WSJS Architects

The architectural diagrams were flawed because he did not do the due diligence required prior to initiating the project. We paid $200 up front for this work to be done. He said he would go to the town board and obtain all documentation on the house. Later, our architect, William Scherer admitted he pulled the records on the wrong house. He admitted as much. We should have ended the engagement at this point. It only got worse. Says he re-did the research but he did not. He never had the original drawings for the house. He did not know the legal set-backs so he could not advise appropriate. Another architect later showed us that a minor modification to the drawings would avoid the need for a zoning variance. This new architect gave us this recommendation the first 30 minutes of discussion. We asked Scherer if he knew if this option. His response was that "you wanted it a certain way and I did it your way"!! Since he did not have the initial drawings, even though he said he did, he did not know that his drawings for the current layout of the house was not consistent with the drawing in the town records. The very records we paid for him to obtain. He set a schedule that was a month after our initial requirement but he was late for his own deadline. By two months! We finally submitted his drawings. The town zoning board responded to his drawings by noting the discrepancies. They responded by requesting documentation for the maintain. This is a normal part of the process. We asked Scherer if he had compared the new drawings with the town documents he said he had obtained. It was clear he did not. Now it was the architect's turn to submit the required paperwork within 120 days. Scherer requested 30% of the initial fee to submit the "Maintain"!! We reluctantly agreed to this fee within 10 days of receiving the notice from the town. A month went by.... nothing. His excuse was that his partner was ill. Another month went by .... nothing. His excuses was that a family member was ill. Another month went by ... nothing. The town abandoned the submission. The architect never produced the required documents. This architect seems to think it is ok to string people along like this and not fulfill his responsibilities. He never submitted the drawings. We fired him as our architect. He agreed to forward all of his documents. The next day he refused to forward his documents saying that the money owed for his inspections during construction was not yet paid. Even if this was paid, even though this work was never done, it was not clear that he would live up to his word and turn over his files. If you sign with this person, read the contract carefully. No matter what he tells you, if it is not in his contract, he will deny it. Make sure that contract lists due dates and penalties. If he refuses to sign this document, re-read this comment. Good luck!