That arrangement is too vague to allow you to plan ahead; he should provide you with a unambiguous payment schedule. In my experience, meeting occur when needed not once a month. Will the fee be a percent of the contractor's fixed price or the final cost of the project? What kind of contract will it be and are construction phase services included?

When I asked for estimate of invoices this was the response. Our percentage is 3 1/2 % of build. We're building about 1800-2000 sq for at about $230/sq ft. He said about $3k after each meeting. I'm guessing this was just a rough estimate. Hoping to begin in July/August. Some construction phase is included, but not to completion.

imo, that is way too expensive

Houses14. What is too expensive? What the architect is charging? It's going to be just under $15k for about a $420,000 build. I actually thought that was good. Many were $40k for the full suite of services. We wanted someone who has built higher quality small homes and didn't require cradle to grave services. This will include some oversite but not to completion. We're hoping for $200 sq ft but budgeting for $230 keeping it on the smaller side at 1800, max 2200.

Why percentage of the build? Is the plan complicated? Land a challenge? Does the percentage include all your appliances and optional items, lighting upgrades?. Seems like a lot. We were looking to build a unique, not cookie cutter, 1 mil a few years ago and the estimated architect fee was going to be around 15K. We are not in a high COLA.

Yes, we are building in the mountains on a sloping lot. I don't know if it's demand in the area or what. Based on conversations with about 10 architects, my project is considered "small". I'm also guessing there is a minimum project they're willing to take on.

That's cheap! LOl.. Here AIA architects working on a true custom build will charge 9-15 % of the cost of construction.

Monthly is pretty standard. Ours had things broken out into phases, with each one a percentage of the total. It worked out the largest invoice came after completion of the construction documents.

Good luck.

We are ok with the amount we're going to pay the architect. We feel that $15k for a really good design is fair. It seems many in our area using architects are building million dollar houses so that makes our project relatively small. I believe the minimum project the architect typically takes on is $15k so we are right at the edge there. I'm not looking to nickle and dime the architect and then have him decline our project. We really want to work with him. I'm just curious under this set up how the invoices are determined. We are currently having the contract reviewed by an attorney so we haven't signed it yet.

It is pointless to express an opinion about an architect's fee without knowing the region, scope/complexity of the work and the skill and experience of the architect.

I can only tell you that if my fee was typically 3 1/2%, I would be out of business in a few years.

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

The Sun also rises by Ernest Hemingway:

Yea, I agree that is a good rate and I'm happy to pay it for the quality I believe I will get. I don't think it's his norm. Like I said, most are building in my area far beyond what I am. Also, most get the full suite of services which tends to run much higher. My quotes for cradle to grave service were around $40k. Honestly, we just couldn't swing that much with the scope of our project but still believe it's better to use an architect than redo a plan online, especially with a sloped lot. I sought out architects that were willing to do the limited services. Many were open to it and were around this rate. It's funny everyone says "you have to have an architect" but not everyone can add $40k to their build. We are going to end up around $550k for 1800 sq ft when you factor land in and people treat you like you're building a double wide. I actually felt fortunate that this architect was even willing to take on my project. My husband said "if one more architect acts like over half a million dollars is tiny" I'm going to scrap the whole project". It's not about can we afford more, it's about what we are choosing to spend.

Yes, it's a funny business. The first time in my life I thought I would get something deluxe and be treated like a "client" when in actuality we were on the low end. And we were one of the ones who paid 9%. Once the billing cap had been reached, service went to zero lol. Be careful.

We got a nice house when all is said and done, but some of the people in this industry are pretty rude.

Good luck!

If something sounds too good to be true it usually is, and 3 1/2% sounds too good. Be careful is all I can say.

Three and a half percent of building cost is unbelievably low, especially for "standard" architectural services consisting of schematic design, design development, construction documents. It certainly would not cover bidding assistance or construction administration. Given that many consumers have a very hard time understanding design and making up their minds (and sticking with their decision), early schematic design is often the most time consuming part of the design of a custom home. Let's look at the budget numbers: Area of house @ 2,000SF X construction cost of $230/SF = $460,000 USD. Construction cost of $460,000 X 3.5% architect's fee = $16,100 USD. For schematic design at 25% of the fee = $4,025 USD. At $200/hr for a principle architect's time = 20.1 hours of available time. Who thinks they can explore and reach agreement on the conceptual design of their home, and move on to more detailed design development, in 20 hours (this isn't simply meeting time with the owners, it's ALL the time the principle architect spends working on the design before and after meetings!)? Folks, you get what you pay for! Is this what your "forever house" is worth to design--20 hours of the principle architect's time?

I have a friend built $800k on a 2200SF. Architect charged $28k. Builder had to re-design the driveway slope on site during the build, which add a lot $ more for my friend.

Virgil, you reference 25% schematic, how would you allocate the other 75%? No bidding involved. We already have our builder. It doesn't cover construction administration. It covers a few site visits. Mainly we want the plans done and the builder to take it from there.

At $100/hour, $16k, that would be 160 hours. Assuming a rate of $100/hour. Is that not enough time for plans and construction documents?

Darby, there are no strict benchmarks for the percentage of fee allocated for the phases of architectural services (schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding, construction observation), since every architect and firm approaches their work based on their individual experience. That said, the following may not be too far off the mark in your situation and that of others not using architects for bidding and construction observation: schematic design@25% of fee, design development @30% of fee and construction documents@ 45% of fee.

FWIW, $100/hr billable rate for an experienced and creative architectural principle, in practice for a minimum of 10-15 years, is pretty low. But using that rate, it gives approximately 40 hours for schematic design--one work week! Can you and your husband explore and fix your conceptual design in one work week, including meetings? If so, everyone has a good working arrangement.

When I was practicing, I always did residential schematic design on an hourly basis since it takes many consumers so long to work themselves through the early design process and arrive at a comfortable decision-making point. I was always happy to work with them in whatever it took to get an acceptable design in front of them, but the longer it took the more it cost in time and materials. One of the best architect-client approaches, IMO, for schematic design is to work together in face-to-face meetings, talking and sketching to explore ideas and directions in 2-3 hour scheduled meetings.

Little to no other work would be done until the next scheduled meeting for further discussions and design explorations. The process would be repeated until a workable and agreeable concept was developed.

After that, my fee would either be a fixed fee or a percentage of the construction cost, depending on the degree of project complexity and the client's interaction.

Hope this helps you with your project and for all the lurkers.