Housing and Community Development

Correct, the middle class is not a target customer for architectural services for a private residence. That has been, and largely remains, in the sandbox of wealthy players. However, that is changing, opportunities are growing as the class of middle income folks sees the value in the approach to building that architects bring.

And the point in education is not re-allocation of wealth, although in the end it can be the result. The appreciation of arcitecture is greater in some cultures where the public has appreciates its importance, clearly through some education, even if only exposure by default. That seems to be less the case is the US where (middle class) leadership on school boards and housing authoritites still seek to lower costs by reducing fees or eliminating them by utilizing stock plans in deliberations when the issue of "architecture" doesn't surface.  

Presumably the issue of architecture would rise more, and burden associated with the cost of an architect felt less, amongst those who apppreciated its value.  


-------------------------------------------
Allen Neyman AIA
Principal
StovallSmithNeyman and Associates Architects
Germantown MD
-------------------------------------------

Allen, you make a good point about reaching the middle class or even upper middle class. I have tried very hard to access that type of client. However, the way we have is our professional rates structured will not fund the time needed to deliver architectural service at any level other than critic. If I were to reduce our rates to $50 per hour we could fund a reasonable amount of time to do the work. However this type of rate will not sustain an architectural practice  as a business.

We have had some succuss acting as critic for ARBs reviewing plans and providing a level of criticism that benefits the homeowner and builder. We have been successful educating the public to the benefits of well planned home by getting our work before a larger group of people.

Another area of service has been for us to just do schematic design and let the home go. Builders and Realtors have been hiring us to help them sell work. We work hard to partner with both groups. I believe our best service is in the early planning of home. We are finding builders, realtors and home owners appreciate the creativity and vision of this level of service. Enough so to pay higher hourly rates than if we did all the work. 
  
-------------------------------------------
Donald Duffy AIA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
-------------------------------------------

Duffy & Allen, I have enjoyed your discussion on the residential process for today's market!  Recently I was
confronted by a member, here in Sonoma County, CA, to allow the use of my plans for an original residence
the owner wished to remodel & add to.  The project proceeded & went to bid, which finaled @ X.  The owner 
felt the $ amount was out of his reach & called me to assist in salvaging the project with an adjusted program.
With much adjustment to the client's program, we produced documents that were considerably less amount of 
engineering, etc.  Bid sets were sent to the original bidder and several other contractors.

The final bid accepted by the owner was 1/2 X!  Plans were submitted to the Bldg. Dept. & approved for 
construction.  All parties were elated to have the project proceed.  I knew the original project well, and the client also!  The secret to the project's success was knowing what was not affordable in the first scheme!
Having known the client, project & the situation with the economy, I was able to convince all, the new scope
had many expensive thoughts to it, but dealing with talented bidders led to an acceptable bid.

I generated a fee, I felt was fitting for the times, and with the success of the bid price being acceptable,
the client submitted a bonus to me! 
 
The punch line to all this savings:  there was a definite chance for the client to add many exciting addons
to the project via field orders negotiated with the contractor.  A neighbor in the same highend subdivision 
got word of the savings my client enjoyed & requested my participation in his addon.....my fee was reasonable 
enough to influence additional work!  Had this not occurred, I would have had no project at all!
Life is good & projects happen with a little help from all parties! 
-------------------------------------------
Glenn Coleman AIA
Glenn Eldric Coleman AIA
Santa Rosa CA
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2011 10:10
From: Donald Duffy
Subject: CRAN Committee Attends Reinvention, Requests your feedback


Allen, you make a good point about reaching the middle class or even upper middle class. I have tried very hard to access that type of client. However, the way we have is our professional rates structured will not fund the time needed to deliver architectural service at any level other than critic. If I were to reduce our rates to $50 per hour we could fund a reasonable amount of time to do the work. However this type of rate will not sustain an architectural practice  as a business.

We have had some succuss acting as critic for ARBs reviewing plans and providing a level of criticism that benefits the homeowner and builder. We have been successful educating the public to the benefits of well planned home by getting our work before a larger group of people.

Another area of service has been for us to just do schematic design and let the home go. Builders and Realtors have been hiring us to help them sell work. We work hard to partner with both groups. I believe our best service is in the early planning of home. We are finding builders, realtors and home owners appreciate the creativity and vision of this level of service. Enough so to pay higher hourly rates than if we did all the work. 
  
-------------------------------------------
Donald Duffy AIA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
-------------------------------------------

Glenn, You are spot on. The architect and other trade partners working to a common goal directed by the client. Serving the client well is what our work should be about. Is it not nice to become the nieghborhood architect because of your good work and service.
 

-------------------------------------------
Donald Duffy AIA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 12-21-2011 02:33
From: Glenn Coleman
Subject: CRAN Committee Attends Reinvention, Requests your feedback


Duffy & Allen, I have enjoyed your discussion on the residential process for today's market!  Recently I was
confronted by a member, here in Sonoma County, CA, to allow the use of my plans for an original residence
the owner wished to remodel & add to.  The project proceeded & went to bid, which finaled @ X.  The owner 
felt the $ amount was out of his reach & called me to assist in salvaging the project with an adjusted program.
With much adjustment to the client's program, we produced documents that were considerably less amount of 
engineering, etc.  Bid sets were sent to the original bidder and several other contractors.

The final bid accepted by the owner was 1/2 X!  Plans were submitted to the Bldg. Dept. & approved for 
construction.  All parties were elated to have the project proceed.  I knew the original project well, and the client also!  The secret to the project's success was knowing what was not affordable in the first scheme!
Having known the client, project & the situation with the economy, I was able to convince all, the new scope
had many expensive thoughts to it, but dealing with talented bidders led to an acceptable bid.

I generated a fee, I felt was fitting for the times, and with the success of the bid price being acceptable,
the client submitted a bonus to me! 
 
The punch line to all this savings:  there was a definite chance for the client to add many exciting addons
to the project via field orders negotiated with the contractor.  A neighbor in the same highend subdivision 
got word of the savings my client enjoyed & requested my participation in his addon.....my fee was reasonable 
enough to influence additional work!  Had this not occurred, I would have had no project at all!
Life is good & projects happen with a little help from all parties! 
-------------------------------------------
Glenn Coleman AIA
Glenn Eldric Coleman AIA
Santa Rosa CA
-------------------------------------------

About 20 years ago, in Orlando, Florida, I attended a seminar taught by an attorney who specialized in architectural and engineering liability.  He said that we are responsible for what we design, period.  He told us a true story about an architect who met a potential client at a bar, and the architect scribbled a concept for an office building on a cocktail napkin. 

Unwisely, the architect gave the sketch to the other person.  The architect didn't hear anything more (for a long time).  The other person somehow found a way to complete the design begun by that sketch, and built the building.  The building had some problems and the attorneys for the developer sued the architect who provided (for free!) that little sketch upon which it was based!  Unbelievable, right?  Well, guess what?  The architect who provided that little scribble lost the case!  The courts held that what he provided by his initial design resulted in the ultimate failure of the built project. 

The moral of this true story told to us by this liability attorney was: never just prepare concepts or schematics and then allow others to complete them.  You still remain responsible for the design!  My agreement contains a clause that indicates that no one can complete my design work but myself.  In this manner, if anyone tries to do that, they have violated my contract and I have recourse and the reasonable basis for a defense if others unsuccessfully complete my designs. 

The above is in response to the implied suggestion that we, as architects, can provide a lesser degree of service, like only schematics, charge a lower amount for that, then let the client do whatever they want to with that.  Please be careful out there!  We cannot escape our responsibility for providing design and documentation in accordance with our licenses and our pledge to protect the Health, Safety and Welfare of the public, hence all those HSW courses we have to take as CEUs each year, in all jurisdictions.  If anyone thinks that they are "off the hook" by merely doing schematics, then turning your design loose to others, please do yourselves a huge favor and contact a liability attorney ASAP, especially one used to representing construction professionals; you'll be glad you did and avoid huge problems in the future for yourselves and for the public.  I do wish you all well.

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Rand Soellner Architect
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2011 10:10
From: Donald Duffy
Subject: CRAN Committee Attends Reinvention, Requests your feedback


Allen, you make a good point about reaching the middle class or even upper middle class. I have tried very hard to access that type of client. However, the way we have is our professional rates structured will not fund the time needed to deliver architectural service at any level other than critic. If I were to reduce our rates to $50 per hour we could fund a reasonable amount of time to do the work. However this type of rate will not sustain an architectural practice  as a business.

We have had some succuss acting as critic for ARBs reviewing plans and providing a level of criticism that benefits the homeowner and builder. We have been successful educating the public to the benefits of well planned home by getting our work before a larger group of people.

Another area of service has been for us to just do schematic design and let the home go. Builders and Realtors have been hiring us to help them sell work. We work hard to partner with both groups. I believe our best service is in the early planning of home. We are finding builders, realtors and home owners appreciate the creativity and vision of this level of service. Enough so to pay higher hourly rates than if we did all the work. 
  
-------------------------------------------
Donald Duffy AIA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
-------------------------------------------

True story? I've heard variations of this same urban legend. We hear these scary "true" stories at seminars all the time, as the presenter generally has a business related reason behind their involvement in the topic. Did this "Architect" sign the sketch or stamp it? How did the lawyers know he/she did the sketch? Did the Architect willingly admit this well preserved napkin sketch from a bar that just happened to surface a "long time later" was in fact their handwriting, or sketching style? I've seen my mud covered, wrinkled up drawings after months of being on a job site and I doubt a napkin would look as good. I assume the project was in FL? Even 20 years ago, I'm pretty sure almost every jurisdiction, especially in FL, would require a stamped set of CDs to get a permit to build an Office Building. The lawyers for the "other side" must have been amazing if they somehow blamed the author of the napkin sketch over the Architect/Engineers of Record that had to of produced the actual Permit Drawings. With all this said and knowing the story teller is a lawyer with a purpose, those who took Street Smarts 101 when growing up would say this story wreaks of BS.

I'm the Architect that opened the discussion about adjusting our business models to make our services available to a larger cross section of society. I never said we should hand off a schematic sketch and let the owner run with it like a signed blank check. I simply suggested that a master suite addition to a middle class person's house doesn't require a spec book, RCP, finish schedule, CA services, etc. Simple projects can be designed without the standard list of services we typically offer for commercial work and million dollar residences. Providing enough information to obtain a permit and construct the building is hardly a schematic. We are responsible for everything we design and being irresponsible is much different than being a good business person who recognizes a need that isn't being filled.

Most Architecture Firms that I personally know that have been involved in a lawsuit and "lost" were thrown under the bus by their insurance company who immediately settled despite the obvious fact that the lawsuit was erroneously aimed at the company that happens to have a Liability Insurance Policy. All the lawyers know to drag us into every lawsuit regardless of our involvement in the problem because they know our insurance will give them a free paycheck with little resistance. Liability Insurance companies make their profit from taking in more premium dollars than they pay out and settling immediately is the least expensive option when defending a client. Winning a lawsuit for the defendant only means the defendant doesn't have to pay damages. There is nothing in it for the insurance company to pay legal fees for the whole process and allow us to walk away with our dignity in tact after being falsely accused of wrong doing. Now they get to jack our premiums and black ball us to their competing insurance companies, making us feel trapped and humiliated. A win, win for the insurance company and a lose, lose, lose for their paying customer. I've been frightened into paying for insurance like the rest, despite the fact that my office is the local coffee shop, my S-Corp protects my personal assets, and the only thing left to take is my laptop, CAD program, and digital camera. My low overhead and few tangible assets makes me a small target, but my insurance policy gives them something worth taking.

When working with a builder as a teammate and not an adversary, you find that you protect each other rather than blame one another as a first reaction. On one of my million dollar residences, I had a structural engineer size a beam right on the edge. The builder and I made a decision that loaded the beam with an additional 100lbs over a 15ft span, but never realized how close the beam was designed. The beam started to deflect enough (5/16") that you couldn't see it, but the doors upstairs came slightly out of square. Rather than letting the problem get worse or alerting the owner right away, the builder, engineer, and I agreed to chip in a few hundred dollars each and buy a new LVL. The owner never knew a thing and is perfectly happy and oblivious that a potential problem even existed. Had this happened in the traditional commercial world, I likely wouldn't have been on site that day when the problem was first caught. I wouldn't have had a several year relationship with the Contractor who views me as an integral part of their team and would rather fix a problem than let it fester and then profit from it with an embarrassing change order. We all realized our contribution to the problem and sucked it up right away before it became embarrassing to all of us. Complex situations like this come up all the time that involve more than one decision maker and this is the stuff law suits and finger pointing are made of and angry owners sue everyone over. Law suits are a matter of perception. Blame is only assigned when the contributors are unwilling to work together as a team to solve a problem before it becomes a problem. 

I have over 100 limited scope, small, middle class residential renovation projects that are built. I have about 40 just in my own neighborhood. Most of my residential work is built by Contractors I have close relationships with, as they usually provide me the work. I have never been threatened with a lawsuit. The more complicated the project, the more opportunities there are for problems to arise. Don't be afraid to design small projects for middle class people because lawyers try to scare us with napkin sketch stories concerning office buildings. Comparing potential problems with residences and commercial buildings is like comparing a grape to a watermelon. 

Tailoring your services and fees to be appropriate with the client's needs and budget doesn't mean you should be completely irresponsible. Just because a design problem is small, doesn't mean it's not worthy of our attention. Part of the problem to solve is how you can adjust your business model and delivery method to even participate in the first place. Personally, I rather enjoy providing good design to those who never realized the opportunity existed for them. Due to the low expectations, these are the easiest clients to impress. How else can we convince the majority of Americans that we are important to this society when we make ourselves too exclusive for them to afford? 

-------------------------------------------
Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 12-21-2011 07:52
From: Rand Soellner
Subject: CRAN Committee Attends Reinvention, Requests your feedback

About 20 years ago, in Orlando, Florida, I attended a seminar taught by an attorney who specialized in architectural and engineering liability.  He said that we are responsible for what we design, period.  He told us a true story about an architect who met a potential client at a bar, and the architect scribbled a concept for an office building on a cocktail napkin. 

Unwisely, the architect gave the sketch to the other person.  The architect didn't hear anything more (for a long time).  The other person somehow found a way to complete the design begun by that sketch, and built the building.  The building had some problems and the attorneys for the developer sued the architect who provided (for free!) that little sketch upon which it was based!  Unbelievable, right?  Well, guess what?  The architect who provided that little scribble lost the case!  The courts held that what he provided by his initial design resulted in the ultimate failure of the built project. 

The moral of this true story told to us by this liability attorney was: never just prepare concepts or schematics and then allow others to complete them.  You still remain responsible for the design!  My agreement contains a clause that indicates that no one can complete my design work but myself.  In this manner, if anyone tries to do that, they have violated my contract and I have recourse and the reasonable basis for a defense if others unsuccessfully complete my designs. 

The above is in response to the implied suggestion that we, as architects, can provide a lesser degree of service, like only schematics, charge a lower amount for that, then let the client do whatever they want to with that.  Please be careful out there!  We cannot escape our responsibility for providing design and documentation in accordance with our licenses and our pledge to protect the Health, Safety and Welfare of the public, hence all those HSW courses we have to take as CEUs each year, in all jurisdictions.  If anyone thinks that they are "off the hook" by merely doing schematics, then turning your design loose to others, please do yourselves a huge favor and contact a liability attorney ASAP, especially one used to representing construction professionals; you'll be glad you did and avoid huge problems in the future for yourselves and for the public.  I do wish you all well.

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Rand Soellner Architect
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------

I have been proving for over a decade that you can make good money working for middle class clients. It's a matter of not over doing it. All they need is a good idea and a permit. These residential builders can build from a napkin sketch or a sparse plan book drawing. You don't have to draw more stuff to come up with a good design. We can't expect to control freak the whole process and still be either affordable to them or make a decent wage for yourself. You can't have both with this type of client. It's all about stripping down your services appropriate to the client's needs and budget. They may not be able to afford your interior design or CA services, but why deny a regular person of a thoughtful design even if you have to forego the RCP or Building Section? You may have to accept doing the heavy lifting and let the builder and owner sort the rest out. Is that really worse than not giving them a decent design at all? At least they have a fighting chance. If we can't figure out how to work our way into this segment, then requiring our services every where will never be a reality, but a realtor is required, a plumber, an electrician, etc. We will continue to only marginalize ourselves. This isn't society's fault for being tacky or uneducated about Architecture, it's our fault for not learning to adapt and evolve, so our business models can include a much larger segment of society.

This type of work is no more an Architectural Record cover story than the commercial filler work we've all done before. Come on, take a look around and show me where all the great master pieces are. I see an awful lot of Big BOX Stores, strip malls, Fast Food joints, and an endless amount of repetitious, cookie cutter, track houses. I see an America that we let down, not because of our design skills, but because of our lack of entrepreneurial skills. We can innovate buildings, but we can't seem to innovate our design delivery method. Schools don't teach us how the business works and I've never heard another Architect mention a word about their business model like I have been doing when spilling the beans to the whole nation. Call me a fool, but I'm this confident that there's simply more than enough of this type of work out there for all of us and I'm pretty entrenched in my area.

A sole practitioner with above average CAD skills is ideal for this type of thing. It's all about working efficiently and leveraging the client's urgency to get a permit against their indecisiveness. Most people don't realize they need help until the clock is already ticking. There are many unemployed, potential sole practitioners that could easily start up a practice with just a computer and CAD/BIM program. You don't even need a plotter anymore if you give the client a pdf and let them handle their own printing. Coffee Shops make great conference rooms/ offices. It doesn't take long to get a nice, high end residence from this work. Residential Designers have learned to make decent money doing this, and so can we. When I started my practice, I was still an intern working full time for other Architects. I was that Residential Designer with no leads, prospects, or client base and that's how I found this segment. That's why the company name isn't Rawlings Architecture, Inc.

I discovered years ago that there is a huge need for experienced Architects to help regular people renovate their houses. Now that need has quadrupled due to the Housing Crisis and the fact that many can't sell their homes for what they have in them. People care more about the way their house looks and works today as they see the House as a Home again and not just a Commodity. Residential Designers lack the structural knowledge for difficult renovation problems and offer simplistic, dysfunctional solutions. If we show this segment that we can do a much better job for just a little more, then we can get them hooked. The Residential Designers in my area are having a hard time dealing with me because I learned to get my design point across for about 10-20% more fee. I've been on BIM so long that I can build 3d models and give them renderings for that fee. I just work more efficiently and have a better understanding of structure, code, local zoning, etc. allowing me to push the envelope and help the client get the most out of their house problem. It is very important to understand that Less is More. Less work, less time spent, the more you save the client and the more you make per hour. There is no shortage of this work, it's just hard to find at first. Referrals are key. Building a client network goes quick when jobs last a couple of weeks. A master suite addition client has just as many friends as the million dollar house client and there are many, many more master suite clients out there.

-------------------------------------------
Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2011 10:10
From: Donald Duffy
Subject: CRAN Committee Attends Reinvention, Requests your feedback


Allen, you make a good point about reaching the middle class or even upper middle class. I have tried very hard to access that type of client. However, the way we have is our professional rates structured will not fund the time needed to deliver architectural service at any level other than critic. If I were to reduce our rates to $50 per hour we could fund a reasonable amount of time to do the work. However this type of rate will not sustain an architectural practice  as a business.

We have had some succuss acting as critic for ARBs reviewing plans and providing a level of criticism that benefits the homeowner and builder. We have been successful educating the public to the benefits of well planned home by getting our work before a larger group of people.

Another area of service has been for us to just do schematic design and let the home go. Builders and Realtors have been hiring us to help them sell work. We work hard to partner with both groups. I believe our best service is in the early planning of home. We are finding builders, realtors and home owners appreciate the creativity and vision of this level of service. Enough so to pay higher hourly rates than if we did all the work. 
  
-------------------------------------------
Donald Duffy AIA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
-------------------------------------------