ᐅ Is it possible to determine the deductible costs with a rough estimate?

Created on: 28 Mar 2017 14:06
M
mertmk3
Hello everyone,

Now that the land is almost definitely secured and we have had initial talks with architects, one of them appeals to us quite well. Only one question remains unclear: How high will the fee be? According to the architect, he will provide a detailed fee breakdown before each work package. However, this doesn’t help me because I need to know the approximate costs BEFORE commissioning in order to properly calculate the overall project budget. After using the HOAI calculators, I arrived at a fee of 61,000€ for a total sum of roughly 400,000€ despite the minimum rate! If that is really the case, I will quickly reconsider the idea of building with an architect. I assume that the 400,000€ total cost does not include all billable items and that I am probably making a mistake in calculating the fee. The question is: How can I estimate an architect’s fee based only on an approximate total amount without a detailed breakdown of the individual construction costs, so I can include it in my overall budget?

Can I ask the architect for a fee offer in advance, specifying what the fee would be based on the corresponding total amount?

Thanks for your advice!

Best regards
Martin
M
matte
28 Mar 2017 20:15
We agreed on a fixed fee with our architect: 28k for project phases 1-9. Total costs including the fee are approximately 440k.
M
mertmk3
28 Mar 2017 20:23
Then I will try something like that as well. It seems to be quite common.
T
toxicmolotof
28 Mar 2017 23:14
With eligible costs of 230,000 and about 25,000 allocated for the architect, the estimate of 10% is quite realistic. However, this does not include specialist planners for structural engineering, electrical systems, heating, or thermal performance analysis. For smaller construction projects, the ratio is logically somewhat less favorable.
M
mertmk3
29 Mar 2017 07:31
Thank you for your responses. This confirms my suspicion that the calculated €61,000 (about $66,000) estimate was somewhat too high. However, I will still go ahead and ask the architect if he can provide an upfront estimate of his fees. I simply need this for the overall cost planning. A difference of €20,000 to €30,000 (about $22,000 to $33,000) is quite significant, and you can’t really build in that much buffer in every cost category.

I still don’t have a clear sense of what the eligible costs are within a total budget of €400,000 (about $440,000), given that there is no detailed planning yet.
M
matte
29 Mar 2017 07:50
I would address him directly to ask if there is a possibility to agree on a fixed fee.

After all, you also have a rough idea of the direction the project should or could take.
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mertmk3
29 Mar 2017 08:08
I will try it this way. Thanks!