I have praticed Archiitectur for over 40 years of Government and Commerical experience. My perspective of why Architects are not asked to design houses are the following:
Education: Most folks don't understand the house must be designed before it is built, the public does not understand the process and has little concern for what it takes to design a house nor are they willing to pay for this professional fee.
Most folks are economical and don't understand the value Architects bring to the table
Most folks believe builders design houses and in many states they do. Legislation should emulate the State of NJ regarding who may design homes!
State legislation should be mandatory that only a Registered Architect may design and/or seal the drawings for a residence.
We should present ourselves as a turnkey operation when provide housing services, i.e. prepare the spec,drawings, supervise the construction, manage payments for the client, etc.
I also believe as a result of my experience, that building departments throughout our nation should be Architectural positions and Architects should replace builing officails as an option for the client.co
As a retired federal Architect, I have witnessed non professionals making code and building management decisions for which they were not qualified or compitent to make, but they were the boss. This situation should have never been allowed. This is one reasons why federal construction cost are extreme.
I believe we have for many years walked away from housing design for more lucrative commissions, which is understandable, but what a great way for interns to learn from the basics and support legislation which will prevent builders from designing inadaquate facilities. Now that we have basicly a single building code IBC, this could be a slam dunk.
Thank you for the opportunity to vent!
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Paul S. Colangelo AIA
Retired
Montclair, VA
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