Typical Design Fee

[Anonymous]

Just curious, what are your flat rates for designing residential work? I know it is a broad question but give a ex.

[Dwight]

Krikey. Flat rates? I'm voting "NO" on this one.

[Anonymous]

Cole_Construction wrote:
Just curious, what are your flat rates for designing residential work? I know it is a broad question but give a ex.

Your question is not as broad as it is "loaded." Seriously, I'm not really sure there is such a thing as a "flat rate."

Residential work??? Is it a typical builder set with minimal or no details or custom design with a substantial amount of detail.

Is the work for a volume builder who will use the design multiple times or for an individual who will build it once?

Is it single family or multi-family?

There are just too many flavors of residential work to specify a flat rate.

[__archiben]

Dwight wrote:
Krikey. Flat rates? I'm voting "NO" on this one.

[Rakela Raul]

no body put some numbers down ??? first, flat fee is a nono; second, fees varies from town to town, but if u wanna hear some numbers lets try:

residential, i have seen people calculate their fees in diff ways, some people use an amount per sq footage which varies from 3 to 6 dls....and because this is not a good or rt way of calculat'g a fee cuz of differences in design and complexity and detail, etc..it is done calculating how many sheets the construction documents wd take and they approximate 30 to 50hrs per dwg and then u come out with a fee....others come out with a fee according to the sq footage of the residence and the approx construction cost times 6 to 12% of that.....and some others just need to keep their people busy and dont make any profit but dont let go anybody......i should go back and read your question,,before i submit this,,but kind of late now...if wrong, beyond sorry.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. I have a buddy of mine that lives in Chicago and he is getting 17% of the total construction costs. That is a lot in my mind.

Rakela wrote:
no body put some numbers down ??? first, flat fee is a nono; second, fees varies from town to town, but if u wanna hear some numbers lets try:

residential, i have seen people calculate their fees in diff ways, some people use an amount per sq footage which varies from 3 to 6 dls....and because this is not a good or rt way of calculat'g a fee cuz of differences in design and complexity and detail, etc..it is done calculating how many sheets the construction documents wd take and they approximate 30 to 50hrs per dwg and then u come out with a fee....others come out with a fee according to the sq footage of the residence and the approx construction cost times 6 to 12% of that.....and some others just need to keep their people busy and dont make any profit but dont let go anybody......i should go back and read your question,,before i submit this,,but kind of late now...if wrong, beyond sorry.

[Djordje]

Cole_Construction wrote:
Thank you. I have a buddy of mine that lives in Chicago and he is getting 17% of the total construction costs. That is a lot in my mind.

Sounds like quite a bit ...

In UK, you have a regulation scale that defines the fees per the pahse of the work, proportionate to the total value, as a percentage of the total value. Now the people practising there can say something on this

Around here, it is a "you are my friend, so I will give you this job" thing ...

[Anonymous]

Cole_Construction wrote:
Thank you. I have a buddy of mine that lives in Chicago and he is getting 17% of the total construction costs. That is a lot in my mind.

Rakela wrote:
...residential, i have seen people calculate their fees in diff ways...

Cole,
Hmmm 17%??? Not impossible but not really typical either. If we all made that kind of money none of us would spend time gleaning "best practices" on this forum...we'd all be sippin' fruity drinks on a tropical island somewhere.

Back to your original question "...what are your flat rates for designing residential work?..." Obviously you're not asking about design only...surely you mean SD/DD/CD. What exactly is your friend providing for this fee and/or what kind of residential work does he do?

I've actually worked on some higher-end residential projects in the chicagoland area that commanded these kinds of fees. The projects required a substantial amount of time to complete, extensive detailing, never ending changes and alot of "hand-holding" with the clients.

You could potentially get these kinds of fees in Dallas...say, in the more exclusive Highland Park area. Is this the kind of work you're thinking about?

I think Rakela offered some of the more typical fee scenarios. I personally have a sliding scale based on square footage and the number of options for my "production builder" type of work. This works for me because I don't work on projects requiring alot of specific detailing - If you do more custom work, this type of fee structure would eat you alive.

[Eduardo Rolon]

Down here the local Architectural Assoc. publishes a set of tables based on an estimate of the cost for construction ( sq.ft. times $cost per sq. foot) for different types of projects there is a complexity factor (ex, office bldgs = 1x, custom houses and museums are 1.75x, parkings and warehouses are .75x) so a 2000 sq. ft. house @ $100/sf is $200,000 times a factor of 1.75 is $350,000 design fees for that price range is 12% which results in a $42,000 fee. The consultants get approx a 30% cut of that and overhead and production should only take another 30-40% which ideally leaves a 30% profit on the project.
And that means that either you work fast and efficient or you pay your employees less than the manager at McDonalds, which a lot of offices are doing. Typical salary for a recent Architectural Graduate with a Masters Degree is between $10-12 US per hour.

[Rakela Raul]

so eduardo,
a 2,000 sf residence that cost 200,000 dls to build it (100 dls/sf, which is a little high but ok)......will cost the owner almost 1/4 of that (40,000-50,000 dls) for a/e services....r u sure??