architectural fee. Because resi-
dences are small in scale yet
have the same components as
larger buildings, the documents
required are extensive relative
to the cost of the project and to
the fees that homeowners are
willing to pay. All of this com-
bines to make it too expensive
for an architect to specialize in
residential design. This can be
particularly devastating to fe-
male architects who have tradi-
tionally been edged out of com-
mercial architecture, but would
be able to sustain a practice in
residential design. On the flip
side of the issue is the fact that
it is not profitable for architects
to design residences as part of a
general practice because they
are so time-consuming.
 If there were a law passed
whereby more types of resi-
dences were designed by archi-
tects, the design and permitting
process would need to be
streamlined and some consider-
ation given to the liability risks
facing architects. There is no
logical reason why an architect
should be responsible for a pro-
ject for fifteen years. Manufac-
turers of the various building
components have very short
warranty periods on their prod-
ucts and the contractors who
construct the buildings are
mostly free of responsibility
within a year of building com-
pletion.
 The point is that all four peo-
ple involved must realize that ar-
chitects make an important con-
tribution to residential design
just as they do to commercial
and institutional design. So long
as government does not legally
require architects to design
homes, the homeowners, con-
tractors and public authorities
will continue to have a dimin-
ished respect for the architect's
role. In order to revamp the sys-
tem to make it practical for
these changes to occur, the
whole process of designing and
building homes needs to be sim-
plified, from permitting to code
enforcement to insurance.


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FLORIDA ARCHITECT February 1993