this all depends in which country you are in.

Were I am based, an architect's fees are percentage based on the cost of the total build.

If an architect draws up the plans for you under the impression that they are going to do the entire build (supervision, mandating of contractors, ect) that is a different fee structure to merely drawing up plans.

Let's see what other houzzers say...

Your contract agreement will dictate whether or not the architect retained ownership of the drawings (which is most prevalent) or whether ownership passed to you upon full payment. Your attorney can quickly tell you once he/she reads the document.

There are other options beyond architects. There are what are called design/build contractors that do both the plans and the construction. Their contract will specify who owns the plans at the end of the design/specification phase (some will retain ownership but most that we know do not). Some design/build contractors have architects on staff and others (such as our company) do all of the upfront plan work and then pass it over to a local outside engineer who finalizes the drawings and creates the engineering letter required to pull permits. In our company, we pass ownership to the client at the completion of the design phase and receipt in full of fees. The client can use us for the construction (and we hope they always will) but are free to take the plan and go elsewhere if they wish. There are pros and cons to this business model as well.

The main reason that an architect has that point in their contracts is that they are professionally liable for the design. If the design was used without the Architects permission and something happens, the owner could possibly come back to the architect for damages. The only way that the Owner could use the plans is if the Contract between the Owner and the Architect specifically state the Architect's services did not included anything beyond preparation of the Construction Documents. Most architects that I know if, retain ownership of the drawings even after projects are finished for liability issues. There have been times when owners decide to just have a duplicate project built using the same plans and then ends up suing the Architect because of some issue (the plans wouldn't work for a different site, something happens to the building after it is built, etc, etc). Architects are very conscious of their professional liability, and are very good about covering it their contracts. The good Ol' CYA clause.

What is CYA?

CYA = Cover Your A**