How Much Do Architectural Services Cost?
There are different ways to pay for this service. Most of the time I charge by the hour. As a rough guide, expect to pay around 10% of the cost of building. Once the size of the project is known, and the scope of service is determined, I can give you some fairly specific cost estimates for each stage of my work. You may want only some of my services; you may want more. Some people want a lot of involvement in the early design stages, or want me to have more, or less, contact during construction. No matter what, I can give you estimated costs for each stage of the project as we go forward.
What Are The Likely Construction Costs?
Construction costs for most custom homes in this area generally cluster around $300 per square foot. What is included in a square foot? The best way to measure the size of a house is to start with the living space. That’s easy. But what if there’s a garage, a screen porch, outdoor decks or patios, a finished basement? They don’t cost the same. Are there high ceilings with extra windows high above? Same question. Those kinds of spaces should be considered as part of the square footage, but not at 100%. So I prepare a list, adjusting for those other spaces, and tally the equivalent square footage. This is the basis of what we use to help us get to a budget cost.
The real cost comes from your builder. If you have chosen a builder I will review costs with them. Custom building usually works best when a builder has been chosen, sometimes even better if chosen early in the design process. Occasionally competitive bidding works well, but that’s not as often the case. There are various types of construction contracts that can be used. Because this is custom work, you want a good combination of predictability and flexibility so you don’t have surprises but also don’t feel trapped by rushed decisions. And there are a lot of decisions to make. They should be made without rushing and with useful information. I can provide suggestions and a framework for making those decisions, as well as a realistic timeline so you know what to decide, when to decide, and which decisions should come first.