Hello,
Question: Do we now have to pay several hundred euros for this? Will this conversation be charged to us?
No one here can answer that because we don't know what you discussed with this architect
before the appointment.
In any case, he suggested that as a first step, using our floor plans, he would draw up a preliminary draft and create a cost estimate so that we can (then, of course, only roughly) see where we stand. For that, he wants 4000, rather 5000€ (!!!!!!!!!).
Every job has its price; keeping the HOAI in mind, it is rather cheap.
- This preliminary draft is way too expensive for us at 5000€ for two reasons, first, the architect (70 years old) works without a modern computer program. According to his own statements, he draws a lot by hand. For 5000€, we would expect a really modern draft (with cross-sections, 3D views, playing with sun positions, etc. etc.)
That’s what the layman writes,
It does not matter at all whether he arrives at a draft manually or with computer support, as long as it gains your approval. Elaborate equipment does not equal the house you want!
- secondly, we get a bad feeling when we think that the architect will design an old-school preliminary draft with a few lines on paper, which actually costs 700,000€ or more (and thus far above our budget) and might not even please us. What do you do then? Say: "Sorry, but we don't like it and besides, it's too expensive anyway?" and then lose 5000€ (!!!)?
That would be the same scenario that arises if you don't like a computer-generated draft either. So where is the difference?
- we would find it okay to pay 500€, or even 1000€ for a preliminary draft,
With all due respect – that’s thoughtless and cheeky. It is roughly comparable, I would say: if two-thirds of your students do not finish the half-year with an average grade of 2, we will renegotiate your salary. An architect cannot get around the HOAI; he has a certain scope, no more and no less.
- we would now simply like to hear from at least one other architect (preferably 2-3 others) (in a free initial consultation (!)) how they assess our rough thoughts about the construction project, whether the whole thing is feasible with 600,000€, and how they will work with us.
You can definitely arrange a _free_ consultation with local architects; whether one of them also throws a manual draft into the lottery is questionable.
Merlin has already taken the "right" path. Ask the current architect about completed building projects and references, and then contact the clients who have approved them.
Another alternative is, among other things, to develop a feeling in further – free – consultation meetings about whether the person sitting in front of you is on the same wavelength as you. In these meetings, you can also easily be shown some drafts; every architect has his very own handwriting, but it must please you. What you need to free yourself from is expecting an answer like: "We can do that with your budget." That would be unprofessional because architects can only work with estimates in the first step; if you want a fixed price from the start, a general contractor is probably the right contact for you.
Best regards from the Rhineland