ᐅ HOAI or Why Architects Might Lack Interest...

Without going too deeply into the latest legal rulings (11ant has already pointed out that there are very contradictory statements): In principle, the HOAI is binding. There are several recognized scenarios for deviations. Specifically mentioned are: deviations from the HOAI service catalog, multiple uses of already completed designs/key partial plans, and final invoices that have already been issued. Other rulings refer to the protection of the client’s reliance and the limited knowledge of the HOAI among private builders.

In the end, the main point is this: there is a high risk of major disputes if the planning does not proceed as mutually intended. Disputes that are not helpful at this stage. Ultimately, either the client or the architect’s professional liability insurance will prevail years later in a third-instance court.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:
That’s nonsense, one person claims something false, another believes it, and suddenly it’s “fake news.”

If an architect offers a private client planning services for 10,000 euros (approximately 10,000 USD), they are allowed to do so, even if the HOAI sets 20,000 euros (approximately 20,000 USD) as the minimum fee. (Period!) The HOAI applies only if no agreement has been made. For example, if you go to an architect, explain what you want, and they design something without you having agreed on a fee, then they may charge according to HOAI.

Correct. This also relates to the principle of “good faith.” If the architect offers a private client a fixed-price contract below the HOAI minimum fees, they are bound to that agreement and cannot refer to the fee schedule afterward. Private clients are generally well protected by court rulings in this regard.

montessalet schrieb:
An architect should receive a fair fee (taking into account their risks). However, using the construction cost as the basis is not suitable: the basis should be the architect’s efforts and services.

That’s true; to me, this construction cost approach always seems to rely on the "law of large numbers"... On average and statistically, it might be correct that a more expensive build is also a more complex one. But when I look at examples like the choice between plastic and wood/aluminum windows affecting the fee, I personally don’t see any additional effort there. On the other hand, there may be decisions that don’t increase costs but do require more planning effort. If these two are not balanced, I end up paying more.

Friends of mine pay an architect for a home renovation by the hour, while I pay according to the HOAI. For me, there is a (probably semi-legal) fixed cap on billable costs of €350,000 (about 370,000 USD). I knew these figures and basically have an upper limit for what I pay for this service. If that seems acceptable to me (or if I have no other offer), I can agree to it. So despite HOAI, it’s effectively a flat fee.

My friends, in contrast, don’t really know where they’ll end up. Even though it’s quite likely they will pay less or at least not more in the end, they are now psychologically more limited because they simply know each architect hour costs money. That’s logical but somewhat impractical, yet I can see in them a tendency to agree faster and be less critical.

So everything has its pros and cons.

We are currently facing the same issue with our planning.
As a future homeowner and private individual, I briefly reviewed important sections of the HOAI and assumed that the fees were fixed.
However, we now have three different offers, all of which are cheaper than the HOAI "prescribed" fees (since they are based on actual effort/hours), which can be confusing for a layperson at first.
This results in three offers:
1 - Architect phases 1-4: €8,300 gross
2 - Architect phases 1-4, structural engineer, energy consultant with construction supervision: €14,500 gross (about €9,000 of which is for the architect)
3 - (from further away, not from our district) Architect phases 1-5 (including execution plans), structural engineering, thermal protection certification: €6,300 gross

The question I keep asking myself is: Is this now a free market, or how do such variations arise?

Bau_Bambi schrieb:
Now we have three different offers, all of which are cheaper than what the HOAI "requires"

Are the offers really comparable in terms of content? And what are they for? For example, if one prepares the tender documents and another lets you choose the tradespeople "freestyle," that already makes a difference.

Is this probably a new build for you and, by type, a standard single-family house? That means all architects can refer to existing plans for modification, the energy consultant part doesn’t necessarily have to perform a detailed thermal bridge calculation, and so on.

If the billing is by the hour, are the offers really fixed prices or just estimates? Because I can easily underestimate my effort and end up needing twice as many hours – tough luck then.

Bau_Bambi schrieb:
Now we have 3 different quotes, all of which are cheaper than what the HOAI "requires" (since they are based on actual effort/hours),

We had the exact same experience. The estimated hours in the quote were significantly lower than the final amount.

In the end, there were 2 design drafts. The first one was discarded immediately, the second was refined slightly 4 times. We ended up just under the maximum fee according to the middle rate of the fee scale. But that was only because we handled many of the "thinking tasks" and coordination with authorities ourselves in parallel and did not want to pay additional hours for that. Examples: Every email and phone call was charged at €30-60, the meeting to review the plans at the architect’s office before submitting the building permit / planning permission resulted in a €600 invoice, and for forwarding the zoning plan and floor plans to the geologist to get a quote for the site investigation, we paid €200.