A stupid way of calculating fees

If you are building something, need an architect, are savvy enough and willing to “shop around,” you might be shocked at learning how architect fees are calculated. I've recently been through that experience and can attest that the methodology used in the field runs the whole gamut.

For instance, some architects still can look at you straight in the eyes and state “my fee will run you 8% of construction costs”. So, in that situation, it might matter a great deal and translate into a formidable fee if the inside walls of the house are just painted in white or receive a pure gold leaf plating!

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are some smarter professionals that will charge a fee in fair correlation with what the total job involves in terms of their time and expertise. This folks are generally rare, but are also smarter as they understand their market well and won't take any chance with their prospective clients.

Then, there are a few, progressive ones, that will charge by the square foot of built space, which make more sense, but the practice still seems in its infancy so the rates are spread all over the universe. Finally, there are those that I'd call the back-trackers.

Finally, they're the one who will go “fishing” and are ready to strike it rich if the client doesn't know any better. They generally fail, though, as they cut their initial fee in half and their smart customer realizes that she's been taken for a ride.

Now you've got a representative primer on architect fees in today's world!