For every project, there are hard costs and soft costs. Soft costs are what it takes to get the project designed and approved to start construction. Soft costs can be surveying, engineering, soils reports, arborist reports, permit fees, and architect’s fees. It’s really important to take these soft costs into consideration when planning any project, and a lot of people overlook them. (HGTV doesn’t even talk about soft costs, amIright?)
Hard costs are what you’ll pay for construction. This is your general contractor, your materials, subcontractors, fabricators, etc. This is what most people think about when they consider building a home. It’s your tiles, bathtubs, lighting fixtures, framing, foundation, roofing, and on and on. When people estimate cost per square foot, they’re just talking about hard costs so it’s pretty misleading.
Architects are highly trained, licensed professionals and as such, our expertise in design, building system coordination, and construction is quite valuable. California Architects also have higher than average business expenses. Our license requires continuing education, business liability insurance, and workers comp. Our companies are expensive to start, expensive to run, and are worth every penny.
For residential construction, generally Architects cost roughly 10%-15% of the construction budget. So for a $250,000 remodel, expect the Architect & Engineering costs to be around $25,000-$35,000 to get through design and permitting.
http://architecturalfees.com/residential-architectural-fees/
At BLAINE architects, our fees start at $15,000 and go up from there.
We also offer fixed fee proposals so you know how much to expect from the start. The first step is to reach out and set up a meeting. We’ll come over and look at your property so we can give you an accurate estimate.
Questions? Give us a call or shoot us an email.