Architecture Fees: How They’re Calculated
Architecture fees are always a delicate subject with every firm. To give you an idea of how we figure out our architect fees we must first create an estimate. An estimate is a thumbnail of how many hours it’s going to take to complete a project. Then, we take a cost-based percentage of an estimated construction budget. Also, depending on the difficulty or complexity of that project, it could range between 6% (low) and 14% to 18% (high). Thus, it depends on the type of project and also the services requested, of course.
Percentage-Based Fees
A lot of times, the higher the construction budget the lower the architect fees are. It also works the other way around. The lower the construction budget, the higher the architect fees are on a percentage basis. This is because there is a lot of work to complete. Also, keep in mind that the project must also be profitable for the architecture company. The third way to determine architecture fees is through surveys. Also, surveys allow companies to establish an average of the architecture fees.
Furthermore, we use these three projections to interpret a fair design fee. We always try to be fair to our clients. As a result, we never haggle on the architecture fees. The reason is that we know that if we finish negotiating the architecture fees then the rest is easy.
The Benefit of Fair Architecture Fees
We always believe that the architecture fees will take care of themselves. This is because it all depends on the quality of our work. Also, if we produce good work, we know that we will have a client for life. Some of our clients have been with us for over 20 years. They keep on giving us work because they trust our results. Bottom line the model we like to follow is respect. Respect is the model that I recommend for other architects to follow as well. Also, the architecture fees will get worked out.
