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Architect fee for copy buildings

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 10:51 am
by DBrennfoerder
ASCAP protects musicians from loss for repeated plays of their music. What can I do to collect a fair fee for a repeated construction of a project?

I have a potential client who wants a small 16 unit apartment building. The room arrangement is provided, so I don't even have to deal with plan configuration, other than assuring code compliance. I do need to design how the roof will cover 8 replications of the provided plan. So, one unit is 8 apartments per floor with 2 identical floors. A closet on the lower level is an access stair on the upper level. All units have individual ground level entrances. It seems like a nice plan.

Whatever the final plan is that I produce, they want to build 6 copies of the plan. To be fair to him, I can understand a reduced fee for plans that need essentially no work, on the other hand, to be fair to me, I'm the architect on 6x the expense of the project and it seems like I should have some additional financial advantage for providing the plans for 5 additional buildings.

Aside from all that, there is a site plan that I must develop and plans for a community building / change house / restrooms for a building near the pool.

I'd appreciate any input on fee structure. This is fly-over country where 5% is typical, 6% rare, 7% unseen. I haven't done copy-cat apartments before, so I'm looking for ideas. He's expecting to spend $7M on the project. The project has an extremely short fuse, so there is reasonable potential to upcharge for quick service.

Re: Architect fee for copy buildings

PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 1:06 pm
by Robert Scott
Hi Dwight,

Not an architect but I would base my fee on the value of the design with a slight discount for repeat work or discount for prompt payment. The client is not paying for "drawings"...he is paying for your years of experience.

Put plenty in the budget for nice renderings too :)

Best of luck!

Bob