What the work ahead costs, stage by stage, with the exclusions written beside each one.
How much does an architect cost in Brisbane? It's the question you arrived with, and I'd rather answer it properly than hand you a number that means nothing on its own. There's no fee scale in this country any more, so a fee is one architect's honest estimate of the work your house will take.
Which is why a percentage on its own tells you the least. The same fee described as a design, a council application and a documentation set thorough enough that three builders can price exactly the same house reads completely differently — and it's the same money.
What follows is what each stage buys you, and what makes a fee rise.
You see what each stage costs before you commit to it.
A written fee proposal split stage by stage, with the scope and the exclusions beside each one. Architects charge in three ways — a share of the build cost, a fixed fee per stage, or an hourly rate — and the proposal says which applies where.
Control. You see what each stage costs before you commit to it, and you can stop at the end of any of them owing nothing further. Just a decision made with the number in front of you.
On your own you're comparing single figures with nothing behind them, so it's hard to tell what you're buying. Plenty of people manage it. It just means the exclusions turn up later.
I take you through the offer in person rather than sending a PDF and hoping. A proposal read alone is only a number, so I'd rather you asked the question at the moment it occurs to you. My fee is fixed per stage and quoted before that stage begins, with an hourly rate only for what sits genuinely outside it. You're never committed to the next stage until you've seen what it costs.
There's no set rate, so treat any single number carefully — including mine. What moves it is the size and complexity of the work, whether your site sits under a character or flood overlay, and how much of the job you want me to carry. Ask for the fee stage by stage, and ask what happens if you stop.
Less than a full service, and it's a legitimate way to buy. What you give up is the second half of the job — coordinating your engineer and certifier, comparing builders on one identical set of drawings, and having someone on your side once the build starts. It suits a simple project with a builder you already trust.
A fixed fee per stage is easier to live with: you know the number before you commit, and nothing beyond it is owed. A fee set as a share of the build cost rises at the moment you're trying to bring that cost down. Neither is dishonest, and proposals often mix the two, so ask which is quoted which way.
Because most of the work isn't proportional to size. A modest rear addition still needs an accurate base drawing, an overlay check, a full construction set, an engineer coordinated in, a building approval through your certifier, and your builder's questions answered right through the build. The sheets are smaller. The number of them isn't.
Say so. It's a fair thing to say and I'd far rather hear it. Then ask for the fee stage by stage, and judge it against the whole cost of the project rather than on its own. Most of what you spend goes to your builder — the architect's share is small, and its job is to protect the large one.
If you would rather start small, the First Sketch Session is two hours at your place. You keep the sketches, and there is no obligation afterwards.
