So, its September 2005, and there I was in the DR ready to construct my house.
I wanted to build a 3 bedroom house, all en suite. There would then be a separate guest bathroom. The house would have an open plan living room with kitchen, and a large terrace, for outdoor living. It would also have a utility room and a very small computer area in the master bedroom. Recording music was my hobby and so it would have a small recording studio similar to the one I had in the UK.
I didn't want a garage, and a swimming pool was optional.
I had no idea how much this would cost, but I had been told that $600US/m2 was a good rule of thumb figure for estimating the cost of a house. I knew how much money I had, so it was easy to know what I could afford. Anyway, the first thing I needed to do, was get in touch with an architect.
After 3 weeks I had got in contact with 4. I will call them architects 1,2,3 and 4.
Architect 1 I had met when I was here the previous time. He had been highly recommended to me by the person who sold me the land. Architect 2 was recommended by the lawyer who acted for me in the land purchase. Architect 3 was recommended again by the person who sold me the land, and architect 4 was recommended by the hotel owners where I was staying.
In my first 4 or 5 weeks, I was warned by all and sundry, of the problems of doing business here. I heard many stories about foreigners being ripped off, by being sold land that didn't´t belong to the person selling it, or builders running off with houseowners money.
The architects work on the basis of presenting their ideas, and if, after that, you want to work with them then you come to some financial arrangement, usually with a contract.
I made an appointment with architect 1. I gave him all the details of the house I wanted, and never heard another word from him.
All the details of my house had been worked out with meticulous precision, months before in the UK. I also had many photographs to illustrate my ideas. The sizes of all the rooms were worked out and what furniture was to be in them. Shower sizes were known etc etc. The architect had to put these proposals together.
Architect No3, whom I realized later was actually a builder, not an architect, lived in Santiago, the second city of the DR. I visited him, and gave details of all aspects of the house I wanted. He and his colleague didn't´t take a single note of any thing I said. A few days later they emailed me their plan of my house. Needless to say it bore little relation to anything I had asked for. I e-mailed back telling them this, and they asked me what I wanted !! I then typed and emailed my notes, which I had told them when I first visited. I used this email as a basis for all the other architects.
Architect 2, I met after making at least 10 calls and e-mail messages. We visited the land where my house was to be built, I told her all my requirements and said I would email them to her, since I now had them typed out. This I did and heard no more from her. I also e-mailed architect 1 the typed out details, but still had no response. This was when I was introduced to architect 4. I went through the same process again. This time I got a set of plans within a week. The plans were beautiful. With only a few changes it would have everything I had asked for. She also told me her price for her to continue and produced a contract. Because I had nothing to compare her price with I couldn't´t judge if it were competitive or not. I told her this, and that I would seek another quote before deciding.
Architect 3 then emailed me another plan which I didn't like, so I emailed him to tell him, that I would no longer be requiring his services.
I then asked the person who sold me the land, and he gave me another architect to contact. This was architect 5. We did all the things which by now had become routine, and she promised to be in touch. I heard nothing more !!
Because I had heard nothing from architect 2 I emailed her to tell her that I was no longer considering her. Her response was to tell me she had done a plan and arranged a meeting.
At the meeting she showed me a plan which nothing more than a few lines on a bit of paper. I told her that I had seen a plan from someone else that was very good, and that it would take too long to wait for her to finish her plan. After long discussions she convinced me she should be the builder for the project.
So now I had architect 4 to do the plans, and architect 2 to be the builder, or so I thought. I told both of them this. Architect 2 says she will only build architect 4s plans if she has the names of the specialists architect 4 has used for her specialist plans. I tell architect 4 this and ask for the names. A week later architect 2 contacts me telling me that she has finished the plans which I had told her not to do!!
Architect 4 now decides she will do the plans but insists I use her recommended builder. I am baffled. They have both decided to ignore what I have said !! I now have to make a choice. Because architect 4 wasn't´t co-operating in giving the names I decide to choose architect 2. I later found out that architect 4 was co-operating but in her own time. Architect 5 said she never received any emails from me, and architect 1, when prompted by the person who recommended him, emailed me a set of plans that bore no relationship to what I asked for.
Another problem with architect 4s plans, was that she wouldn't allow me to take them home to look at. She was worried about plagiarism. I therefore only had the time I was with her to view them. The end result was that a few hours after seeing them I couldn't remember much about them and therefore found it hard to enthuse about them. This happened twice after the initial meeting.
I have been told by more than one person, that if you are recommended by someone to a builder or architect, and you work with that builder or architect, then the person who recommended you receives a handsome commission !! This could explain some things.
I am now working with Architect 2 and, unlike architect 4, she hasn't presented me with a contract.
Progress with architect 2 was very slow. As we went along it became very clear to me she was designing a house I couldn't afford to build. All the rooms were larger than I had asked for, and there were extra rooms. There was also a garage, which she kept in even though I didn't want one. I told her my concerns, and her response was to tell me that I should be able to afford it. She also said if it was too big we could make it smaller. Initially my feelings were to accept her advise, after all, we could always make it smaller. BIG MISTAKE !!
Her building costs were substantially lower than the $600USD I had mentioned earlier but once the building reached a certain size, I knew I had a problem with costs.
It was the middle of November 2005 when Architect 2 went abroad on a family matter. She returned the week before Xmas, and still the basic plan of the house wasn't done. Whilst she was away I emailed her telling her to drop the garage, recording studio and portico as I couldn't afford them. The house was too big and she didn´t seem to be listening to me. I was also very concerned as to the speed things were going, as there seemed to be no end in site.
For the sake of brevity I will skip some of the detail of what happened next, except to say that meetings recommenced in January 2006. From now on the architect had an interpretor at the meetings. She said that she couldn't understand me because I spoke English and not with an American accent ! I wanted to speak Spanish, but she insisted I spoke English and had her translator translate it because she didn't understand !!
Now, one of the reasons I was working with architect 2 was that she understood and spoke English. I had been told that by the person who recommended her and also by herself. I smell a rat, especially when the translator was spending as much time acting as an advocate for her, as translating.
At this period she asked me to pay for a soil test. This was a substantial amount and it was a suprise to me as I had never heard of it. I paid. I later found out from everyone that this was totally incorrect. The soil test is done at commencement of the building stage by the builder.
Before I got the final set of plans I had the plan called Planta Dimensionada. It showed the internal and external dimensions of the house. This plan is sufficient for builders to estimate the cost of the works. By now the house was 500m2 and without the recording studio, which I wanted.
I took a plan to 3 builders. One quoted double what I could afford, and the others didn't quote. One said because of the roof, which was too complicated.
When architect 2 finally presented me with a complete set of plans, it was February 2006. As she handed the plans over she asked for payment. I told her I needed to look at the plans and invoice first. (She was chargeing by the m2) She didn't accept that, and said she needed the money right away. I repeated that I needed to look at the plans and we had an exchange like this for about 5 minutes in the street before I stormed off.
When I looked at the plans, I found she had slightly overcharged me. I emailed her 2 days later, telling her this and that the house was too big, and she has designed a house I couldn't afford to build, even though I had warned her.
Bearing in mind that I was in a desperate hurry to get this matter sorted out and she was also, she replied to my email 26 days later. Her email said that if I wanted changes I would have to pay more. She had left me with no options. Her taking 26 days to reply to an email that she wanted in a hurry, let me know that any further work would be done at the same speed. This would be impossible for me.
The time she had taken so far, had upset all my calculations as regards my cost of living whilst here. To spend another 3 or 4 months with her, and possibly end up with plans I couldn´t use, didn´t seem like an option. Right now I had a massive bill and a set of plans that can only go in the dustbin.
I thought I would take 26 days to reply to her, just to show her that she isn´t the only one that can be completely unproffesional !! Before that time had elapsed, she had threatened to take me to court, and confirmed it with a second email. By now I had a solicitor, and I emailed her with the solicitors details.
During this period I had been introduced to another builder. He had been building 3 properties locally, and I would go and see how they were getting on, regularly. His price was substantially cheaper than all the other builders I had come across. I told him about my situation, and he said he would take me to another architect that he works with. This is now architect 6.
By now I had drawn the house I wanted on graph paper with all the measurements etc. The architect had to copy it. After 12 weeks of waiting, I had given up that prospect. The architect was simply unable to do it. At this stage, June 2006, I was prepared to accept a drawing with multiple mistakes, with the knowledge that I could correct them at the building stage.
Just in case the reader is as bewildered as I was, I mean things like, a window being in the wrong place, a room being substantially the wrong size, a window being where a door should be etc etc. These mistakes would come back time and time again without being corrected.
Because of the problems with architect 6, who was actually the partner, of the builder I was going to use, I decided to reconsider using that builder/architect package.
Anyway, after 12 weeks I had the first 3 plans of the set. (see appendices for list of complete set). They were ¨plano de ubicacion¨, ¨plantas de amueblada and dimensionada¨, ¨elevaciones and secciones¨. With these plans I could go to the authorities to get all the permissions. If I had gone with the builder/architect package the cost of the plans and also these permissions would have been included in the price.
Whilst working out how to deal with the authorities, I recieved all the other plans from architect No6. What a relief, after 10 months of working on it. They came with a CD with all the plan information. They weren´t correct but by now I was prepared to accept that.
Architect 6´s price was less than a third of many of the other architects prices. Even with its shortcomings I was happy.
On this matter, I will mention figures generally. It seems there is a ¨gringo price¨ for this service, as there is with most other things. For the set of plans listed in the appendices, the ¨gringo price¨ appears to be $US4500-$5000. I have been told by everyone without exeption, that the price for this service in Santiago or Santo Domingo, which are not tourist towns, is $US3000.
Make of it what you will.
So now I have plans for a house that is 286m2 with a marquisina that is 36m2, a building for a recording studio that is 60m2, and a swimming pool that is 50m2. The house is single storey and has ended up as a 3 bedroom house, all ensuite. The smallest bedroom is 5mx4m and the largest is 6mx4m. There is a large terrace that is 11mx4m, a living room that is 9mx6.6m with an open plan kitchen that is 3.3mx4m. There is also a guest WC and a utility room with a small area for hanging clothes outside.
Conclusions
If you think that this description of events sounds like watching paint dry, whilst having your teeth pulled with no anaesthetic, then that accurately describes how it was.
In my opinion, if you know what sort of house you want, you should make it very clear to the architect, constantly, even putting it in writing. If yoiu can draw a plan yourself, even better. You should try to include a timeframe for completion in any contract given.
My experience is not an isolated case. Another agitated "gringo" explained to me that "they will try and wear you down till you accept what they give you".
That seems a perfect description of what happened to me.
I know of another "gringo" who had a set of plans done and paid for, simply to put them in the bin because they were not what he asked for !
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