The Architectural Process - Fees
It is important that clients are made aware of the costs of architectural services early in the relationship. Our charges will be specific to the complexity of the job.
Fees can be based upon time charges, lump-sum fees, percentage fees or a combination of these. All of these are GST exclusive. We use a standard NZIA agreement for architectural services as a contract between client and architect.
There is a booklet entitled "Guide to Architects Charges" (click to download or get a hard copy from the NZ Institute of Architects, tel. 09-6236080) that provides further information and guidance for clients about charges. We are happy to talk about fees and services and will give quotes once the scope of work is known.
Time Charges:
We generally use hourly charges for small amounts of work or if the scope of work hasn't yet been decided.
Percentage Fees (Full Service):
A percentage fee is the traditional method of charging for architectural design work. The percentage charged varies upon the complexity of the work (eg. owner-occupied residential projects tend to be more complex than motels, and therefore take longer to design and document for the same value) and the value of the work (ie. as the value of the job increases there is a smaller percentage required to cover the hours worked). The guide mentioned above gives tables showing percentages that can be applied to different types and values of work. This percentage is applied to the market value (excluding GST) of all work designed and specified for the project by us or consultants coordinated by us. We invoice based upon QS estimates of this amount until such time as a Contract Sum is fixed.
Lump Sum Fees:
We can charge a fixed fee and this is calculated specifically for individual projects.
Fee Breakdown into Stages:
In order that you can see the relative costs of the different stages we have broken down a typical residential project into percentages:
| Concept/Feasibility
Preliminary Design
Resource Consent
Developed Design
Contract Documentation
Tendering and Negotiation
Contract Administration | 10%
15%
time charge
10%
38%
2%
25%
100% |
Disbursements:
We may also charge for some expense items such as toll calls and printing of drawings. Rates for disbursements are agreed before they are incurred.
« Contract Administration
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