Attic-Client-Journey | Jearchitecture

JEA Attic Client Journey

This page is written as a guide to assist you on your journey through your project form concept through to completion with JEA. it is written in order to help educate to you the steps and processes that we will guide you through on the project.

Communication

Please understand that we have finite resources in JEA and as such we strive to deliver excellence at all times, so efficient communication is key to that at all times.

We insist that all correspondence during the project up until site stage 03 (Construction) shall be done through email where possible, before resorting to a phone call. We ask that you do this because of our work load and programs and because we have so many new enquiries, that we need to prioritise our phone time wherever possible.

Refer back to this document if you have any general enquiries before reaching out to us with a question as most general questions will be answered here. If your question refers to a specific design or admin issue related just to your project, having that in an email allows us to best respond and record what we need to do to help.

If the query is urgent please book a call with the member of the team as needed.

Fees

It is a requirement of the RIAI Code of Conduct that architects must agree all fees in writing prior to commencement of work. You will have received your fee agreement by email and acceptance of same will be deemed as a valid contract for the stages of work you have agreed too.

Stage 01 – Scheme Design/Planning

JEA must inform you that at this design stage a Project Supervisor of the Design Stage (PSDP) must be appointed for the purpose of Health & Safety Regulations. JEA will offer this service within the fee agreement. The appointment must be signed in writing and along with this the AF1 form must be filled out and posted to the HSA. This service is offered as part of Stage 2 below.

As the brief is being developed JEA will carry out a detailed survey of the existing property or site if the projects involves a new build to create existing drawings as part of the design process. This brief meeting may be a separate meeting or may happen at the same time as the survey is carried out, depending on the complexity of the project.

From here JEA will take your design brief and begin to develop the design aiming to incorporate as many items in the brief that the design allows for. JEA will then take the brief and the survey away and work on your designs. This can take anywhere up to 4-6 weeks again depending on the complexity of your project and our current work load.

Once the design is ready, JEA will then send the design to you for review. The design will be presented in a suite of planning drawings including site plans, floor plans, elevations and sections.

The design may then be tweaked through additions or items being removed and the client will confirm in writing via email a final sign off on the designs before we proceed to the planning application.

At this stage the design will have been agreed and can now be developed in further detail to comply with relevant planning regulations and standards depending on the County Council.

JEA will produce a final set of planning drawings for the client to review before lodgement with the council. This is an important stage and the client should have any proposed changes required brought to the architect as any changes after planning is lodged can add further delays, costs and may result in a new planning application and further costs.

All associated administrative work will be completed by JEA as part of the agreement.

The planning application will be managed by JEA and any resulting correspondence received will be passed on to the client in a timely manner.

Laminated site notices will be posted out to the client with instructions on where to erect them on site. It is the Clients responsibility to make sure they are erected in the correct location and in a timely manner.

You can take the site notice down 5 weeks from the date noted on the site notice.

Approximate Planning Timelines following lodgement-

8 weeks - To give an initial decision of a grant/refusal.
4 weeks - for the final grant of permission. This decision will be open to objections from the public for a further 4 weeks. This means the final grant is not valid until the 4 weeks elapse.

Additional Information – The council can request further information on a planning application to aid them in making their decision. This can involve additional drawings, consultant reports for example. Once requested the applicant must respond within a period of 6 Months.

Compliance Submissions

Following a grant of permission, the council may ask for compliance documents/drawings on various items prior to commencement of the project on site. JEA can complete these items for you or have consultants aid in this being completed if required. Compliance submissions if required may incur Additional Cost for this work, which is dependent upon the council request.

Appeals

If the decision is (i) granted and appealed by a third party, or (ii) the design is refused, or (iii) has been granted with conditions the client would like to contest/appeal this can be appealed to An Bord Pleanala within a period of 4 weeks after the date of the decision.

The client must inform JEA in a timely manner if they wish to appeal, because this appeal requires the preparation of separate document which takes time to formulate. If JEA do not have the time to prepare this document we may not be ale to make your appeal in time.

In some cases where the appeal is complex, JEA will require a planning consultant to carry out the appeal. In this case JEA can advise on an appropriate planning consultant and seek quotations for said additional work. Note that any appeal made to An Bord Pleanala Appeal will incur Additional Costs for this work is dependent on whats involved.

Stage 02 – Detail Design – Building Drawings, Specifications & Tender

JEA will be appointed by You as Project Supervisor of the Design Stage (PSDP) for the purpose of Health & Safety Regulations. JEA will offer this service within the fee agreement. The appointment must be signed in writing and along with this the AF1 form must be filled out and posted to the HSA. This service is offered as part of Stage 2.

Once the project has been developed to the relevant planning standards JEA will produce a set of detailed construction drawings and specifications to enable the project to be priced through either a traditional tender or negotiated tender.

JEA will review the details of the build with the client at the beginning of this stage to agree on everything from construction methods to finishes, as all of this detail will go into the construction drawings and specification. These items will depend on the project type - new build, conversion/extension or deep retrofit. The drawings and Building Specification will be in Compliance with the up to date Building Regulations.

Traditional Tender

If this route is chosen, JEA will produce a full set of construction drawings, written specification and a preliminary health and safety plan along with any relevant consultant drawings/specifications and formulate a tender package. JEA will compile a list of suitable builders with a minimum of 3 chosen of which the client can add to if required. Builders will be chosen on a basis of quality. The tender package will be sent out to the contractors for competitive pricing and returned in a predetermined time.

JEA will complete a tender summary for the client to aid them in their decision on choosing a contractor. Once chosen the builder will enter in to a contract with the client with JEA as contract administrator. In turn, the builder has contracts with specialist sub-contractors and with suppliers of materials. The RIAI Code of Professional Conduct states that your RIAI independent consulting architect will have no financial interest in any building contracting firm and receives no commissions or discounts from contractors or suppliers, so you can be sure that the advice you get is free of any conflict of interest.

Negotiated Tender

With this route JEA will advise on employing a Quantity Surveyor to complete a Bill of Quantities (BOQ) based on the tender package. This will include a full cost breakdown and rates to enter into negotiation with a preselected contractor of which JEA will advise. The main difference being the BOQ will formulate the price which is sent to the contractor to negotiate on and agree a project sum.

Once chosen the builder will enter in to a contract with the client with JEA as contract administrator. In turn, the builder has contracts with specialist sub-contractors and with suppliers of materials. The RIAI Code of Professional Conduct states that your RIAI independent consulting architect will have no financial interest in any building contracting firm and receives no commissions or discounts from contractors or suppliers, so you can be sure that the advice you get is free of any conflict of interest.

Project costs and associated timelines will be re-evaluated and agreed at the end of this stage.

Following the appointment of the contractor, a competent Project Supervisor of the Construction Process (PSCS) must be employed by the client, this is usually the main contractor but can be an independent appointment. Once appointed this is agreed in writing and the resulting AF2 form must be filled in and lodged to the HSA for H&S compliance.

If required JEA will prepare and lodge BCMS package for commencement notice which is included in the fee agreement.
As building owner it is your responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Building Control Act and Regulations as they apply to building owners which includes for the giving of notices and the appointment of suitable competent persons to design and construct the works.

Stage 03 – Site Stage - Inspection & Certification of Work

JEA will help you evaluate the tenders received, and, when construction starts, act as your independent advisor during building work, liaising with the builder but independent of them, and inspecting the work at intervals on your behalf to ensure that it is being carried out generally in accordance with the contract documents and tracking progress of the works completed.

JEA will advise you on stage payments during the project, and will not certify payments unless the work complies with the specifications and work completed on site. JEA will track works completed or materials on site and show this in their interim stage payments. This will be shared with the client through a live BOQ document where live costs can be tracked by the client.

It is up to the client to check the drawings, specifications and resulting BOQ before agreeing on a contract price.

During construction, it is best that you NEVER give instructions directly to the contractor, because what can seem a simple change may have cost and time implications not easily foreseen. If you think you do need to make changes, discuss these with your architect to make sure that they are necessary and so that any additional cost can be established and controlled. If you want to avoid surprises and unforeseen costly over runs involve, involve the architect at all times.

Remember that the architect is not the builder, and does not supervise the work, that is the builder’s job. During the construction stage the architect administers the building contract as your agent but is legally required to act fairly between you and the builder.

Remember that the builder is in business to make a profit. Your relationship with the builder should be on a business basis.

Completion

The architect’s work continues after the building work is finished, as part of all payments due to the builder a 'retention' figure is held back for up to twelve months and is only paid out, on the architect’s instruction, after any defects have been rectified by the builder. This is known as retention. This figure is usually 5% of the payment and will come off each stage payment. Half of the retention is due to the contractor on Practical Completion, with the final 2.5% due after the defects period. This retention will be paid into a separate account administered on behalf of the client and builder by JEA.

JEA will track progress and in their opinion when the works are practically complete to allow the occupants return to the building and use it for its intended use, will issue a certificate of practical completion.

This is a key point in the project as it transfers insurance from the builder back to the client so the client must make their home insurer aware this has been issued and their insurance now covers the house again. This is also the stage where half the retention money will be paid to the contractor and the second half kept until the defects liability period is complete. This is also the beginning of the Defect period.

JEA will then carry out a final inspection and issue a Compliance Certificate on Completion with building regulations and planning permission (if relevant) and Contract Final Account to the client.

Following the Completion of the Defects period and in the opinion of the architects all defects have been rectified, the architects will release the final retention money to the contractor.

JEA will then issue the client with the Health & Safety Folder which will include all the relevant certificates from the builder, architect, sub-contractors, drawings and other relevant documents on a project to project basis.

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