Why Is It So Hard To Find Good Architects/engineers?

MGSProperties

Hi all

I am a GC on & off for 12 years. i find it very very hard to find good architects/engineers. The cost effective ones are unreliable, don't know what they are doing, don't answer phones etc..

the expensive can be all of the above but even if the are semi good the cost is too high and i get blown out of the water with the home owner since the other gc's offer the cheaper prices ones to get the initial job.

so can anyone explain to me the problem? or maybe someone knows of a architects/engineers in Los Angeles area

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wallmaxx

The only architects I have found to actually BE CORRECT in that they drew the structure using actual material sizes (made the whole process really smooth) are David Jones of Hopkinsville, KY and Nick Feldman in Louisville, KY.

No idea here on the west coast.

KentWhitten

I'm not sure about the laws in Cal. but most places it's acceptable to find a designer to use as the architect and most times, they are more knowledgeable than an architect. You would need to get engineering stamps from that point on though. When I did this in WA state, I had to supply my own engineer, so maybe you might have better luck talking to a designer instead?

I hear ya wallmaxx. There's a few up there in WA that actually put 5½" for a wall core.

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

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genecarp

here in new york to

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LaurieC

We are in the area (OC actually) and have a great engineer! I don't know if you want to use someone in Orange, but if so give me your e-mail and I'll get you the info. I also have a great architect, but again...in OC.

Framer man- our current client used a designer, not an arch, and we are having more trouble than normal. The guy just didn't demintion half of the plans, the laundry chute dumps onto a roof (not sure how he missed that one), and there are no details on the stairs. The only thing he did well was the furniture placment on the plans. Yes, there is furniture placment on the drawings??? The client thought he was getting a dome in the breakfast room, until I pointed out there were placmats, and silverwear in that dome...it was placement for the table. This is our first job with a designer and I don't know that we'd do it again.

oldfrt

I just found a good designer while pulling a Permit two days ago.

I overheard him telling someone that he was "retiring from 30 years of building to do only design work.

Since he already has all those years of field work behind him and has probably run into almost every possible structural problem .I approached him for a couple additions where the new roof lines need to be designed to compliment the current home.
His rates are $50/hr ,more than fair in my book.

I have known a few builders that have the capability of doing the design work themselves and planned to move on to it for their primary income once they unwilling to do the physical work any more.

These guys got to be he ideal designers because of their building experience.

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KentWhitten

No matter what, you still have to find out if the person is truly qualified, whether it's an architect or a designer. You need to ask questions before saying "you've got the job" The guy you speak of more than likely has absolutely no experience in construction or design. He probably took some night classes and figured "this is easy!"

I'm also wondering if this is an interior designer and not an architectural designer. Interior designers don't know **** about structural designing, but they know where the table goes!

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

LaurieC

The title he has on his documents just says, "Designer", no idea if that means interior designer or not. I sure hope not. These clients are stupid, but could they be dumb enough to let an interior designer design the structure for their house? Maybe...

Kaiser

You were reading my mind MGS. I've been wondering this for years. I work mainly on the commercial side and both professions aren't what they use to be.
I believe Architecture fell way off when the computer came into the industry. I can't tell you how many time I've questioned a detail to here " I just cut and pasted that from another project" To me that means close enough you figure it out.

A few years ago on a Bank addition we were having problems laying out the columns. None of the measurements were working out no matter which end we started from. So we scaled it off of the prints only to be told "You can't do that, we had 3 seperate Archs working on those prints and we all prefer to work with different scales." WTF!!
I am bidding a small project right now that have no measurements at all. When I sent an RFI asking if I could just scale the prints his response was "No I'll have measurements for you when the construction begins. Thats just 2 examples of 1,000's.

I truly believe it is the people in the field that deserve the credit for putting these projects together. The field as become far more intelligent over the past few decades due to the lack talented Architects and Engineers.

I say we hang the jerk that invented the phrase Field Varify

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Double-A

Welcome to the site. Please update your profile to include your location. It helps others when your posts might refer to regional or local conditions.

I think the biggest problem is, we don't qualify these folks as we would other professionals.

Send out some feelers and ask some questions.

"We've had x, y and z problems with other design professionals in the past.

• "How does your company work to avoid and solve these problems? "
• "At what point does your company consider these problems solved? "
• "How important is our business now, and in future to your company and how closely are you willing to work with us to insure these problems are not reoccurring and/or are completely avoided?
• "Is your company willing to work to earn and retain our future business?"

If you're not going to demand more from your professional service providers then I'm pretty sure they are not going to provide it.

These are the same questions I ask of our insurance agents, lawyers, CPA, design professionals, etc. In fact, these are some of the same questions I ask of our subs when we decide to widen our pool of available professional tradesmen.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

KentWhitten

This is why I use BIM instead of CAD and I think the industry will all go this way eventually. It won't eliminate problems, never will, but it's a better way to design.

I should have mentioned that in almost all cases, designers can't design commercial and industrial buildings, only residential up to certain sizes. You would need to check with your building officials to see what they accept.

I definitely agree with that last phrase. The program I use, you cannot change the dimension string. It is what it is. At least for now, I heard they are changing that in the next release.

__________________
If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

GSE

If you want to run a professional business an architect or engineer. is a must, If your trying to meet the low end pricing, your most likely pricing against the bottom hacks, and an engineer is not going to be your problem, making a profit will be, and staying in for the long run, is les likely, a good engineer, or architect will not only make your job easier, but can save you big time, by providing detailed plans, you think they are espensive, try working for any length of time without them, once you find the right guys, they will most likely supply you with quality customers, so in the end it's a win win.

georgia dawg

Doing basic residential, I've mostly hired the same engineer everyone else uses around here to sign off on basic stuff everyone knows but just happens to not be in the code books. (foundations/slabs, etc.). When by chance I had a truly unique design feature on a house, he just sent me a few pages of boilerplate and references to the IRC. Duh! I coulda done that myself. We went ahead and modified it to fit the IRC, but that kind of defeated the whole purpose of hiring the engineer in the first place.

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"How much per sq.ft? Well.. gimme $1K and I can build a shed. Gimme $1M and I can build the same size shed with gold plating and encrusted diamonds."

polar8989

Payment. Most of them don't really feel the amount of work they put into their job is compensated correctly. Much like web designers, artists, etc.

KentWhitten

In any professional business, you need QUALIFIED people. Just because they are an architect or engineer doesn't mean they are more qualified than every building designer out there. From the prints I have received from architects, I have had more headaches than anything. It's a status symbol to hire an architect for residential purposes.

A designer can easily be put into that sentence. You get what you pay for and sometimes more than you need and they confuse you more than help. I provide highly detailed plans but not if they aren't willing to pay for them. Most times, all they want a builders set, about 15 pages.

__________________
If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

Teetorbilt

It's because most of them shouldn't be doing what they are.

Cases in fact:

My professor in fluid dynamics at FIT had a problem with subsurface hydrofoils, it took me 3 mos. to convince him of what was wrong.

Next job. The guy was a PE and didn't understand how gyroscopes worked. We were written up in a national magazine and looked like idiots.

Next job. 4 'engineers' couldn't figure out the CG of a boat! What a bunch of idiots!

Construction engineers are pretty much the same. Some must be good or else EVERYTHING would fall down.

BTW, does anyone remember TWO cranes falling in NYC in the past weeks?

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Double-A

But in all fairness, one was freak accident. It had just been inspected and passed and supposedly, a falling piece of iron/steel sheared the connection to the building making it unstable.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006