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Why use an Architect?

Whatever the size of your project, an architect can provide certain qualities which no other professionals are better qualified than Architects to have.

Knowledge - Architects have to carry out many years of study and training and will be able to advise you on most aspects of design and construction.

Imagination - An architect can lift your project out of the ordinary and a well conceived idea can transform a space, perhaps gaining extra daylight or creating a special place to live or work. It takes a professional to create design and style, space and light.

Freedom from worry - With a wide knowledge of the construction industry, your architect can guide you through the complex maze of Planning and Building Regulations, as well as dealing with builders and contractors on your behalf.

Value For Money - Find the space you didn’t know you had and the solutions you didn’t think were possible.

Insurance - Whatever the size of your project, your architect is required to have sufficient Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Why use an ECAN architect?

Help - Find the right architect for your project from within ECAN. He or she will explain the design and building process and take you from the initial stages of preparing a design to applying for Local Authority approvals, finding a contractor and inspecting the work in progress. He or she will also set out the services that can be provided and explain the costs involved in appointing them as your architect.

Advice - Your architect will have recourse of advice from the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) the professional body for architects in Scotland. You can also contact the Architects Registration Board (ARB) if you have any grievances. Such safeguards are not available from general builders or from people describing themselves as “Building Consultants”.

Backup - Ecan provides a group operated reciprocal or backup arrangement so that if your appointed ECAN architect becomes incapacitated, they can provide guidance, support and help from another architect within the group.

Safeguards - ECAN is an incorporated networked group of practices providing a vast pool of skills and experiences. A shared framework for professional backup, as well as peer review of practice standards. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is provided for the member.

Why not go straight to a Builder?

Remember that in the alphabet 'A' comes before 'B', therefore, Architect comes before Builder.

Builders need to see designs and plans drawn up before they can accurately price or build any project. By going straight to a builder first it means you miss out on the important design and plan drawing stages, which architects provide.

It sounds obvious, but as architects specialise in the essential designing of spaces and drawing plans, they come first before anything can be built . But as builders specialise in building things they come second as they can only build after the vital design and plans are drawn up.