Average Architect Fee (residential) TO DESIGN A NEW HOME
Several Average Fees for an Architect to design a new custom home:
$60,720 to $90,000 to $220,000
depending on project size, complexity, materials, features, equipment and Architectural services desired.
FIRST SUMMARIZED DATA RELATING TO AVERAGE ARCHITECT FEES
$90,000 to $220,000.
This would be for a 2,300 to 3,000 HSF home with an average construction cost of $600/HSF.
HOWEVER: If your project is smaller, less complex and warrants a lower cost, the Architect Fee could be less. For instance: 2,200 HSF house x $450/HSF = $990,000 construction cost.
8% fee x $990,000 = $79,200 Architect fee.
20% fee x $990,000= $198,000 Architect fee.
So: much depends on the REAL construction cost to build your new house project, your desired size, features, materials and equipment, along with the extent of services desired from your Architect.
SEE BELOW FOR THE STATISTICS AND MATH BEHIND THIS AVERAGE:
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SECOND DATA RELATING TO AVERAGE ARCHITECT FEES, AS CALCULATED FROM CONSTRUCTION COSTS AND PROJECT SIZE
Some sources may claim the average cost to BUILD a house in the USA may be around $350,000. But the reality is more complex. Small, low end Budget Tract housing, maybe, in the range of 1,250 HSF in size ($300/HSF). And we’re not talking about how much to buy an EXISTING house. Those usually cost much less per square foot, because the owners are more desperate to sell. But new houses, being built custom for you, will be much more expensive, because your Contractor does Not HAVE to build your house. He can take it or leave it. He certainly won’t do it to lose money. He will charge you a reasonable (or even hefty) profit margin.
Most ARCHITECTURALLY designed homes cost more per square foot. These are called CUSTOM LUXURY homes. Some people still claim the 1983 cost of $100/HSF (Heated Square Foot) to build a lower-end home, now, in 2023 A.D. That simply isn’t true. And certainly not the sort of house that anyone who hires an Architect to design their home would want. Budget Tract housing may be in the $300/HSF range, but the quality is much lower than in a custom luxury Architect designed house.
While it is true that new houses can cost as little as $250,000 and go to over $3,000,000, there is a vast difference in the features, size, materials and quality between the two. They are not the same. For instance, $300/HSF is a lower end construction cost these days to build a BUDGET house. $450/HSF is for a nicer house with more features, nicer materials and appliances, $600 for still higher quality materials and design features, and over $750+/HSF for upper end custom luxury homes.
And so, doing the math: $350,000/$300 = 1,166 HSF new house. that’s a house approximately 28′ x 41′. That’s COMPACT. Unless you’re building on Unrestricted land (in terms of zoning), there are very few HOAs (Home Owner Associations) that would allow a house less than twice that size. So: while you can build a very small lower end house for $350,000, not many people in the USA today are going to be happy with that. Especially if they hired an Architect to design it (Architects design Custom Luxury homes). So: let’s make sure we are distinguishing between the two types of construction: low end TRACT housing for mass consumer sale (all cookie-cutter plans and features and lowest end budget materials), as opposed to Custom Luxury architecturally designed houses. Big difference. The Custom house will always cost more to build and the architectural fees will be higher, because the Architect has to spend more time designing a more complex project to suit your land and your specified requests.
Most Architect-designed homes are more in the $450 to $750 to $1,000/HSF range, with many in the $600-$800/HSF range.
How about size? Many houses designed by Architects these days vary between 2,000 HSF to 4,000 HSF (Heated Square Feet). The average may be somewhere in the 3,000 HSF range. Note: HSF does NOT include garages, porches and other higher end features. And contrary to popular belief, basements are Not free (SF down there counts and is not cheap). Many people have the irrational thought that their basement will double their house size for free. No. Not going to happen. You will have to pay for that and it will cost about the same as the rest of the house on a per square foot basis, by the time you are done. And you will have less windows.
So let’s do some more math: $350/HSF x 3,000 HSF = $1,050,000 cost of lower end architecturally designed house.
Let’s do another example: $600/HSF x 3,000 HSF = $1,800,000 cost of average architecturally designed home.
Therefore, the AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION COST OF AN ARCHITECTURALLY DESIGNED HOME IN THE USA MAY BE IN THE BALLPARK OF :
$600/HSF x 3,000 HSF= $1,800,000.
Does this mean that you can no longer have a custom luxury Architect-designed house of 3,000 HSF for under $500,000? Yes. That’s exactly what that means. You can’t get that any longer. It will be at least three times that these days.
Now then, if your desires for materials, appliances, size and features are greater, then your house can easily cost more than these examples. These examples are mere mathematical examples. They are Not intended as any sort of guarantee about your proposed house. So when you demand more wood and stone and upscale features, those things are not like changing the color of paint on a wall. Those things are very expensive and can make you house cost a lot more than more budget-oriented materials and features.
Note: most people planning a new house that do Not have a construction background, start ticking off a laundry list of high end features, like they are simply choosing the color of paint on a wall: photovoltaic roof, Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, reclaimed heart pine flooring 1″ thick, a great deal of native stone (both inside and outside), enormous garages and porches, firepits, lavish landscaping, etc. Those kinds of features can easily add $200/HSF to $300/HSF or more to the cost of construction. And still other people think that having a real timberframe house will save them money. No it will not. The cost of a package like that ADDS another $85-$120/GSF (Gross Square Foot) to the conventional cost of building a conventionally framed house. Note to inexperienced wannabe homeowners: you will never be able to come up with ideas that will cost less than your Architect can. Please allow your Architect to serve you will all these skills and experience they have. Don’t try to second guess them, any more than you would your Attorney while working on your behalf in a courtroom, or your Heart Surgeon during a cardiac operation.
Okay, so what about the AVERAGE ARCHITECT FEE TO DESIGN A NICE HOUSE based on the above statistic:
8% to 20% Architect Fee range.
8% x $1,800,000 = $144,000.
20% x $1,125,000= $360,000.
However, if you are planning on a smaller house, with less complexity, it might be less. If you are planning on a larger, more complex project, it could be more.