“5 Common Tricks Dishonest Architects Use to Scam You & How to Avoid Them”

Recently, a new evil is starting to spread in the Czech Republic. For the sake of getting rich quick, some dishonest architects resort to methods that end up causing financial damage to the customer without bringing the expected benefit. The following article aims to help people recognize these methods early and avoid inconvenience. If you know someone who is planning to build or renovate, you can share the following text with them.

A drawer architect

As soon as you decide to work with any architect, first of all, find out if he already has a realization that he can boast about. Just look at the architect’s website or ask him for references. But be careful here and distinguish the so-called “drawer” projects, i.e. those that were created but never implemented, from those that were actually built in the end. If it presents a large number of unrealized projects, it is suspicious. Ask yourself why the architect in question is publicly bragging about something that was never realized. And also – why it was not implemented. You can certainly fill in the answer yourself. The first guide to choosing a quality architect will therefore be the number of actually realized references, i.e. what can really be seen behind him.

Even finding out that the project will not be implemented can be the result of your cooperation

Sometimes cooperation with an architect ends with him starting to suggest that it would actually be best for your good if the project in progress is not implemented at all. That you somehow found out together in the course of your cooperation that it would be best to leave it as it is now (especially regarding renovations). In a given situation, the architect usually already has a large part, or even all, of his invoices paid by you, and can therefore abuse his position for such proposals. For you, of course, such a way out means only wasted money in the order of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands and zero added value. For him, however, getting rid of any obligations and worries about the implementation of the project (which is a critical phase when theory is tested in practice).

Architect vs. construction company – who to watch out for

You can avoid such a situation by creating a clear plan before starting cooperation, including gradual payments for specific outputs. Keep in mind the general rule that is the one holding the money is always at an advantage. The more you overpay, the weaker your bargaining position becomes. Make a plan in advance that is fair to both parties and define that conclusions like “it’s best to leave it as it is” are not acceptable to you.

Imposing one’s own ideas at the expense of the investor

You as an investor (customer) have some idea of ​​what you actually want. The architect has to materialize such an idea. If a situation arises (and indeed it sometimes does) where you architect he begins to force his opinions, without being able to rationally defend them, please note. It may be an effort to “build a monument”, i.e. the realization of one’s own experiment with the investor’s money. Remember that you pay the architect and he works for you, so your requirements always come first.

It will cost a hundred thousand and maybe even a million

A relatively common fault is detachment from price reality, i.e. the architect’s ignorance of real prices. The situation is then that the architect makes the design regardless of how much it will actually cost in the end. Also, sometimes things are included in the project that are inherently difficult to implement or completely impossible to implement. If cooperation with an architect is the first step in your construction timeline, a situation may also arise when you receive a proposal from the architect with a certain price estimate, then go around several implementation companies with it and find out that it is absolutely impossible to implement it for such an amount. It usually happens that the customer is paradoxically angry with the implementation companies because they are expensive, while the architect is already “out of the game”, he has been paid for his work and his part of the work is finished.