Journal · Fees · 4 min read
What an architect's fee pays for, stage by stage
Eleven per cent of the build cost sounds like a lot until you see where it goes. A plain breakdown of our fee on a £150,000 extension, stage by stage.
The question we are asked most at a first meeting is not about design. It is “what does the fee actually pay for?” Here is the honest answer for a typical job: a single-storey rear extension with a build cost of £150,000 and a total fee of £16,500.
The split
- Brief, 10% (£1,650). Measured survey, a written brief, an order-of-cost estimate. About three days of work spread over three weeks.
- Concept, 20% (£3,300). Two or three options in plan and section, a card model, two meetings and an updated cost.
- Planning, 15% (£2,475). The application drawings, the design statement, the pre-application meeting and every query from the officer.
- Technical, 30% (£4,950). The drawings a builder can build from, the building warrant, the specification and the tender.
- Construction, 25% (£4,125). Running the contract, fortnightly site visits, valuations, changes, snagging and the completion certificate.
Why technical is the biggest share
It is the stage clients see least and the one that protects them most. A builder can only price what is drawn. Everything left undrawn at tender comes back as a variation on site, at a price you did not negotiate.
What is not in the fee
The council’s planning and warrant fees, the structural engineer, any specialist surveys (trees, bats, ground) and photoreal renders. We list all of them in the fee letter, with a realistic figure against each, before you sign anything.
If you want the same breakdown for your own project, the services page has the full stage table, and the first site visit is a fixed £450.
