ᐅ HOAI or Why Architects Might Lack Interest...

… building affordably.

I have been following this forum for a while. I am surprised that architects in Germany apparently have managed to keep their privileges. What do I mean by that?
Architects’ fees are calculated based on the "fee-eligible" construction costs. So, an architect primarily has an interest in building expensively, doesn’t he?
Years or decades ago, this system was also common in Switzerland. During periods of significant construction cost increases, the payment system for architects was revised. Today, no one in Switzerland pays an architect based on construction costs. Never.
I am not questioning the (justified) income of architects. It just seems outdated and questionable to define fees based on "construction costs" or "contract values": An architect should be compensated for their effort. If a wall costs twice as much, the architect definitely does not have twice the workload!
The legal situation in Germany is apparently clear. Even if billing is done retrospectively according to HOAI (the official fee structure for architects and engineers), the courts support this (viewing it differently than as "circumvention").

Or am I wrong? Am I on the wrong track?

I'm not familiar with HOAI, so this is more of a question: #Liability

I know about this from the notary field... you sometimes wonder why two exactly the same notarizations are billed differently. Does this make sense or not? The argument is that a notary is liable, for example, for wording errors and therefore carries the risk for the amount.

How is it with architects? They are also liable for what they design, right?

Yes, you are basically right—billing is based on the allowable costs according to HOAI.

However, nothing prevents you from agreeing on a fixed fee in advance.

matte1987 schrieb:
Yes, basically you’re right, billing is done based on eligible costs according to HOAI.

But nothing prevents you from agreeing on a fixed fee in advance.

I am not so sure about that: As far as I know, an architect can still charge afterward according to HOAI—even if a fixed fee was agreed upon. Whether they actually do it is a different question… (no plaintiff, no judge).

So: our architect charges according to HOAI, BUT he uses a lower construction cost and told me that he has to bill based on this amount, otherwise it would not be profitable for him. Our house is estimated to be ready to move in at 560,000 euros, but billing is done based on 300,000 euros.

The value can also be adjusted upwards or downwards depending on various other factors, such as the level of difficulty.