New NE Florida build, Architectural costs?

[rmack898]

So I bought my new place in Florida, 10 acres of clean slate.

I know what I want for a shop, 40x80x14 but I'm not sure of construction thats suitable for the geographic area. So if any of you FL guys have suggestions on building types or specific construction methods, I'd like to know.

I also need to build a house. I've never had to build a house before so I'll need some help here. We know what we want and we haven't found what we are looking for in an off the shelf design.

What is the average cost to sit down with an architect, give him your needs, wants, and have him give you a set of plans that you can take to the county and pull a permit.

I know I'll have more questions but this is all that I have off the top of my head for now.

 

[climb.on]

Although there are benefits, you don't necessarily need a licensed Architect. You can consider hiring a designer/draftsman as well. I paid a designer about $2500 with multiple revisions for my house and shop design. I had quotes from other designers in the $3000-6000+ range.

 

[GMCGarage]

So I bought my new place in Florida, 10 acres of clean slate.

I know what I want for a shop, 40x80x14 but I'm not sure of construction thats suitable for the geographic area. So if any of you FL guys have suggestions on building types or specific construction methods, I'd like to know.

I also need to build a house. I've never had to build a house before so I'll need some help here. We know what we want and we haven't found what we are looking for in an off the shelf design.

What is the average cost to sit down with an architect, give him your needs, wants, and have him give you a set of plans that you can take to the county and pull a permit.

I know I'll have more questions but this is all that I have off the top of my head for now.

Best way to find out is give a couple a call. Very volatile based on area, how detailed you want, etc.

Figure 2-5% of construction cost.

 

[GTO]

Where in FL ?

 

[jimreed2160]

40x80x14

That sounds like a sweet shop. All I can say is "Welcome to FL. You rock!"

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

Type of construction will be influenced by local code. Hurricane proof does add to cost of building here. Whatever you do please don't tell the locals how you used to do things up north! Trust me they have bumper stickers voicing their opinion on that subject. The county is where we started. Told them what we had, what we wanted and they laid out a map of how to get there as well as required inspections. Indian River County does all inspections and they are fair, but follow the map. They have been known to get tough with people that try to snooker them.

 

[driftpin]

Familiarize yourself with this acronym: "HVHZ." The likelihood is that many of your individual components of your home will need to bear the "Miami-Dade County Product Approval" and this rating. It stands for "HIGH-VELOCITY HURRICANE ZONE."

Because of the windstorms, Florida has some of the toughest codes in the country. Everything, from walls to doors, windows, garage doors, your roof, will have to be able to withstand hurricane-force winds. The closer to the coast, the more-strict the ratings.

A bottom-line difference in prices of material and components is significant, but your home will be better-protected for it. About the only hazard that would cause structural damage of significance, once-built to this Florida standard, would be a tornado. Tornados are not as-common here as-in other parts of the country. Rising waters is also a possibility, especially in waterfront areas. A suggestion would be to build your pads for your buildings higher than the minimum required.

The figure mentioned of 5% for an architect I think is accurate; the comment on using a draftsman who can get prints sealed by a P.E., and who will revise the plans until the AHJ grants total approval, is a way to save costs. Ask for references, and check them. You can also go to the local building dept and request to view the recently-granted plans for single-family dwellings, and see who did them, and contact them. In my municipality, those plans are actually available for viewing at the municipal library.

 

[rmack898]

Good points guys, keep them coming.
I will be building Clay county.
I am somewhat familiar with "HVHZ" I currently live on the southernmost tip of NJ and within one mile of "The Big Pond" and our construction rules are different than the rest of the state.

I have already reached out to the county building department and found them very helpful and willing to work with me. My goal here is to follow their rules and get my project done with the least amount of headaches.

The rules are changing in July and it would be very beneficial for me to pull my permits before the middle of July. Not knowing exactly what we want for a house is why I'd just like to throw my ideas on the table and have someone give me a design we like and prints I can take to the county.

 

[dw1]

So I bought my new place in Florida, 10 acres of clean slate.

I know what I want for a shop, 40x80x14 but I'm not sure of construction thats suitable for the geographic area. So if any of you FL guys have suggestions on building types or specific construction methods, I'd like to know.

I also need to build a house. I've never had to build a house before so I'll need some help here. We know what we want and we haven't found what we are looking for in an off the shelf design.

What is the average cost to sit down with an architect, give him your needs, wants, and have him give you a set of plans that you can take to the county and pull a permit.

I know I'll have more questions but this is all that I have off the top of my head for now.

Well, I am going through this now and I do not live in Florida, # 1 Listen to your knowledgeable Floridians about the Hurricane/Wind ect, but a few other items to ponder:
Site Plan? not sure in your location, but I had to have a licensed surveyor do a site plan and locate my new house on it. Septic system, will you be installing a new one? Will your ground Perk. I had to get the Health Dept involved on getting a new septic system installed, and my ground did not Perk, so... 65 tri axle loads of top soil later, I passed my Perk Test $$. We started with an architect but it didn't work out like I wanted, we had found plans online, we ended up purchasing them and had them make our changes, added a basement and changed a few more things around. My surveyors pinned my house to the ground yesterday and as soon and I get what they did on paper, I can take my building permit out, I hope to start building sometime next month.
Good Luck

PS, not sure about your location, but the property I bought, I tore down an old horse barn and was getting ready to tear down an old farm house, but soon learned if I tore down the house that I couldn't build my barn (outbuilding cant be the first or only building on the property where I live, so, I built my barn and later that fall tore the old house down

 

[yeldogt]

It can easily be 7-10% of the construction cost w/ some management. I'm already past 70k on my current project. There is nothing like working with a great architect on a project -- but, it's expensive. It all depends on the budget and what your wants. Most top architects in my experience don't do modified plans by others .. it's actually not cost effective.

Hiring for a one off building is not the same as working with a developers "architect" or a commercial company that supplies ready made plans ... or a design/build company. It really important to understand the difference. Some people pay for square footage others want details .. SF is cheap .. details expensive.

My current beach house is in a very nice town .. great spot on the beach in NJ. It looks sort of like all the other houses --- mostly due to lot constraints and... it's at the beach ... it's a beach house. It's a nice house built by a good builder ... who built me a replica of another he built. My old architect did me a favor and tweaked the interior ... where possible. The excitement is looking at the waves .. not the house .... my old beach house out east on LI was great house that I had designed and built. It was like going on vacation every time I arrived .... still miss it.

The site work can be handled in various ways depending on when a builder is decided .... if it's private well and sewer ........ They will need to be engineered. Even large lots get small when you factor all the restrictions that both bring to the table. The construction requirements take care of themselves ...

 

[OneOfEm]

I'm in NW FL. Here, any plans have to be engineer-stamped. My understanding is that if you engage an architect, they have an engineer that they work with who will do the math and stamp the plans.

My build is workshop-only, so I worked directly with an engineer. He charged $1200 for the stamped plans (somewhat of a custom design).

 

[wilkrod]

Marion county here, I built both house and detached 30 X 40 shop using CBS (Concrete Block,Stuco) with Architectural shingels. My contractors included the plans/permits, etc in the cost for each, not a separate line item.
Regards
Jeff

 

[Bob P1]

Like anything else, I think the price would be negotiable. Especially if you stuck with an in house design build type company.

 

[yeldogt]

Like anything else, I think the price would be negotiable. Especially if you stuck with an in house design build type company.

Not in my experience ... one off you have conceptual/design/construction ... with an estimate for each and spreadsheet. Maybe a "do not exceed" ... the percentage difference has all to do with what's going in the house. Typically, architects doing one off projects do all the interiors -- not going to home depot for the moldings. It may not cost more to design a given item but the makeup of that item will vary .. so more expensive projects have lower overall architect % costs.

The only time I looked into modified plans the costs were down tot he penny .. since thats what they did for a living nothing was missed.

 

[TRWham]

Our usual Design Build Agreement fee for the design portion is $4,500-5000. The designer we normally work with is not a registered architect, but that may not be strictly necessary depending on where you are and what you are building. For simpler projects, we have permitted using owner provided hand drawings. As long as they include all the info required by the AHJ, you are good to go.

We did have one prospective client who claimed to have spent $50,000 on a full set of plans, including MEP and structural, for an extensive renovation, then wanted to do the $650k project for $350k. We did not take that project.

 

[chargermann]

I'm in NW FL. Here, any plans have to be engineer-stamped. My understanding is that if you engage an architect, they have an engineer that they work with who will do the math and stamp the plans.

My build is workshop-only, so I worked directly with an engineer. He charged $1200 for the stamped plans (somewhat of a custom design).

...I concur with this.
Rmack898 - does Clay County have water retention guidelines you must obey with your planned construction?
Retired from Miami-Dade County (originally from NJ) and now in Marion County, I was unaware of water retention matters with new construction. Miami-Dade had no issues related to retention (limerock substrate).
Marion County would not approve my plans until I had approval from the SW Water Management folks. Had to hire a Civil Engineer to evaluate and test my 5 acres for peculation of the total square footage of all water run-off (including driveways, sheds, carports, etc.). His detailed report (signed & sealed) indicated the property met minimal requirements, so I avoided the dreaded moat or retention pond on my property.
Currently finishing my detached man-cave (which matches the house architecturally) -2100SF garage/rec room, CBS construction.