Before you begin, think about what you want to achieve with your project. Your ability to clearly communicate your vision, budget, and functional needs, along with providing timely feedback, will be essential for keeping the project on track and ensuring a successful outcome.

Architects are licensed professionals trained to protect the public health, safety, and welfare in regard to built space. They are problem solvers who work with you to define your needs and aspirations. They also help you see the big picture in terms of the potential impact a project can have, bringing together project partners and stakeholders to take a wide variety of considerations into account and to create a result that truly works for you.

Architects offer much more than just traditional services like design development. Architects can also bring value to a project through: 

• Site selection/planning
• Building condition audits
• Interior design
• Energy-efficiency assessments
• Permitting/bidding
• Construction document administration 

The ideal time to involve an architect is when you are thinking about creating or enhancing your living, business, or community space. 

Architects provide important pre-design services including site evaluation and can help you explore options you may not have considered. Involving an architect early in the process can help avoid costly missteps and increase the likelihood of your satisfaction with the project.

Hiring an architect can save you money and maximize the value of your investment in a number of ways:

• An architect can help prioritize your goals and focus design impact around these priorities.
• An architect’s design can reduce energy and maintenance costs, and provide an efficient layout so that you don’t overbuild beyond what you really need.
• An architect spends time planning and fully developing your ideas to avoid changes once construction is underway.
• An architect can turn a difficult lot into a successful building site and add value to resale opportunities.
• An architect can help you find short-term and long-term cost savings through efficient space planning and material selection. 

Since every project is different, establishing the best fee structure will vary client-to-client and project-to-project.  

An architect’s compensation is often based on time, a stipulated sum, a percentage of the cost of the work, the project’s square footage or a combination of these models. You can learn more about the most common fee structures below, but once you’ve identified an appropriate fee structure, you’ll want to research agreement options. Visit aiacontracts.com to learn more about the various types of agreements that architects may use to help implement these fee structures.

• Hourly 
  The simplest and perhaps most widely used fee structure by small firms is based on hourly rates. For every hour the architect works, the client gets billed. This requires the architect to fill out timesheets and provide clients with invoices at specified intervals, usually monthly. With an hourly contract, most clients set a max cap (also called GMP contract) to ensure the architect stays within budget.  
• Fixed-fee 
  A fixed fee contract is one that stipulates an agreed-upon flat fee amount for the services rendered by the architect. Some architects prefer to use this fee structure for smaller-scale projects as it is generally easier to determine how much work is involved. For larger-scale projects this fee structure is less frequently used. Fixed fee arrangements are not recommended until the client and the architect have established a tightly defined scope of work.

Some architects charge a fee for scope creation, which can be valuable for the client, as they get an educational understanding of the project and the architect learns about the problems the client wants to solve. Once the scope is agreed upon, architects can then break down the time and price allocation to present a fixed-fee proposal to the client.

• Percentage of construction costs 
  Architects may alternatively be compensated based on the percentage of construction costs of the project. The primary benefit of this fee type is that it aligns the project cost risk for both the client and the architect since pricing is based on the building being produced. For this fee structure, the client must first have an understanding of construction costs. Typical rates range from 8–15 percent for new construction, and 15–20 percent for remodels (with various factors impacting independent rate determinations including experience, project complexity, geography, etc.) Learn more about how the costs of this fee structure are established.  
• Design-bid-build 
  The most common fee for larger commercial architecture projects is a slightly different take on the percentage-based process called design–bid–build. In this scenario the client will hire an architect to design and produce the construction contract documents and then use those drawings for contractors to bid on. The design service fees tend to be 5-20 percent of the overall project budget, not just construction costs (with various factors impacting the independent design service fee determination including experience, project complexity, geography, etc.). Once a contractor has been selected, the owner enters into a separate contract with the contractor and the architect continues on with permitting and any change orders.
• Design-build  
  The design-build method is an integrated construction approach where both the design and construction aspects are handled by a single entity – an architect led design-build firm. During the design phase, the client and architect work together to establish communication channels, design preferences, and construction plans. Unlike other fee structures which involve hiring separate contractors, design-build eliminates this aspect. The design-build process offers an opportunity for streamlined communication, collaboration, and efficiency throughout the entire project. 

Your architect will depend on you to communicate about your functional requirements, design preferences, and budget. Your timely response to questions and design submissions will help keep the project on track. It is also important for you to raise any concerns you have as the project proceeds, so they can be addressed in the earliest stages. Working in partnership with your architect, you will help achieve a successful outcome for your project. 

• Describe your current space. What do you like about it?
• What is missing? What don’t you like?
• If you want to change the space you have, why?
• If you want to build new, why?
• How do you currently use your space? How much time to you spend in various spaces and for what purposes?
• How much time and energy are you willing to invest to maintain your space?
• If you are thinking of adding on, what functions/activities will be served by that additional space?
• What kind of spaces do you need?
• How many of those spaces do you think you need?
• What do you think the space should look like?
• If planning on a new space, what do you envision that you don’t have now?
• How much can you realistically afford to spend?
• How soon would you like to be settled into your new/renovated space? Are there rigid time constraints?
• If you are contemplating building new, do you have a site selected?
• Do you have strong ideas about design styles? What are your design preferences?
• Who will be the primary contact with the architect, contractor, and others involved in designing and building your project? (It is good to have one point of contact to prevent confusion and mixed messages.)
• What qualities are you looking for in an architect?
• How much time do you have to be involved in the design and construction process?
• Do you plan to do any of the work yourself?
• How much disruption in your life/work/operations can you tolerate to if you are adding onto or renovating a current space?

• What does the architect see as important issues or considerations in your project? What are the challenges of the project?
• How will the architect approach the project?
• How will the architect gather information about your needs, goals, etc.?
• How will the architect establish priorities and make decisions?
• Who from the architecture firm will you be dealing with directly? Is that the same person who will be designing the project? Who will be designing your project?
• How interested is the architect in this project?
• How busy is the architect?
• What sets this architect apart from the rest?
• How does the architect establish fees?
• What would the architect expect the fee to be for this project?
• What are the steps in the design process?
• How does the architect organize the process?
• What does the architect expect you to provide?
• What is the architect’s design philosophy?
• What is the architect’s experience/track record with cost estimating?
• What will the architect show you along the way to explain the project? Will you see models, drawings or sketches?
• If the scope of the project changes later in the project, will there be additional fees? How will these fees be justified?
• What services does the architect provide during construction?
• How disruptive will construction be? How long does the architect expect it to take to complete your project?
• Do you have a list of past clients that your firm has worked with?