Cadplan Architecture Reviews 7

Disappointing experience with Cadplan. This involved miscommunication, delays and eventually after 6 months we made the decision to pay again for the work to be completed by a qualified Architect. We assumed that Cadplan Architecture were qualified Architect's which was our mistake. We found that the difference in using a qualified Architect was worlds apart especially as we are incorporating modern technologies. Cadplan were unwilling to share their electronic files which meant leaving them was more difficult and resulted in us having to pay to complete the same work twice.

Following Cadplan's response:
To start with I would like to say that after writing this honest review, Cadplan threatened us with legal action if we didn’t remove it. This bullying is what we have been subjected to throughout. Cadplan had delays from the start because of a personal renovation and then directed us to a structural engineer who whilst was excellent, has a long lead time. We had gone back with all the information Cadplan had asked for in order to continue the drawings so assumed Cadplan needed input from the structural engineer before they could provide our drawings. After meeting the structural engineer he didn’t understand why we needed him at that early stage of developments.
I was sorry to hear that Andrew was unwell. I contacted him once we had met the structural engineer to see if there was anything else he needed to continue the drawings and I received a generic email saying “Dear client, I’m letting you know that I’m unexpectedly being treated in hospital at the moment and unfortunately it’s temporarily interrupted communications and work on projects, I’ll be out very soon and will update you as soon as things become clearer going forward.”

6 weeks later I had still not heard from Andrew and so I emailed to say I’m sorry you are unwell but we need to continue the project and can we have the Cad drawings? He emailed back saying he was working again and he could send the next drawings in 2 weeks. I emailed back saying whilst this is tempting we had met other architects but asked if the two week timescale was realistic? I then didn’t hear from Andrew for another week when he said he’d missed my email and sent a drawing we hadn’t asked for and a bill for £585.

Andrew finally emailed to say that we will draw a line under the £750 invoice I had already paid and an over payment I had paid of £150 so we had a total bill of £900 with nothing to show for it. This was the bill for existing drawings that the previous owners of our house has already paid Andrew to complete and he had retrieved from his files. All in all, I really don’t think Cadplan faired badly out of our engagement.

We were referred to Andrew by our builder and couldn’t have asked for a better service!

Andrew designed our upward extension and guided it through the planning process which was not straight forward as we started at the same time as new Government guidelines being released regarding permitted development. We had an idea about what we wanted to do with the space and Andrew brought it to life with a set of impressive drawings.

The Class AA Prior Approval was agreed followed by subsequent planning permission to put in place roof winds and vaulted ceilings, both of which we wanted to have from the start but were restricted by permitted development guidelines.

Andrew dealt with the North Somerset planning department on our behalf, answering any questions they had to ensure a quick and more importantly (for us!) positive response to our application. The communication from Andrew was good and he kept us in the loop on how things were progressing through the whole of the application process.

Overall, the process with Andrew was smooth, personable and very professional and I would have no issues in recommending his services.

Now on to the building regulations and structural arrangements which Andrew is also seeing through for us; fingers crossed this goes as smoothly as the planning application!

Andrew and the team have been great and have supported & guided us through our first extension (a single story wrap around c.40sqm). His personable qualities have helped us shape our project, along with simplifying the technical aspects and talking us through the stages, he was also able to recommend great local tradesmen to support the project from start to finish. Would highly recommend. J&L

Very impressed with the service provided by Cadplan architecture. I had a late requirement for assistance with developing plans for a loft conversion and the associated documentation required for a planning application. Cadplan architecture were very responsive, diligent and proactive in quickly understanding the requirements and delivering the required plans and documents. I would certainly use their services again and would highly recommend them to others.

Andrew and his team have done a superb job of not only designing us an additional storey to our bungalow, but in also navigating his way through the AA permitted development application.
We are so pleased that found Cadplan as our architects.
We cannot wait for it to be built so we can share the photos with you.

Andrew was very helpful in getting our planning application approved and deserves a reward for overcoming our local planning authorities objections and stil getting the original plans passed.

Cadplan gave us an excellent service in providing quality plans for our extension. The service provided by Cadplan went beyond just drawing up the plans. They helped us every step of the way, explaining the process in language we were able to understand whilst making valuable suggestions. The expert support and advice given made the process of getting our extension much less daunting. Cadplan were extremely accomodating with us and we would not hesitate to recommend them.