ᐅ Architect's Fee for a Single-Family Home

Thanks for your feedback! One clarification: there is no dispute or conflict; I was just curious if this is standard. The amount (which I calculated myself) surprised me somewhat given the short design period. But from your comments, I don’t sense any surprise.

hanghaus2023 schrieb:

How great is the house if it only costs 460k?

“Great” means: not large and expensive, but perfectly matched to the plot, which is not easy to build on. The floor plan is also precisely adapted to our needs.

hanghaus2023 schrieb:

You are free to negotiate a flat fee. The architect did tell you his ideas, didn’t he?

At first, he actually did not present any ideas but provided a free initial draft (which I didn’t mention earlier – sorry). I calculated the 18k based on HOAI myself; the draft was basically on paper just a few days later. Other than that, we are satisfied and wouldn’t want to build anything else.

Jentopa schrieb:

I vaguely recall that a written contract isn’t necessarily required when you approach an architect and say "just do it."

That’s almost certainly true. However, we didn’t exactly say “just do it”; the initiative also came from the architect.

If you are satisfied, then everything is fine. You could still try to negotiate a flat fee. The HOAI will give you an idea of what a fair price is.

I would be very interested in the initial draft, since you mentioned it was quite challenging to plan.

Suppenkelle schrieb:

Thank you for your feedback! Just to clarify: there is no dispute or conflict. I was simply curious whether this is common, as the amount (which I calculated myself) surprised me considering the short design time. However, from your posts, I gather that this is not unusual.

Service phases 1 to 4 are more or less what the creatives provide. For this, you receive a dimensioned design and cross-section, drainage planning, a submitted building permit / planning permission application, and all related documentation including a rough cost estimate.
From that point on, it feels like 75% of the work and fees are missing until the final service phase.

Jentopa schrieb:

I vaguely remember that a written contract is not necessarily required when you go to an architect and ask them to "just do it."

That’s true. However, we still put the collaboration in writing “for peace of mind,” including, among other things, specifying the fee category we were working within.

Suppenkelle schrieb:

That’s almost certainly correct. However, we didn’t exactly say “just do it”—the initiative also came from the architect.

Regardless, you did not object to the work, so you implicitly agreed to or commissioned it.

Araknis schrieb:

It doesn’t matter, you didn’t object to the work and thereby implicitly agreed to or commissioned it.

Where did you get that from?

I suspect the architect said, "I'll show you a first draft and then we’ll see." That is an offer, not a contract.

If the original poster does not accept the offer, then there is no payment due.

However, in that case, the original poster is not allowed to use the draft.

hanghaus2023 schrieb:

Where did you get that from?

For example, ARGE Construction Law.

Agreement on essential terms
When concluding an architect’s contract, the general rules on contract formation according to §§ 145 et seq. of the Building Code apply. There must be an agreement on the essential components of the contract. While the essential terms (essentialia negotii) in most types of contracts consist of performance and consideration, contract law for work and services has the particularity that a contract is formed by agreement on the service alone. Thus, if there is an engagement for architectural services but no (valid) fee agreement, the essential terms are still present. This “gap” is then filled according to § 7 paragraph 5 of the HOAI (2013) by the mandatory pricing rules of the HOAI and the irrebuttable presumption that the respective minimum rates have been agreed.
This must be distinguished from cases where the assignment itself is unclear or disputed—whether it involves merely unpaid preliminary work by the architect or an agreed, fee-based architectural service. In such cases, the pricing regulations of the HOAI, which always assume a concluded contract, offer no assistance.

Freedom of form
An architect’s contract is generally not subject to a specific form. However, mandatory pricing rules of the HOAI require certain contractual agreements within an architect’s contract to be made in writing. In particular, a fee agreement must, according to § 7 paragraph 1 HOAI (2013), be in writing to be effective when the contract is awarded under the minimum and maximum rates. The architect’s contract itself does not require written form and can therefore be concluded in writing, verbally, or implicitly. Exceptions may apply in specific cases, for example if the future parties have agreed that the architect’s contract can only be validly concluded in writing. According to the interpretive rule in § 154 paragraph 2 of the Building Code, in case of doubt, the architect’s contract is not concluded until the written formality has been completed. Formal requirements may also arise, for instance, in contracts with public authorities, where relevant procedural regulations (e.g., the respective municipal code) must be observed.

In practice
If a signed architect’s contract is available, questions about contract formation usually do not arise. In verbal agreements, practical challenges often involve evidentiary problems if the other party denies the verbal commission. The process (toward a claim for fees) can be complex if there is neither a written nor verbal agreement, and it becomes necessary to demonstrate and prove an implicit contract based on circumstantial evidence. Based on extensive case law, appropriate cases can be identified that support an argument and demonstrate, according to which specific indications in the individual case, the parties exhibited an intention legally to be bound to conclude an architect’s contract.
Such an indication of an intention to conclude a fee-based architect’s contract may, for example, be the request to the architect to perform and modify architectural services (Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf, judgment of June 21, 2011 – 21 U 129/10). Further examples include the provision and acceptance of architectural services from an advanced project phase (Federal Court of Justice, judgment of October 11, 2007 – VII ZR 143/06), payment of interim invoices for architectural services rendered (Federal Court of Justice, judgment of May 6, 1985 – VII ZR 320/84), or the utilization of the architect’s work, such as submitting plans to the permitting authority (Regional Court of Appeal, judgment of December 28, 2010 – 21 U 97/09), etc. The emphasis is always on the fact that the respective circumstance may be an indication of contract formation in the specific case, but not necessarily so.