Getting Architect Referrals - Choosing Architects

From the design stage onward, all work will depend and reflect on the efforts of the architect. Choosing the right one is critical to your being happy and satisfied with your project. Always interview the Architect firm in person, which means they should be quite accessible. Preferably the candidate should be the same one carrying out the design.

You may want to select an architect based more than on just reputation. Not only for drafting preliminary plans. But also for capabilities to recommend qualified contractors to carry out the work.

See if the prospective architect becomes involved in managing projects. If contracting the work out yourself, this added resource usually doesn't hurt for coping with any unforeseeable's that may be uncovered on your type of remodeling or renovation project.

Ask too, if the drawings and specifications they will produce may require review by a structural engineer prior to approval through the local building department. Recommendations for the architect will become indispensable in choosing the right one for you. This holds greatly for projects that are custom by design, and not merely following a tract of projects that were similar too or resemble one another.

Comprehensively, you will want a professional architect who will meet your present and future needs and budget. Your local chapter of the AIA - American Institute of Architects, is one reputable source who also supplies agreements between owners, architects and contractors involved in the process.

There is also the ASID - the American Society of Interior Designers, who may be of assistance for interior design oriented projects. Whose work could require sign off from an Architect such as for remodeling and other types of work.