by James Strong

Created on: July 06, 2007

"This world is so full of thorns and weeds that we should do all we can to harvest the crops," someone once said. How true that is of homeownership and home design.

Thousands of homeowners are now paying tens of thousands of dollars to repair poorly designed homes, because they chose to design and manage construction of their homes themselves. Others smartly decided to hire an architect, but selected either a poorly qualified or unqualified architect or an architect who ignored their home design goals.

The American Institute of Architects, the premier architectural organization, stresses that to ensure the design and construction of your home exhibits high standards of excellence and meets your home design objectives, you need to choose the best appropriate architect.

Indeed, just as lawyers who represent themselves have fools as clients, so homeowners should consider hiring an architect to design their homes. Many homeowners, of course, have successfully designed and managed the construction of their homes.

But an old aphorism related to homeownership and home design still is as pertinent today as it was when first coined: "Some are born to be home designers, some should seek advice on home design and some should hire others to design their homes for them."

Suppose you were your house after it had been built and it started falling apart a few weeks after you moved in. Wouldn't you scream and yell at yourself for not consulting an architect?

SEARCH FOR AN ARCHITECT
If you were the foundation and cracks began to appear in the basement concrete walls and you noticed the bricks were spaced too far apart in some places in those walls, your anger might cause you to wonder why you didn't begin an architect selection process at the beginning of your home design project.

You could have used several methods, ranging from formal design competitions to negotiated procurement to competitive bidding. All you had to do was:

1. Make a list of potential architects by asking friends and colleagues for referrals.
2. Contact your local chapter of the AIA.
3. Discover who designed projects similar to yours that appeal to you.

QUALIFY ARCHITECTS
If you were the plumbing and began springing leaks in the bathroom and kitchen, your pipes might have fumed at you for not requesting information from architectural firms about their qualifications and references. Some factors to consider would be:

1. Size of the firm and the amount of time it has been in practice
2. Experience and past projects
3. Ability

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