All Forum Posts by: Nik Moushon

Quote from @Sonia Vanegas:

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Just leave this landlord. They're petty, they'll be the type to always find something.

Tell them you'd like out of your lease.  I can't tell if you're in Seattle or Atlanta, but if the former you're good to push this. 

 In Seattle, Im sure there are ways you can break the lease...but I doubt you are getting out free. I can pretty much guarantee that you will loose WAY more money trying to get out of the lease then you will spending the extra hundred dollars or so to paint an additional room or two. Not to mention that absolute headache this will cause you. Because you sign a lease with a poorly written clause, you still have to abide by it, and trying to get out of a legal lease will cost you at least your deposit...if not potentially more. 

My suggestion is showing the landlord your text messages confirming that your conversation was about just the two rooms. Then proposing adding one more room to paint and then let him counter. Then just work to the middle. Unless he is trying to get you to paint the entire house, the $1,200 dollars saving in rent is still going to keep you ahead.  

You are going to have to lose a little more money no matter how this situation turns out. Is it going to be a couple hundred dollars or a couple thousand? Thats up to you. 

@Robert Frazier

Unfortunately, you will find those consultants at every level and aspect of development. This won't be your last incompetent or slow moving consultant. Just remember though, that you also build your own reputation as a developer, and if you get know for being too pushy and inconsiderate that these consultants have other clients to serve too, or that you fire too quickly...you will run out of people to work with. All the consultants talk about their clients and give recommendations just like developers give recommendations for GCs, architects, and engineers. I'm not saying that you need stick around with someone no matter how bad they are, just that you need to be mindful on your projects going forward. 

One other thing to look for in a future architect, is one that has a track record of working with developers AND knows the entitlement processes for the very specific type of development you are doing. Affordable housing, which means Fed funds, is a very tricky type of development for everyone involved. Most architect do not help with entitlements of the land....for ANY type of development, let alone the tricky ones with lots of hoops to jump through like affordable housing. Architects rarely have any of the land consultants under their contract for this very reason. There is too man unknown variables with land entitlements that we do not want that liability for. That is why the surveyor, civil, geo tech, etc are almost always under direct contract with the owner and not the architect. The architect will facilitate the coordination of everything.  

I dont know what your contract was with your architect, but it sounds like, at least part of the problem, was they were expecting you to lead the entitlement process while you were expecting them to lead the entitlement process. Again, just my guess. Finding an architect that really understands the developers mindset is very difficult. There are not many out there that do. Part of it is that for the longest time, it was considered professionally unethical for an architect to do any type of development themselves. Design Build, lead by an architect, was not only taboo but could get your licensed revoked. So many just stayed away from it and its really just been in the last 10-20 years that that has started to really change and take hold in the architectural profession.

The firm I work at, for example, has repeat developer clients that have been coming back for the last 10-30 years! Doing everything for little 2-6 unit townhouses all the way to 300+ unit apartment complexes and 5-over-1 mixed used buildings with 200 units over 20k sf of commercial and structured parking. They come back because we understand their process, not only the developer as a whole but them specifically and their specific requirements and needs. That relationship gets built over time and not every project is successful, from their end or our end. Got to take the lows with the highs. But trust me, when you find that architect that understand your processes, your life and projects will become exponentially easier, the projects will turn out better, and you will make more money in the end. 

@Shane Pearlman

First, they are miss using the "Highest and best use" term here. "Highest and best use" has to be "as it currently sits". Otherwise every vacant lot would be assessed to have a multistory building on it. Every farmers field would be assessed to have a 40 home subdivision on it. They have to asses its best use as it sits. So if you have a duplex, you cant asses it as a single family just because you only have one renter in there. If you have a commercial building that is vacant you don't get to claim it as vacant land. Just because you have a large enough single family home that could be converted into a duplex and/or have an ADU on it doesn't mean you get a single family home taxed as a duplex with an ADU. The examples can keep going on and on.

Second, the building code, IRC/IBC, defines a townhouse as zero lot line (zero setback) homes that are on their own separate parcels and share a common wall. That wall has to be of 2-hour construction. They have to have their own separate utilities as well. If your second building is not set up currently to be that, then they can't be a townhouse. You would have to improve the property (dramatically) at great expense to actual meet that definition and use it as a townhomes. Thats not to mention if its even possible as there are a lot of access issues to be worked out on the civil side and fire accessibility side. 

Third, Even though that cant call your second building two townhomes, they can call out that you have two duplexes, which could still effect your evaluation. You do not have a 4-plex. You really do have two duplexes since they are separate buildings. And since duplexes are residential, not commercial buildings, then yes, they did do the correct thing and by moving it over. Even bank loans will see this as a residential loan since they could go up to 4 units under residential loans. 

My 2 cents. Good luck fighting this....you'll need it.

I know very few architects that will do plumbing drawings. Those that do, typically will limit it to very small projects. Its just outside of their normal scope of work and it only increases their liability. Odds are, that scope of work is not a part of his original contract, so he has no obligation to do the drawings for you. 

I dont know NJ requirements but every other state I have worked in there is no requirement for a licensed architect to draw a plumbing drawing....or even an engineer. A lot of time the plumbing contractor with do the line drawing that the city wants to see. You can also hire a plumbing engineer to come do drawings for you. 

Quote from @Danilo Grullon:

@Jared W Smith

With all due respect to Architects; setting a standard percentage of cost based on construction cost is not good pricing for customers. They only one benefiting is the architect.  If the market price for a build is $300 per sq ft but I can get it done at $240. So you still want 10% for performing the same work? Not tying to cheap out, just not buying into the high prices. 

 You do realize this is exactly how contractors bid pretty much everything....and realtors work this way too. So this is a very common business practice across multiple professions associated with the construction. 

A friendly note on using pre-designed plans...they start out cheap but rarely ever end up cheap. You still have to pay for a custom site plan, stamped structural calcs needed to be provided for permits, and any changes that need to be made to the plans for your specific site. All of this is usually on top of the price you pay for the plans to begin with.  I've had many many people come to our office with a set of plans they bought off the internet. They always start by saying they don't want to make any changes, they always make changes. By the time they are done the end price they paid was pretty much the same price of a totally custom home design... 

Not all drafters, but most drafters I've seen and dealt with in the past, do not do construction administration. Once you have your permit from the city, they tend to ghost you and wont answer questions during construction or help in any meaningful capacity. This is just my personal experience with them...I'm not saying all drafters are like that. 

Another thing i would suggest is that maybe being more precise and articulate on exactly what you want in your home design might help bring the cost of the design down. I'm not saying you weren't, but I know architects and engineers, if they get a feeling that a client doesn't really know what they want and will need an excessive amount of hand holding and doing several redesigns through the process, they will pad their numbers. All professions do this. If there is a unknown factor of what is to be done, they have to gauge their risk...and they help off set that risk by asking for more. Sometimes its justifiable...and sometimes not really. 

Did you check to see what was included in that $90k? I'm sure it would've included structural engineering, but it might have included electrical and mechanical engineering as well...or even other consultants. Higher end firms do that for liability purposes and to help eliminate construction conflicts because trades do not talk to each other. I could easily see $30-40k of that 90k just in engineer fees. 

If you can't muster the money for an architect and engineer for an apartment building you dont need to be doing apartment buildings. Not only will the city laugh you away for trying to submit plans that arent stamped by an architect and engineer, I can guarantee you that your budget is not nearly high enough for what it really is going to cost you to finish out that building. 

One thing to consider though, that most people don't realize, when you higher and pay for an architect/engineer to do drawings you get to count that money spend as improvements to the building when it comes time to get your commercial loan. So that money gets to count towards the collateral needed for the loan. Yes its cash up front but its not wasted. If you can't stomach putting cash up front for building an apartment building you either need to find something smaller to start with or get out of developing. Developing is just a cash hungry profession. No way around it. 

You sure put on a spread! Are you being paid to promote Wenatchee? As a local, you could just keep our sleepy gold mine off the front page that would be great haha.

Quote from @Jay Thomas:

First, protecting your plans is crucial. Copyright helps, but it's not perfect. Make sure potential builders sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before showing them your plans. This legally keeps things confidential. You can also remove personal details from the plans to reduce the risk of someone copying your project.Now, about the budget. Be open with your current builder about the rising costs. Understand why it's happening and see if you can negotiate. If you're checking out another builder, make sure they're qualified and licensed in Texas. Compare their quotes not just on price but also on experience, timeline, and references. Use NDAs to protect your plans, talk openly with your current builder about costs, and consider more than just price when choosing a builder.

 Unless you are Mark Zuckerberg with a super secret underground base and an unlimited budget no one is going to even look at, let alone, sign an NDA to do a quote on a house. The entire notion of a NDA in this context is absurd. 

That aside, unless the OP designed and drew the plans he has no rights to the plans whatsoever. He is allowed to use them for the one time purpose of building said house and that is it. He has no legal recourse to pursue any GC for copying his plans if they felt like it because he doesn't own the copyright. The designer/architect would have to do the legal work and go after the GC. The house owner can't...they have zero legal standing....unless, like I've said, they own the copyright by either being the designer/architect or have bought the copyright. 

Quote from @Marco Cruzatt:

I stand corrected. Thank you for the clarification.
I was just talking to one of my colleagues, he's an Civil Engineer too but used to work for an Architectural firm for years. He was telling me all of the things a licenced architect can do which is what you are describing. However, in my experience, most of the items you were describing are done by the Civil (Grading and Drainage, Water Quality, etc...) 
I wish architects here were more like you lol 

Ya we are a "jack of all trades" kind of professional. We can design literally every part of the building and site designs BUT we do have our limits. Both in just shear knowledge/expertise and from how far our license actually covers by law (and liability insurance haha). There are hard lines set by building codes and state laws but most architects don't try and creep too close to that line. We usually have a very good understanding of where are limits are and are good at telling the clients when to hire another professional to be on the team. I know architects that know enough about structures to design a skyscraper....and I know some that wont do structures for even an ADU. So it also very with the person too.

Me personally, I'm good with structures for single family and small MF. For civil I'm good with getting the rough grading to where it needs to be and ensuring that the sidewalks throughout the site are ADA accessible but any more than that I want a civil involved. I know my limits on my knowledge and I'm sure as hell not adding that kind of liability on me.  

Quote from @Marco Cruzatt:

Quote from @Nik Moushon:

Quote from @Marco Cruzatt:

You can have 2 carbon copies of the same floor plan but if the site varies then the Civil Plans will be different.   

uhhh.....what?! How are architectural plans not for construction purposes? This is an absurd statement. 

Depending on the site, the jurisdiction, and complexity of the project you do not have to hire a civil engineer for a project. Most small projects only need a surveyor to get updated boundary lines and possibly topo for an architect to be able to do the site plan. It's not until larger projects where you have to start considering storm water retention and run off that the jurisdiction requires a civil engineer is need to be brought onto the team. 

 Hi Nik, 
Perhaps I misspoke. I was referring to projects where the site had potential constraints.
Can you do provide structural calculations and structural plans? 
It is my understanding that when it comes to smaller projects, as long as you stay within the agency's standard plans. You don't need an Structural Engineer. Is that what you were referring to? 

 Marco,

As an architect we can do all the site design and planning. This includes topo, grading, cut/fill calcs, slope calcs and sizing for sewer and water, etc. It's when we start getting into doing large projects where the scale and complexity of the project is cost and time prohibitive that it is better to hire a professional that specializes in those things...ie the civil engineer. Same goes for structural design as well. My stamp covers all the calculations that a structural engineer can do....up to a certain size. Same for civil stuff too.

I don't remember exactly what that threshold is for either but good rule of thumb we usually stick by is single family and small multi family (some really small commercial) for structural and for civil we usually stick to just the single family and small multi family. A lot of times the local jurisdictions (at least here in WA state) have a lot of storm water requirements that kick in after a certain amount of square feet of the site is disturbed with new impervious surface...so thats where civil gets involved regardless of the complexity of the site bc thats state law.