Having decided that we wanted to do the extension, we set about finding an architect. Without any personal recommendations in the local area we turned to RIBA to find an architect and met with three different architects. We didn’t want to use a larger company of architects due to cost so all three people we met were one-man bands. The first one we ruled out very quickly as he was late and vague. There wasn’t much between the other two and, to be frank, we chose the wrong person! We were happy with the initial plans that he drew up but he was delayed by every imaginable reason. We started in September 2013 with the intention of submitting the plans for planning permission by Christmas. There followed the death of his dog (I was very sympathetic); an office move from one room in his house to another (I was unsure why this was a fortnight delay); his elderly mother falling down the stairs (still a bit sympathetic); a cold (not so much with the sympathy any more); and then a series of last minute cancellations due to health problems (sorry, just bored and frustrated now). After all of this I couldn’t get hold of him to speak to for a couple of months so ended up sending an email at the end of April 2014 to tell him that we were looking for a new architect and would appreciate a refund of the money we’d paid him. I was extremely pleasantly surprised when he responded immediately and agreed to refund our money. And then I was frustrated that he hadn’t told us that he wanted to retire months previously. So that was six months with no discernible progress.
Our second foray into finding an architect was very different: a neighbour introduced me to a friend at a toddler singing group who strongly recommended the architectural technician they were using. We met him, another sole trader architect and a small architectural firm and decided to go with the recommendation. This time it worked out and we got to the appropriate stages of the process at the anticipated times. The next hold up was as a result of the planning officer who took two months to give us planning advice rather than the two weeks stated on their guidelines. But that is the next chapter.
