How to be a Good Client
We asked architects and house designers what makes a good client — and how to avoid being a bad one
House designers, architects and experts reveal the secrets to a good working relationship — and a smooth build!
the secret to a successful self-build or renovation project lies in your relationship with the people you choose to collaborate with on your project. Put another way, a bad relationship between client and designer or builder usually equals a bad end result.
Time and time again, seasoned self-builders and renovators reiterate the importance of the client/ architect relationship. Statements such as “we had an instant rapport” or “they just got want we wanted from the off ” are put out there, with talk of endof-project parties to thank the team that helped shape the final house. And, crucially, what all these houses have in common is that they are the homes
that the clients dreamt of at the start of the project.
Then you have the other camp — those who experienced a tumultuous client/architect relationship, full of niggles and frustrations, and with long snagging lists at the end of it all. Of course, the architect is sometimes partly to blame, but it is often the case that the clients themselves should also be shouldering some responsibility.
So, just how do you go about cultivating a successful client/architect relationship that results in a house that both parties feel equally proud of?
We round up the top tips from architects, designers and package companies, explaining how you, the client, can get the best from your designer.
There are three things clients do that make them one of ‘those clients’:
l They don’t communicate
l Change their minds all the time
l …and they don’t pay bills on time
Not being forthcoming in your feedback about things, not replying to emails, not reviewing drawings when you’ve been asked to, and basically being silent when your designer, your builder or other consultants need information from you, makes life really hard as an architect.
If you can be proactive, responsive as a client in your feedback, and always open and communicative about how you feel about things, then that’s going to help with a really great flow of communication and ensure that you stay on track with your project.
Of course there are things that you’re going to change your mind about, because really this is a process of learning. But the more work you can do upfront, the better.
I think that, particularly with women, there’s this fear of speaking up, this ‘I don’t like confrontation’. It’s not confrontation, it’s you actually just setting expectations and boundaries about what you do and don’t want for your home. And you have every right to do that. And it doesn’t have to get nasty, and it doesn’t have to be horrible and argumentative if you’re speaking honestly and openly the whole way through and being really communicative about what you want.
Finally, know in advance if you are paying monthly or at certain stages, and how quickly you will have to pay. There are often chunks of money that you might have to move between accounts and that might take time, so understand that before you agree to any costs with anyone.
Read enough about architecture and one will typically find in the story where the client was active and involved; that client was likely a good client.
I guide my prospective clients to educate themselves quickly on basic matters so they can be informed and make decisions early on that they’ll not regret later. Educated (and empowered) consumers are great people to work with.
Regardless of what traits you might exhibit as a client, the aspects that can make the most difference in the result is the client’s engagement and maintaining an open relationship with the architect. Whether the project is large or small, I have found the best projects come from a client who is involved in the process, contributes their vision but also trusts their architect.
After hiring an architect and working through the programme and constraints, let the architect do their job. Don’t design for them, don’t hold their arm while they draw, but trust them to find the best solution within the context. There needs to be ongoing dialogue and continuing exchange during this process. The worst thing one can do is tell the architect that they think they ‘have it all figured out’, then expect them to merely ‘draw it up’ to either reduce the fee or give a feeling of having designed it themselves.