For BASIC services:
New House Project: 8% to 10% +/-
Renovation House Project: 12% to 15%+/-
With various additional services (either new home design or renovation design could be up to 20%+/-).
Example math for a $1,000,000 house project:
New House: 10% x $1,000,000 = $100,000 for ballpark basic Architect fees.
Renovation design of house: 15% x $1,000,000 = $150,000 for ballpark basic Architect fees.
With Additional services: $1,000,000 x 20% = $200,000 Architect fee.
Let’s do a few more examples, because there seems to be an inability for many people to do the basic math.
No source out there today seems to disagree with the 8% to 20% range for Architectural fees (which can and will be higher if more additional services are included).
But some sources out there seem to have a very poor understanding of what the CONSTRUCTION COST might be of residential projects.
So: no misunderstanding of the percentages for an Architect (8% to 20%+/-) multiplied by construction cost (real cost as opposed to wishful thinking).
Some very few sources have indicated that an Architect’s fee might be around $2,000 to $8,000. This doesn’t make any sense. And here’s why:
Doing the reverse math, that means the construction cost would be around $25,000 to $100,000. These days, that’s not going to get you much house, if in fact that is for a new whole house. That makes no sense at all. Construction costs these days for a new home are likely to vary between $300 to $400 for a basic to relatively nice home (but can be much higher ($500+/SF) depending on materials and features). So if a median house is around 2,500 HSF (Heated Square Feet), that means it’s likely going to cost $750,000 to $1,000,000 to build it (construction costs). If you don’t believe this, you really need to have some serious conversations with quality licensed Contractors and Architects in your area. You can make it smaller and you can reduce the features and quality of everything to make it cost less. But at some point, you are going to rebel and say to yourself that you will have some quality and features you want, if you’re going to do it at all.
Now then, Let’s do some more math examples, based on real construction costs:
A new house costing $750,000. x 8% = $60,000 low end Architect fee for only Basic Services.
Now let’s look at $750,000 x 15% = $112,500 Architect fee.
And now $750,000 x 20% = $150,000 Architect fee.
How about a new house with a construction cost of $1,000,000?
$1,000,000 x 8% = $80,000 Architect fee (low end Basic Services)
$1,000,000 x 15% = $150,000 Architect fee.
$1,000,000 x 20% = $200,000 Architect fee.
Hopefully these examples will help give you a better idea of realistic Architect fees basic of realistic construction costs.
Those are ballpark numbers that can and will vary. See:
http://architecturalfees.com/residential-architectural-fees/
for more information on the variability, not the least of which will be hourly rates, additional services, size, complexity, location and realistic construction cost of the project, and the amount of changes you may want (which are not included in Basic services).
Note: it is quite common for homeowners to UNDER ESTIMATE the construction cost of their project, usually by at least half, meaning, in the above example, they THINK that their project will be built for $500,000. In reality it ends of costing more, typically, often double (in this case: $1,000,000). The trouble is that most homeowners expect their Architect to do twice the amount of design work for half the fee. And that can cause some bad feelings. The reality is that the Architect is, in fact, designing the $1,000,000 home project (usually based on what the owner said they wanted) and the Architect is entitled to the fee for that amount of work, not what the homeowner IMAGINES the project will cost or what he WANTS the project to cost. And if the Architect charges on an hourly basis, it should not matter anyway, as the owner owes the Architect for the time he/she has put into the project, not necessarily any percentage. Architects and Owners should take a good look at this website before beginning a project to help establish more realistic goals.