Simple Guide to Understanding Architect’s Fees
Choosing an architect for a building project is a very important decision to make, and will often come down to each architect’s fees, and who will give you the best value for money. You will be undertaking a large financial investment in your project, whether it be building an extension or a new home, so it is important to choose the right designer. In comparison, if you received three builder’s quotations for the project and one was considerably lower than the other two, would you accept the lowest or would you question which part of the work may have been left out or not adequately resourced? The same applies to the start of a project, which can be even more important. Getting the design right at the beginning can save significant time and money later on – this is the value an architect can bring to a project.
You may have whittled it down to a few architects/designers from what they have on their website, local jobs you have seen that they have designed, recommendations from friends etc. The next stage is to choose between your preferred architects by asking for quotes, or ‘fee proposals’. In this Simple Guide, we will take you through what you should expect in a fee proposal, what should be included, and how you can compare like for like.
Throughout this guide, we use the term ‘architect’ to refer to your chosen designer, which can be substituted by their title if different.
Initial Site Visit
In most cases, before an architect can provide an accurate fee proposal, a visit to the site of the project will be necessary. At this stage, you should give as much information as you can about your expectations and requirements and any issues you may be aware of on the site. The more information you give to each architect, the better able they will be to price your job accurately. This time is usually part of a ‘no obligation’ service offered by an architect with no charges, but you may want to check to be sure.
Your architect will ask what your budget will be for the project and your expected timeframes. This is so that the architect can advise you as to whether your expectations can be realistically met.
The architect will then go away and assess the information received at the visit. They may need to do a little research on the site and area surrounding it. This allows them to assess any constraints which will need to be dealt with before the fee proposal can be calculated, e.g. are there mature trees on site that are protected and therefore could impact on the design?
The Fee Proposal
Once your architect has gathered and appraised this information, they will put together a fee proposal. This will be a charge for the time they will be spending on your project. It is tempting, when receiving several fee proposals, to skim to the bottom of the document and just read the final figure. However, it is vital that you read and understand each element that is being charged for so you can compare like for like. One quote may seem considerably cheaper but may have many costs not included, which may be charged as extras further down the line. Equally, a more expensive quote may cover everything and therefore may be much better value in the long-term.
The following are elements that you may expect in a fee quote:
The project brief and scope of service required by the architect, as defined at the initial meeting. This should be laid out in the document and should include your estimated budget and timeframes. The brief could be to prepare and submit a Pre-Application Enquiry and provide some feedback, it may be a full service from concept design through to overseeing the works on site, or anything in between.
Everything that will be included in the quote should be listed. This should include whether the architect will measure up the existing building /plot within their fee, or recommend quotations from suitable consultants.
The quote should state whether the fees are subject to VAT or not.
The fee may include an amount for reports and assistance by other professionals. If it doesn’t, you need to find out if there will be extra charges for this on top of your fee quote.
You need to check your fee proposal to establish where the fee may need adjusting at a later date. The quote from your architect is based on the time that they think your project will take. If you ask for many alterations within the design process and it takes far longer than anticipated due to your actions, you will usually be charged accordingly.
The fee proposal should make clear to you when the architect’s commission will end.
Information of the extent of your architect’s Professional Indemnity insurance should be included in the document. This is a vital thing to consider. If you choose a designer without adequate insurance, you are gambling with what will probably be one of the largest investments you will make!
Information regarding what recognised professional bodies your architect is chartered/registered with. These professional bodies ensure that your architect adheres to the expected standards and that their training is as up to date as it should be.
Having read through your fee proposals, if there is anything that you do not understand fully, then please ask the architect to clarify these items for you. Also, at this stage, if you feel that there is something you don’t need in the quote, then you can discuss with the architect and the fee proposal may be altered accordingly.
When comparing fee quotes from different architects, make a checklist to ensure that each document is quoting for the same services, and do ask if you think that anything has been left out. Other things to consider are whether the architect has relevant experience and last but by no means least, whether you feel comfortable entering into a professional appointment with your chosen architect.
Downloadable Checklist
The following is a downloadable checklist which you can print out to compare each fee proposal that you receive. Fee proposals are laid out in a number of different ways and some of the information may not be included in all of them. This checklist can help you to see if you need to contact the architect to ask for any missing information or to clarify the information given, so that you can be sure you are comparing like for like.