Fees & Services
“Never accept a fee quotation without insisting on site visit.”
How much does an Architectural service provider charge to work on your project? Many others calculate their fees as a percentage of the final construction cost, but I prefer to offer a fixed fee for my services. (Although there are exceptions where the percentage is the better option for the client) There are several reasons for this:
- Percentage fees have to be based on a budget figure until the construction cost is established, so financial adjustments have to be made during and at the end of the project which can lead to confusion due to the complicated accounting.
- If the design features recommended by your architectural service provider add to the construction cost, the perception may be that they are doing so to increase their percentage-based fees. Although this is not the case, the perception can lead to tension in the relationship between Client and Architectural service provider.
- A fixed fee that is set at the beginning of a project and based on a defined scope of work allows both Client and Architectural service provider to know exactly what is expected of them – if the scope of work remains unchanged, so does the fee.
Alan’s philosophy is that Architectural service provider fees should be related to their level of experience, expertise and to the amount of work they do rather than the cost of the project – why should we get paid more because you choose an expensive bath? However, with that approach, it is difficult to fully detail a fee schedule until the complete scope of the project is established.
This will require some time and investigation to work through the design brief as well as what can and cannot be achieved for your project. For example – you might have originally thought about a double storey addition, but after some discussion of other options, you and your architectural service provider may decide that a well-designed single storey addition is best – or you might even prefer to explore a couple of different options to allow you to assess their various suitability and see where they lead you and your project.