Like charted accounts, doctors, lawyers an architect’s work is addressed as “PRACTISE”. And so there is no business virtue to it. Remuneration Received by the architects is addressed as “FEES”.

The guidelines for this is the regulations laid down in the Architects Act 1972 in the constitution. There is a governing body for the practise of architecture in India called ”the council of architecture”and has laid down the scale of charges for said type of architectural services under conditions of engagement. The council of architecture C0A prescribes the minimum fees.  Architect may charge the prescribed fees or  higher based on the way he works, his popularity ,projects on hand, type of project you want him to work on!

All you need to know is that there are multiple way the architect charge and all these shall start with a retainer or advance and adjusted in total fees once the design scheme is finalised.

The point I am trying to make deal here is that what architects do with you 9 project in “custom design” a one piece work or only one piece work. 

The architect’s fees form a small part of the cost of the project. Do not look at the fees of the architect as cost, take it as a value because of which your building will be built the way you have thought.

The basis for the fees is the charges of the consultants like structural, electrical, plumbing and sanitary, acoustics, landscape and et al. The salaries for the staff – associate, junior architects, draughtsman the whole team that develops the

design of the architect, draws the detail, makes the drawings or involved in production of drawing. The softwares that are required to do this, cost for his time etc. The amount that is paid as fees is less significant when compared to the value the architect adds to the project. It might, for some, feel to be huge but it is only one time. Imagine a book written only for you, no reprints, the author writes it just for you. 

Like an artist doing an artwork and selling it, only once. 

As far as possible do not negotiate the architect’s fee. He might either get demotivated or make him work only for that negotiated amount. As this is a creative field all that an architect requires is motivation. He will be happy to work with a qualitative client who does not negotiate on his fees and so will not want to negotiate his services.

There is always a question haunting our minds just before you think of starting the construction of our house. A layman is always found in an urgency to start building. Who is going to do the thinking. You can’t put your money, time & resourses at risk & that too all at the same time. Imagine your father had a chest pain do you give him a pain killer or get to a heart specialist immediately. You don’t attempt self medication. Will you? That’s exactly why I am summarising these pointers here. 

Let’s see why do you require an architect.

01. Visualise, analyse and recommend

An architect’s work starts with visualising what is that you will require in your dream home. Categorise them on the “requirement meter”. His responsibility during the narration would be toread you and understand what you are & whatkind of place would be the right fit foryou.Immediately after the narration he would analyse your requirements, the site, your family size, type, lifestyle and then propose a list of spaces or types of spaces that he feels are necessary for your living. The priorities & proximities, which space next to or near to which one, and recommends the set up based on organisational principles.

02.Design over Draw

Once the list of requirements in finalised with you, next is to organise them around the common thread YOU-THE USER. You are the only common thing between all the space in your house. Organising a space for an activity or managing an activity in a given place are two different things. Placing the activity, any activity, and then building the envelope that Suites it, is how a DESIGN is done. Making a PLAN and then assign an activity for the room is like DRAWing a diagram and then naming it. While a design would Suffice as a solution the drawing will only be the answer for now, which will go wrong any moment.Design will fall only when the activity is changed, Otherwise the chances of its failure are almost nil. Example a bedroom designed as a bedroomRemains a bedroom,will work as a bedroom.It fails when it has to act as say a” living”. Design is thought driven and drawing is driving without a destination.

03. Process over Product

The main criteria of why an architect’s design will work is because of the thought. A space is used in a particular way because it is thought to be used like that or designed so. Example-a toilet, kitchen, restaurant. An architect is successful because he is not bothered about how it looks, his interests are in how it works. The end product is not there in his mind yet, whats there is only an intent of making your dream a reality with his tools. His focus from the process is undisturbed, because he wants to join all the dots, solve the riddle, and go back to where he started, retake the path giving details on “How to” to the executing team and reach the destiny by conscious efforts and not by chance. He has to support and assist the team in case of any disruption, handhold them, walk along till they are confident of doing it themselves. For him Process is everything; Product is always a derivative and will not be wrong if the process is right.

04. Product before execution

Or should I say i prototype” before the actual or trailer before a film. whatever you want call it. For the Architect the product that is a production of the process has to be conveyed to you -: THE USER. You need to decide because you are investing and are going to use it. For a layman to understand the imagination that an architect has is tough. And thats why he is equipped with tools that a common, non technical person can comprehend. There are different ways that he would present his thought to you. Drawings, Say a plan highlighting different spaces with colours, textures, 3d visualisation, a model etc. He will not want to show you a building done earlier and imitate it for you. In a plan, a 2 dimensional drawing you will only be looking at how spaces are organised. Mind you you will never see your building like that. How you perceive or what you feel while you are in a space is what Your architect has imagined & offered, understand it. There are tools like a walkthrough to give you a pseudo realistic feel of the space. These tools are put to use for conveying the design thought to you. So that you Can decide. If you and your Architect are on the same page then he will have to convey you rather than trying to Convince you.And all these before the building construction starts!

05. Allocate resources; budget costs

Congratulations now you know what you are building. How much is it going to cost you is the next thing you have to inquire into. The cost of the project will ascertain if you are on the right track. Your financial planning would have allocated Some funds of your product, the one you designedwith your architect, is to be realised within that. You may have a critical analysis again with your architect if it is growing out of the allocated funds. Through this process you are budgeting how much you should Spend on the building. You will definitely have a few more things after the building. like, furniture, cleaning, initial setup to start living etc. At this stage you and your architect may control the cost, leave some gray areas, change the direction or approach or even abandon the project if necessary. At last its all in the paper. All that you may loose is the time you spent, but that will go a long way as a learning, together with your architect provided he is paid right.

06. Resources-Materials

now that your dream home is designed, probable costing is also known. You may by now also have seen the initial visualisation or may be you are going to witness it in a couple of weeks .You would already be living in your dream home virtually. How it looks exactly in the next riddle your architect will solve for you. Also what materials goes where? How is it used in your building? Application of finishes, where are the service line drawn & how are they attended, not deceivingly concealed, to be seen only when necessary, and many more questions like these. Basically every minute detail from the marking of the columns till the colour of the paint has to be thought of. Some may not be 100% finalised but there will be a thought about it. If not think about it now. what are the materials that will be involved & how to source them? Are there any speciality materials suggested? where are the resources for these materials? Is the contractor well aware of the availability or should you ask your architect for reference.Go ahead, ask your architect! It’s not at all harmful.

07. Rely over depend

You have appointed Your Architect as your technical advisor It in his responsibility to give you all the awareness you require to decide on any parameters of the building. He can’t decide on your behalf or force you on to something. No, He will not. All that he is doing is solving your problems, finding solutions for way of making things happen the way both of you have decided. Believe him. He can produce more and go overboard in delivering with a bit of encouragement. He wants you to rely on him. Ask as many questions, and let him find the Solutions. Right now he is the doctor you don’t have to jump to diagnosing your body’s health concern yourself. Let him do his work, you are actually paying him for it. At all the times let him be realising that you rely on him and not mearly depend on him. Both of you have decided in full awareness on the design and you didn’t reach there by chance. Rely on him, He is your best bet. You have only chosen him. You cant go wrong. Do you?

08. Awareness-Specifications not brands.

Architects always come from the perspective of technicality with the right mix of art & details to taste.. Any deviation in anything of the ingredients spoils the food → building. For the building to look and render the same experience as witnessed during the design phase the orchestra of the spaces & the finishes have to maintained.To maintain the spirit of design an Architect takes unbiased or judicious path. Specify materials by technical names rather than band names. For him the product applied in a specified manner that he has thought is important and not who has manufactured it. Its like mentioning BBM for burnt brick masonry or SCBM for solid concrete block masonry over Raja red bricks or Prakash concrete products etc.This unbiased approach gives him the privilege to work with every manufacturer and keep referring only if his previous experience is healthy. Exactly the way an architect gets work. Only by reference. thats why your architect always thinks about the product and not the manufacturer. He may relate some examples of brands for a common Man “You” to understand. Otherwise wall is always a masonry for him.

09. Your home the way you thought it would be.

All the work that has been happening at your site from a few months now has posed a lot of challenges, doubts or concerns etc. for instance Suddenly the earth work excavation and foundation built till the plinth level makes you feel that you have gone wrong horribly.

The sizes are too small. 12′ bedroom looks to Small. where do I put the furniture? and many more. You have your Architect to clear all your doubts. He will “convey” not “convince” you, shows you with measurements, facts that you can believe . After all the basic journey of construction you see the walls coming up, now you relate & attempt on imagining and correlating what you see on the site to what you had imagined and realise you were close. From now on all the components seem to be under your control and take your command & get built. You become a part of them and slowly they become the part of your script”My dream home”.The Architect will constantly analyse, relate, compare the proceedings and caution you against any deviations. If both of you choose to you can modify the path but usually not advised. Your Architect will be glad to see that charm on your face and in your body language that is because you are glad you are together. Together you are building your home the way you thought it would..

There are a few quick surveys that are undertaken before you finalise to buy an apartment.

 Here I shall list out the checklist that should assist you in finalising your purchase.

I have tried my best to go further then the mundane checks. Here we go.

01. TYPE

More than. The construction quality what needs to be checked is the type of the apartment building.

Is it a Single or a standalone building or is a tower that is a part of a community or group of  buildings, is it a  High rise or low rise. These information act like markers & point towards your thought / idea of an apartment. Want to be in a socially connected life or cut off from the neighbours. What are you interested in?

02. Current users

A small check on the user type in the building will reveal what kind of neighbourhood it is. Are all the units of the same type [like a quarters] or there a mix of different types. Average age group of the uses. why are these people living here. what is their reason? is there a hospital nearby and that’s why you see a lot of senior citizens here. Are all the users the owners of place or are they tenants. knowing general information will give you a fair idea of whom you and your family is going to interact with.

03. The Commons

How are the corridors & staircases, lift lobbies, entrance to a tower,transition spaces. Are there

any amenities like a gym, Swimming pool, play courts for basketball, badminton etc. How are all these amenities addressed in design and how are they maintained. is there a clubhouse and community hall facility? How big are they? when compared to total residents how do these common facilities fair? Do they seem to be apt? To check these up you may visit the apartment a few times at different times of the day, especially during the morning rush hour and evening children’s play hour. very significant is to see how is the car parking & basement & columns placement, the drive way. You may not alter the decision of buying based on parking only.But not being aware of the situation may hinder your decision making power. Also its better to have a check on the amount of open space wrt built spaces and how are these treated.

04. THE PLAN

The set up of many towers on a large site, or the way the common space ends up at the unit, or the way the spaces are organised in the unit, all these become points to be noted while analysing the plan. This analysis helps you arrives how the apartment will work for you. Not all apartment buyers are same.  The unit has to suffice adaptable four lifestyle. The degree of privacy from the living to dining to kitchen or what do I see from the balcony of my bedroom. Does the common toilet open directly into the living? The main door, when open, doesn’t have any visual barricade between the interiors of the house and the corridor. These are all the questions to be answered at your present home on the plan with a pen and the experience of visiting the site or a model apartment. You may also get a copy of master plan to understand the relation of built and open spaces of the campus, way in and out, children’s play area with the units, and many more. Key decisions have to be made comparing the apartment unit and your lifestyle. There can be adaptation on both sides, your family & thr apartment. But do not forget the apartment can be customised to suit you better if there are any concerns. Consult an architect who will give you a comprehensive customisation plan, interior design and furniture design.Do it before finalising so that you may get a better perspective and opt the better unit as per his advice.

05. THE SPACES

is there a healthy choreography of spaces? It should not happen that the utilitarian areas are sacrificed to accommodate a vanity space. It has been a practise to avoid a utility  to control

the total built up area or a prayer space is omitted to generalise the scheme. All of us are familiar with balconies adorned with clothes hung to dry. It might be a balcony of the main space of the house-the living. A dirty or wet space is necessary in a Indian home. our lifestyle and food habits call for Such a dirty space.The balcony should be used to visually connect with the exteriors and get in some light and air. such a balcony should not be filled up with junk or used to dry clothes. Have a check where can you dry the clothes or stove away junk. which part of the apartment can be used to keep messy things and which cannot. Have a reality check with the amount of items / thing that are used very less often and where do you store them when not used.Type & kind of spaces become very significant. 

Building a home is still on the list of financial goals of earning populace. Buying a plot or a site is just the start of it.Like any potential buyer you would also start from the location of the site, cost prevailing vs demanded by the seller. etc etc. 

Points I want you to focus on are after all these homework have been done & you require the tools to solve the final riddle.

 “Should i buy this or wait for something better”. That better which may never come to you.

Enlisted under are 11 essential parameters that have to be referred before buying a site. Let’s begin!!!

11. Resale value

We may never sell the plot but having an idea of how much is the appreciation is like being prepared.

More than resale value, cost of the site with or without a building after “n” years is what needs to be thought of, 

more so if you are buying the site only for an investment like many do.

10. Transportation – Connectivity

Even though this is one of the primary criterion I thought it gets qualified to be on this list as well.

Not just how well the locality is connected with rest of the city or town & other towns & cities today, what matters is how is the scenario is going to be after a few years. May be when its time for your son to go to school. Are you on the route map of the school bus?

09. Visioning

How the locality is going to be? Like with connectivity, the proposals for the locality also needs a checkup. Imagine that if there is a proposal that may cause a positive disruption or push a negative

vibe for the residents once done.How does the local governing body see the locality in the next few years? Need not be a great thing always. Take stock of the proposals in as many sectors as you can . Buildings, roads, facilities line airports, bus stations etc. What seems to be quite residential area today will remain like that, of course with a lot many people, or is it going to be a hub of commercial & / or  residential activities? Visualise?

08. Identity of the locality

How does the city or town perceive the locality? Sometimes the city & its populace look up with high regards because of the historical or other virtue it carries. Some times a locality is lined up with hospitals & known like that. There can be a locality with huge open spaces, has wide roads. The locality may be blessed wit a good no of places of worship. what is the identity of the place? One thing for what it is known…

07. Community and its spaces,

What is the one common thing in the community? What is the type or kind of people that reside in the locality? What do majority of the people do? Do they work for a industry, are they self employed, corporates, businessmen. What is the collective identity of the community? This has to be known as it has a larger impact on the social / common spaces allocated or used by the community . It will give an inference of

“do I belong to this group” or “will I be One among them” or “would I want to get identified with them”.

More than the answer, questioning becomes important.

06. Landmarks nearby

Are there any important places of public interest nearby? what type? Government offices, religious places, tourist places, what is it? Does it attract people on a daily basis or at regular intervals. If so then how is the people’s influx handled. Traffic movement, parking, waste management, emergencies etc.

What if there is a unscheduled congregation place, like a convention hall, a hotel, a open ground that hosts political rallies, etc.. Usually these kind of buildings / places attract large and very large crowds.

How is it handled? Or is it a hard day for the locality & people have become accustomed to the disruption?

Are you ready to undergo the same phenomena? It may not be a problem, infact you may have a business that depends on the crowd. Choose wisely…

05. Neighbours

In these times of nuclear family living. Neighbours are the ones whom we usually share a friendly

relation with. If you are aware of the kind of immediate neighbours of the site your buying, you may decide better. The type or kind of neighbours make a lot of difference. For some it may be the religious faith they follow, for some it is the eating habits. The lifestyle, family Size and living conditions also matter. 

So its better to know your neighbours. After all you have to live with them.

04. Physical feature of the site

What are all there on the site is the first information that needs to be registered. Is there a tree in centre or on the side, a boulder or a ditch. Any power lines, poles, high tension or low tension cables present in or around the site. Any storm water drains abutting the site? Where is the drainage line located? Is the freshwater supply line & the sewage line on the same side or different? How has the neighbour built his house?  especially the compound. Are the site dimensions intact as in the documents or there is some encroachment on any side. What lies beneath the surface is not in your control till you become the owner. But you may have a check on what lies on the surface.

Any other physical feature that may pose a threat to construction. For example – Is there a old building that is of no value, you think,  you will demolish it but realise that there is a heritage tag to it & you are not allowed to demolish it. what do you do?

03. Orientation of the site.

What side is the site facing? North or East? No I raise this not because of Vastu or any other blind beliefs. But to understand the facing and design the building to respond “what side needs what kind of attention”. Not all north sides are good & not all South sides bad. “what do you see out of your window?” is the question of the hour that is preferred  to be asked then answered. Design of a house based on the principles of climatology in the better than just drawing a plan based on ordinary thinking. The approach in organising spaces will vary depending upon where the site is located. Geography & climate are interrelated. There can’t be one solution for the same problem in a different geographical & climatic regions. Remember we also change our cloths, eating habits, etc seasonally.

02. Profile of the site 

Without much consideration to the profile of the site you may land on an undesirable parcel of the

land that may or may not be suitable for your purpose. Whatever may be your intent of land use it is advisable to be aware of the profile of the land. while many prefer it to be as regular as possible, rectangular many times, irregular shapes are not bad at all. In fact buildings that are designed on an irregular plot seem to present them selves better in the total setup. This is precisely because of the residual or reminder un built space all around the building that seem to be interesting or simply unusual. Whatever may be the shape its better you know it before buying. Much better if you get a total station Survey, that gives dimension, location on GPRS, LAT & LONG with laser precision, done before buying & use the drawing as an Annexure, both Soft & print formats, to the sale deed.

01. Size of the site

The size of the site is the primary thought of parameter, and also the parameter that has gone wrong many a times. Reason being the choice of the plot seems to be coming more from the affordability perspective than requirement one. Its like preferring desires over deserving. While site is to be looked as an expensive urban commodity its size has to be derived out of what, how, how many, what type of building you want to build on it? A small building on a large site or a small site built or covered almost full by the building. More than other reasons the concern is your investment going high for the primary commodity. 

Instead you may approach an architect! An architect can give you comparative analysis of what is the total built up area you may require and what is the approximate site area the building of that size requires. 

You may appoint an architect to advice you on the choice, give recommendations so that you may finalise and buy the right site. This appointment may be limited only to the selection or may extend to design your project. In any case an architect will be your better bet simply because they come from the building perspective. Its like he knows the answer & both of you together can frame the question. Plus you will get a chance to interact with an architect & decide if he is the one you want to work with for your project or part ways post site selection.

Some reverse engineering here.

To summarise before you buy a site be clear why do you want to buy. Get on to make a brief writeup of what you want to do on the site. Not a detailed story, thats the work of an architect! Without any prejudice make a short write up of how your dream building, say a house, has to be & where, how, all based on the above 11 parameters. And then approach an architect get the critical analysis of your requirement arrive at

the probable size of the site. Then approach a registered realator, so that you transaction is safe, & finalise the site. Don’t forget to get your architect see the site before you actually buy it.

So that any chances of you going wrong are minimal or absent.

must-check things

To get a drawing of a building or land exactly the way it is.When appointing a team on a mapping and surveying work we intended to get the following components in the drawing.

North, Site profile, site dimensions, benchmark 0.00, elevation – difference in height at regular intervals, trees, bore wells and wells, boulders, depressions in earth, Roads, power lines overhead and underground, edge condition-fence or compound, Gate – width and height, land use of neighbouring properties, major landmarks nearby, major physical features hills, lakes etc. Let’s  understand the significance of each one of these,

6. Land use of neighbouring properties.

what is happening on the properties immediately after the site boundary. and how are they located. If not the land use as per records at least the one happening right now.

7. Major landmarks around: 

How is the site located wrt the landmark, if any. This will help the architect to visualise and prepare.

8. Physical features nearby:

Any waterbodies, dams, lake, irrigation canals, a hill or a mountain, railway line, airport or an airstrip etc.

To summarise a survey drawing has to give an as is where is picture to any technical professional.