Hiring an Architect: Scope, Fees, and What Owners Should Ask For
Short answer
When hiring an architect, compare the proposed deliverables, responsibilities, exclusions, and construction-phase involvement rather than looking at fee alone. The agreement should state who provides each service, how additional work is authorized, and what the owner must decide at each phase.
Most owners compare architects on fee percentage and portfolio. Both matter less than scope definition, consultant coverage, and how the design process handles cost.
Know the phases you are buying
Standard design phases:
- Programming — defining what the project must do
- Schematic design — form, layout, and general character
- Design development — systems, materials, and coordination
- Construction documents — the permit and construction set
- Bidding or negotiation — assisting with contractor selection
- Construction administration — site visits, submittals, RFIs, pay application certification
Proposals that exclude construction administration are cheaper and usually more expensive overall. The architect who drew the building is the right party to interpret it when questions arise.
Consultants are the real cost variable
Ask explicitly which consultants are included in the fee and which you will contract separately:
- Structural engineering
- Civil engineering and stormwater design
- Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing
- Landscape architecture
- Geotechnical
- Survey
- Specialty: acoustics, lighting, kitchen, code, accessibility
Two proposals that look 30 percent apart often converge once consultant coverage is normalized.
Fee structures and when each fits
- Percentage of construction cost — simple, but the incentive is misaligned when cost rises
- Fixed fee — predictable, requires a well-defined scope up front
- Hourly with a not-to-exceed — appropriate for early feasibility and undefined work
- Phased fixed fee — fixed per phase, re-set as scope becomes clear
Phased fixed fee with a defined scope per phase generally gives owners the most control, because it creates natural stop-and-evaluate points.
Build cost checkpoints into the agreement
The most expensive failure mode in design is a set of drawings the market prices above budget. Prevent it contractually:
- Require an independent cost estimate at the end of schematic design and design development
- Define the budget as a stated number in the agreement
- Define what happens if the estimate exceeds the budget — redesign responsibility and at whose cost
- Require the architect to participate in reconciling estimates
Deliverables to specify
- Number of design options in schematic design
- Number of revision rounds included per phase
- Renderings or visualization, and how many
- Level of specification — outline versus full
- Meeting frequency and attendance expectations
- Permit application support and response to review comments
- Construction administration site visit frequency
Unspecified deliverables become additional service requests later.
Additional services and change
Every agreement has an additional services clause. Read it and negotiate the triggers. Common ones worth defining: owner-directed scope change after a phase is approved, redesign due to jurisdiction requirements, and value engineering after a failed budget check.
Require written authorization before additional services are incurred. That single term prevents most fee disputes.
Questions worth asking references
- Did the project bid within budget the first time?
- How responsive were they during construction?
- How were errors and omissions handled?
- Did the fee end where it started, and if not, why?
The last question is the most informative one you can ask.
Next step
Normalize consultant scope across proposals, add a stated budget and cost checkpoints to the agreement, and keep construction administration in scope. Those three moves control most design-phase risk.
What an Architect’s Scope Should Cover
An architect’s proposal should define the work by phase: existing-conditions review, programming, concept design, design development, construction documents, permitting, bidding or contractor coordination, and construction administration. Not every project needs every phase, but exclusions should be stated clearly so the owner knows who will handle them.
The scope should also identify required consultants, such as structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, landscape, or interior design professionals. Confirm whether those consultants are included in the architect’s agreement, contracted separately by the owner, or left for the contractor to provide.
How to Compare Architectural Fee Proposals
Compare proposals by deliverables and responsibilities, not by fee alone. A lower fee may reflect fewer drawings, limited consultant coordination, fewer meetings, or no construction-phase services. Ask each architect to list assumptions, exclusions, reimbursable expenses, and services that would trigger an additional fee.
Also confirm how the fee is structured. Architects may use a fixed fee, hourly billing, a percentage-based fee, or a combination by phase. The useful comparison is the expected scope at each phase and the process for approving work outside that scope.
What to Ask Before Signing an Agreement
Ask who will lead the work day to day, who will attend owner and contractor meetings, and how often the principal named in the interview will remain involved. Request a proposed schedule that identifies owner decisions, consultant inputs, review periods, permit submissions, and major drawing packages.
Clarify how revisions are handled. The agreement should distinguish normal design development from a change in scope, such as adding space, changing the program, revising an approved design, or responding to newly discovered site conditions. It should also state how additional services are authorized and billed.
Discuss the architect’s role in cost control. Ask when estimates will be prepared, who will prepare them, and what happens if pricing exceeds the owner’s budget. An architect can design toward a stated budget, but the agreement should not imply control over material pricing, subcontractor availability, or final bids.
Why Construction Administration Matters
Construction documents do not resolve every field condition or coordination question. During construction, the architect may review submittals, respond to requests for information, visit the site at agreed intervals, evaluate payment applications, review proposed changes, and prepare punch-list observations. The agreement should say which of these services are included.
Owners should also understand the limits of this role. Periodic site observations are not continuous inspection, supervision of the contractor, or responsibility for jobsite safety. Clear language about visit frequency, reporting, and response times helps prevent gaps between the architect, contractor, consultants, and owner.
Define the Project Before Requesting Proposals
Before interviewing architects, prepare a short project brief. Include the property, intended use, approximate space needs, known site or building constraints, desired schedule, budget parameters, and the decisions that have already been made. The brief gives each architect a common basis for proposing services.
Identify the owner’s priorities as well. These may include design quality, schedule, durability, historic review, flood considerations, permitting complexity, or maintaining operations during construction. A clear brief makes differences between proposals easier to see.
Separate Basic Services From Additional Services
The agreement should distinguish the architect’s core services from work that may be added later. Surveying, measured drawings, extensive renderings, rezoning support, historic review presentations, furniture selection, record drawings, and repeated redesign may be treated separately depending on the proposal.
Do not assume an omitted service is included. Ask for a written list of exclusions and confirm who is responsible for each excluded item. This is especially important when several consultants, the contractor, and the owner are contributing information to the design.
Define the Architect’s Scope by Project Phase
Ask the architect to organize the proposal by phase: existing-conditions verification, programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, permitting, bidding or contractor selection, and construction administration. Each phase should list the drawings, specifications, meetings, presentations, cost-estimating coordination, and owner decisions it includes.
Pay particular attention to work that may sit outside the base scope. Common examples include measured drawings, interior design, furniture and equipment selection, renderings, landscape architecture, civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, lighting design, historic review submissions, flood-related coordination, and record drawings. The proposal should identify which consultants are included, which are hired directly by the owner, and who coordinates their work.
Construction administration should also be defined rather than assumed. Confirm the expected frequency of site visits, responsibility for reviewing submittals and contractor questions, handling proposed substitutions, evaluating pay applications, preparing change documentation, conducting punch-list reviews, and assisting with project closeout.
Compare Fees, Reimbursables, and Additional Services
Architectural fees may be stated as a fixed amount, an hourly fee with a limit, a percentage of construction cost, or a combination by phase. Compare the basis of each proposal, not only the total. Confirm what construction-cost figure a percentage applies to, whether consultant fees are included, how hourly rates may change, and when invoices are issued.
Request a separate schedule for reimbursable expenses and additional services. Travel, printing, permit sets, courier charges, renderings, extensive redesign, owner-requested changes, and work caused by concealed conditions may be billed outside the base fee. The agreement should explain any markup on consultant costs or reimbursables and require written authorization before significant additional services begin.
The payment schedule should track completed work and identify any retainer, deposit, or phase-specific billing cap. Also clarify what happens to fees if the project is paused, expanded, reduced, rebid, or terminated before completion.
Confirm the Approval Path Before Design Advances
In the Charleston region, the approval path depends on the project address and the authority with jurisdiction. A property may be reviewed by the City of Charleston, another municipality, or the county, and separate zoning, building, stormwater, floodplain, utility, historic, or architectural review requirements may apply. Do not assume that experience in one Lowcountry jurisdiction transfers directly to another.
Ask the architect to identify known approvals, likely submission sequence, required surveys or reports, and the party responsible for each application. For properties in historic districts or subject to design review, determine whether conceptual approval is needed before construction documents are completed. For flood-prone sites, confirm early coordination among the surveyor, architect, structural engineer, civil engineer, and insurer where applicable.
Private approvals can affect the schedule as much as public permits. Condominium, homeowners association, regime, or neighborhood review may require separate drawings, work-hour restrictions, contractor documentation, deposits, or board approval. These requirements should be collected before the design and pricing schedule is set.
Questions to Resolve Before Signing the Agreement
Ask who will lead the work day to day, who will attend owner meetings, and who will visit the site during construction. Review examples of the firm’s drawing sets for similar project types, and ask how it coordinates consultant drawings, tracks owner decisions, documents revisions, and responds when contractor pricing exceeds the working budget.
Confirm the design schedule, owner review periods, pricing milestones, and assumptions about contractor involvement. Decide whether the contractor will join during design, whether an independent estimator is needed, and what the architect will do if early estimates require scope reductions. The agreement should state whether redesign for budget alignment is included and under what conditions it becomes an additional service.
Before signing, verify ownership and permitted use of the drawings, insurance requirements, dispute-resolution terms, suspension and termination rights, and responsibilities for code compliance and concealed conditions. Have the final scope, consultant list, exclusions, fee schedule, and anticipated approval path attached to or incorporated into the agreement.
Common questions
- Should the architect help select the contractor?
- The architect can help prepare bid documents, answer bidder questions, compare proposals, and review whether bids follow the documents. The owner should confirm whether contractor selection or negotiation support is included in the scope.
- When should consultants be identified?
- Required consultants should be discussed before the architect’s agreement is signed. Their contracts, fees, deliverables, and coordination responsibilities should be clear before design advances.
- What should happen if the project is paused?
- The agreement should address suspension, restart, and termination procedures, including payment for completed work and the owner’s right to use documents. Ask whether restarting after a long pause could require updated surveys, code review, pricing, or additional services.