that you may not be familiar with some of the terminology. Please therefore contact us if you would like any clarification. Please also note that approval of this agreement does not oblige you to commit and pay for later stages within the entire process, if for any reason the project were to cease. Staged payments will only be requested after work has been completed. Your legal right of cancellation is described in the terms and conditions section.
The timeline is an illustrative example and may be subject to changes/delays depending on a number of factors as the project unfolds – how the design progresses in consultation with you; how the local planning authority receives and processes the scheme; how the contractor is able to resource the build when unforeseen issues arise; how the weather impacts on external works etc. We shall try our utmost to meet those dates specifically agreed in writing after the appointment, but can accept no liability for delays or costs incurred from changes sought by the client, by other parties/consultants or imposed by external factors beyond our control. The programme shown is quite lean and whilst it may be possible to develop detailed designs whilst the planning application is running, we would always recommend waiting, for the risk of refusal. It's always sensible to allow plenty of time for each stage, as the process can often be unpredictable. When it comes to selecting and negotiating with the best contractor for the job, this will be one of the most important decisions you make and it's possible you may wish to wait some time for them to become available too.
INITIAL CONCEPTUAL WORK
The following list gives you an idea of what this may involve and the sorts of things we shall be looking at when creating your designs:
- Forms and massing of extensions, in scale to the host and surrounding buildings and structures;
- Budgetary checks and adjustments;
- Relationships between the inside and outside landscaping on the site, utilising step-free thresholds and generous covered soffits/eaves or more flush junctions if desirable;
- Possible statement entrances and ‘story weaving’ the flow between spaces, with thought to the size and position of connections, any differing levels and amounts of openness throughout;
- The size and proportion of rooms in terms of how they are to be used;
- Provision of blank canvas/neutral living space to cater for furniture/TV/wall art layouts etc. and more alcove style spaces for congregating, semi-enclosed and transitory/circulation areas;
- Aspects and orientation of windows including through the roof and harnessing light from the sky;
- How light falls into the property at different times of day and during different seasons, including taking foliage and leaf-fall from surrounding trees/planting into account.
- Architecture to reflect (or not to) any motifs or stylistic language of the original house, whether traditional, contemporary, natural, artificial, simple, complex, all/some of these, a contrast or a blend;
- The compliance to any relevant local planning policy, building control regulations and other statutory requirements;
A MEASURED SURVEY of the property will be carried out to prepare existing CAD drawings on which to base the designs. We can recommend a surveyor for this, for you to appoint directly. An estimate for their cost is included on the right to help with your budgeting. There will probably be other features at the property to identify and investigate such as the depths of drains or areas concealed by planting, which we will need to return to in due course. | Week 1 → Week 4 £1,200.00 |
We then start by forming your outline BRIEF - a written description of your initial requirements, any cost/budgetary restrictions, quality or sustainability objectives and the key dates based around those shown here. We will advise who and what else may be needed to execute the project such as engineers or other specialist consultants and can assist in appointing these on your behalf. The legal requirements of the “Construction Design & Management” (CDM) regulations will be explained, as these are essential in guaranteeing the health and safety of all those involved. Our appointment herein includes acting as the Principal Designer under these regulations. | Week 5 → Week 6 £1,200.00 |
CONCEPT DESIGNS will be developed and presented to you, in the form of floor plans and possibly with further explanatory 3D CGIs, diagrams, images and text to communicate them more clearly. We have allowed to provide you with two preliminary options, a third combined or new option and one revision to this after further meeting/discussing with you the initial ideas. The designs shall allow for and/or incorporate basic structural and services principals, to make for pragmatic, buildable solutions. | Week 7 → Week 10 £1,200.00 |
SUMMARY | Week 1 → Week 10 £3,600.00 |
PLANNING STAGE
Some introductory texgt about the planning stage
Once the concept design has been agreed, we shall develop it into a set of more detailed PLANNING APPLICATION DRAWINGS. This shall comprise all necessary external elevations, cross-sectional drawings and any other supporting images. If other consultants are needed to contribute at this stage, we shall assist in instructing them on your behalf, then liaising with and incorporating their details into the overall design. We have also allowed some time in this to amend these after your further review and comments. | |
The planning application FORMS AND DOCUMENTS shall be completed and compiled together with the drawings, location/site/block plans and supporting Planning and Design & Access Statements as required by the local authority. The package will be sent to you for approval before submission, as there will be parts of this that are legally binding and you may wish to consult your neighbours too. An indication of the planning application fee is shown to the right in italics. | |
During the eight week PLANNING APPLICATION PERIOD the planners may request a site visit and further information. We shall correspond with them and have allowed time for a meeting at the property. Any new documentation required by them may incur additional fees at the standard hourly rate given, but we would make sure to discuss and agree this with you at that time. It may be design work that we can prepare or other surveys, reports etc. needed from a specialist consultant - an ecologist for example. We shall continuously review all of the aforementioned procedures and update you on the impact of any changes as designs develop during and after the planning permission stage. Written updates will be provided to you on the status of the project. | |
Similarly if/once the consent is received, we shall undertake a POST-PLANNING REVIEW to explain to you the appended conditions, informatives and next steps to continue realising the project. We will endeavour to obtain unconditional approval, however, if there are any conditions to be discharged afterwards we shall seek your instructions to provide the necessary extra information. | |
SUMMARY |
DETAILED & TECHNICAL DESIGN
The following list gives you an idea of what this may involve and the sorts of things we shall be looking at when creating your designs:
- Working seamlessly alongside other specialist consultants such as surveyors and engineers, that may need to contribute to the project and keeping you up to date on our correspondence;
- Rhythm and expression of structural components and whether any services are concealed or celebrated;
- Drainage systems from roofs, site and internal fittings;
- Materials and their physical arrangement, including the surface colours, textures and the ambience they donate;
- Positions and style of fixed powered lighting and other electrical fittings;
- Location and type(s) of heating and fireplaces within the scheme;
- Outline kitchen designs for completion by the sub-contractor/fabricator;
- More detailed bathroom designs, including assistance on selecting sanitaryware and finishes;
- Specialist joinery for storage cupboards, wardrobes, shelves and other interior features sought;
- Material, implementation and performance environmental considerations;
- Efficiency in labour and the use or re-use of appropriate materials;
- Technical properties regarding thermal, acoustic separation and weathering protection;
- Fire and safety escape strategies;
- Durability - solidity versus flexibility and ‘light-touch’ adaptability to future proof further works and/or minimise maintenance;
- Buildability, in particular with regards to phasing and any health and safety implications;
- And endeavouring to continuously advise on alternatives and possible improvements throughout the process.
A meeting will be arranged to discuss the next stages of the project and our role and level of involvement, prior to confirmation of the next fees. If for example you will be employing a “Design and Build” contractor they may be able to complete (an interpretation of) the scheme with little to no input from us. Should you wish to pursue our technical design services then the first stage would be to instruct our recommended independent STRUCTURAL ENGINEER - an indication of their fees and timing are shown here. | |
The architectural TECHNICAL DESIGN will then be developed to facilitate construction – i.e. by producing new, more detailed drawings. We shall provide key fabric construction details for the scheme, showing materials, assembly, thermal/acoustic properties, weathering functionality, internal/external finishes and other significant information. Outline kitchen, shower/bathroom, specialist joinery (such as wardrobes, shelving, fixed furniture) designs will be prepared for subcontractor prefabrication drawings to be based off. The drawings shall be accompanied by a written document containing expectations of workmanship, a design risk assessment, health, safety and pre-construction information and a checklist of fittings/finishes and other provisional inclusions/exclusions to assist the contractor. Although not included here, a trade-by-trade schedule of work and/or a quantity surveyor's cost forecast may also be compiled by others, if need be. | |
SUMMARY |
MOBILISATION PERIOD
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If you plan to TENDER the work then this can typically take a month for a contractor to price with some accuracy. Allowance has been made here for a few hours to answer any queries they may have and/or to cost engineer the designs with their assistance. If several costs are obtained then we can prepare a tender analysis to compare and clarify the submissions. How to proceed and with which contractor will be one of the most important steps you will take and we can help ask the right questions to inform that decision. | |
To formalise this we shall instruct (sub-)contractor(s) on your behalf, by completing a standard BUILDING CONTRACT that sets out the cost, time, conditions of engagement and other procedural matters. There are various such contracts available whether “NEC,” “JCT,” “RIBA,” “ICC,” “FIDIC” or another, many of which containing similar clauses. The contractor may have a preference and we can advise on what may be most suitable for this situation. The agreement will be made directly between you and the contractor, who is ultimately responsible for much of the remainder of the process. | |
Simultaneously and during the contractor's lead-in period here we shall process the BUILDING CONTROL notice/application, either with the local authority or via a private inspector. Detailed information (mostly identical to the tender package) shall be given to them and we will respond to their queries and amend the proposals if needed to comply with the Building Regulations. This will then be fed back into the construction documentation to ensure eventual compliance. An estimate of their fee is shown in italics on the right. | |
SUMMARY |
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Some text here.
In accordance with the chosen contract, we shall administer its contents generally through fortnightly site visits and/or other formal meetings and subsequent updates during the CONSTRUCTION PHASE. We would incorporate client tours/reviews within these. Additional inspections may be required, but these would need to be agreed with you separately and chargeable on our standard rate. We will liaise with all parties involved and coordinate the design team side; review progress and programme and advise on sequencing for supply/off-site fabrication of longer-lead items of work in particular. Important minutes and actions will be recorded and provided from each of these regular meetings, to help ensure the smooth running and delivery of a high quality building. | |
We will amend the proposed designs as necessary to fit anything that changes on-site (or at your request on additional time pro-rata). Costs for each variation/addition/omission to the original tendered scheme shall be obtained from the contractor and (if approved by you) instructed by us on your behalf. | |
The contractor will issue us with valuations for work undertaken and completed every 4 weeks, which we will assess independently and certify for you to pay directly. This splits the total contract cost over the entire construction period, with a small retention held back for rectifying any later problems that may arise. | |
Just before the end of the construction phase we will review the remaining programme of works and put together a snagging list and/or list of other works that may be possible to enhance the finished scheme. Based on this, a HANDOVER plan will be determined as to when/how you can reoccupy the property and advise on any outstanding issues. | |
We will update the Design Risk Assessment with ‘as-built’ data and finalised record drawings to show the new layouts/positions and provide outline guidance on appropriate maintenance and future adaptability for things that may have changed throughout the project. | |
Separately but in conjunction with this we will collect product information, manuals, guarantees/warranties and certification from the contractor to add to the “Health and Safety File” which forms an overall document describing what has taken place, how and where, in order to reduce potential harm to those working on/at the property again thereafter. We will issue completion certification when satisfied. | |
Upon handover of the property and project documentation we can carry out a “post-occupancy” survey, involving a tour and questionnaire, to ascertain any ongoing issues and future needs. This shall be translated into a plan for further works and/or ideas that you may wish to address at some point. This is post-snagging so does not constitute items that are or should have been addressed within the original scheme already, but may lead you onto other projects in the future - which we'd be delighted to work with you on. | |
SUMMARY |
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Please take some time to thoroughly read the following points, to ensure that you understand what is included/excluded within the agreement. If you're in any doubt about these or other parts of the agreement then please contact us to discuss further. Once you are happy with everything then please reply to us by e-mail to confirm that you would like to proceed.
- All drawings, details, information, advice, correspondence and other documentation (referred to collectively as “documents” from here onwards) are provided in good faith, without warranty either expressed or implied.
- This includes all original/editable files such as (but not limited to) .doc, .xls, .psd, .dwg, .dxf (etc.) for which Enrapt Ltd has no responsibility once supplied, edited, copied or reproduced.
- Documents are prepared at a level of detail/accuracy suitable for use at their intended stage of the process only, on the basis of Enrapt Ltd.'s continued involvement in managing later stages.
- As such, any specific details and/or measurements that are required for subsequent/proceeding stages may need to be verified either independently or by Enrapt Ltd for its intended use and for the project to continue successfully.
- Unless otherwise stated, documents are for information only and may rely upon the competent translation and execution by others/the contractor, who must make all necessary checks and ensure compliance with current legal requirements.
- Any errors or discrepancies should be reported to Enrapt Ltd for their attention and further instructions.
- Any changes sought to the designs or specifications by the client or others should always be considered in the context of the entire project and/or in consultation with Enrapt Ltd.
- Health and safety must be safeguarded for all participating in the project from design stage, through implementation, construction and occupation and those not partaking, including (but not limited to) unplanned visitors and members of the public. Where Enrapt Ltd is not appointed/involved, guidance should be sought from the Health and Safety Executive and the latest CDM Regulations.
- All work prepared is subject to the approval of the relevant statutory authorities – including the local authority planning body, the Building Control approved inspectorate, utility/services suppliers and/or any regulations imposed via contract/deed/lease to which Enrapt Ltd is not a party.
- Further input as required by other consultants, surveyors, engineers and/or contractors must be incorporated as necessary by either Enrapt Ltd (if appointed) or by whoever has assumed or been appointed as responsible for the project at that time.
- Enrapt Ltd has no obligation to pursue any course of business for which it has not yet been appointed.
- Similarly, both the client and Enrapt Ltd can at any point suspend or terminate this agreement with 2week’s notice. Any outstanding fees for work carried out properly up until this point must be paid to Enrapt Ltd.
- Should any variations be required to this agreement, these are to be recorded and reissued in writing.
- All documents prepared by Enrapt Ltd whether formerly issued or not remain its intellectual property and must not be used by others without permission to do so. There is no guarantee that such documents will be suitable or even applicable in differing situations.
- Upon reasonable demand, any ordinarily issued documents or property to which the client is legally entitled shall be handed over, but this does not include original editable versions of files prepared by Enrapt Ltd, except in the case of death, incapacity or bankruptcy at Enrapt Ltd, to allow the client to complete the works.
- Unless otherwise agreed, drawings/images and photos of the project and/or site may be used in Enrapt Ltd.'s portfolio and social media posts, with any text references to the address and client names removed for security and anonymity.
- In the event that a problem arises and you are dissatisfied with our work and/or the handling of said issue, Enrapt Ltd has an official complaints procedure. Please contact us should you require this, or notify us of the issue by any means. We shall acknowledge receipt of your complaint and advise on the possible next steps, within 10 working days.
- Enrapt Ltd will exercise reasonable duty, skill and care in the execution of its work, in accordance with the RIBA and ARB codes of conduct.- Enrapt Ltd holds professional indemnity insurance, under which liability is limited upto three times the total fees incurred and the portion for which it is reasonably responsible - not covering the work, input or errors of any other involved parties.
- The fees outlined herein are for Enrapt Ltd.'s architectural work only and do not include for anything as needed by other consultants, engineers, suppliers or contractors except where indicated or estimated.
- Unless otherwise stated other disbursements including printing, travel expenses and application fees are not included.
- Additional time spent at the client’s request to undertake new designs, changes to designs or any other documentation shall be carried out at the hourly rate given, unless otherwise agreed.
- Payments for work completed to date will be requested by invoice, usually each calendar month but possibly sooner should a specific stage or milestone be met.- Enrapt Ltd reserves the right to suspend work until payment for earlier work has been received, whether overdue or not.
- Payments should be made within 14 days of the invoice received date, via BACS or other electronic transfer - cash and/or cheques will not be accepted.
- Acceptance of this agreement and all contained within it will be confirmed and become binding by replying accordingly to the e-mail in which it was sent.
- The quotation is valid for 4months from the date of issue.
