Architect Quote - Sound Right?

Just received the below quote for architect services. Is this reasonable? It’ll be a good amount of work including a partial to full gut of one floor (which will involve moving a kitchen and a bathroom around, taking down non-supporting walls and entirely replacing a staircase) and new bathrooms on 2 other floors plus adding laundry areas and a deck off the back of the house with stairs into the yard. There will be misc other work as well. I don’t have construction bids yet as I want to have the floorplans agreed on first. House: Fully attached; basement, first floor apt is 17*50 and second/third floor duplex apt is 17*40 on each floor. Estimate: $6500 for: preparation of a submission (drawings/documentation) to the DoB; preparation of a lighting plan; construction set of drawings will consist of architectural plans and all pertinent interior elevations and details; expediting; construction phase. They’ll perform all special/progress inspections as per DOB requirements. This also includes a one time consultation with a structural necessary. Changes after approval, site observations during construction phase in addition to the DOB special/progress inspections will be charged on an hourly basis @ 120/hr (principal) and $75 (assistants). This doesn’t include filing fees or the asbestos investigation report. The hourly part is what worries me. Thanks

sharon121

in Construction 13 years and 4 months ago

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eric3872 | 13 years and 4 months ago

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That is dirt cheap for a full floor gut renovation.  I am an architect and I would seriously question any professional who can claim to do all of that work for $6,500…  Make sure you have the full scope of work in writing and in your contract.

ladyarchitect | 13 years and 4 months ago

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This is certainly reasonable and the hourly is fine. As a heads up… you will end up paying some hourly costs. There are always things that come up that we need to charge for that are not in the base contract. It’s the nature of the job. There are so many unknowns at the start, unknowns that a contract cannot cover. Believe or not, it’s a fair amount of work to get your project done.

masterbuilder | 13 years and 4 months ago

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That is a reasonable price.  One thing to be aware of, the plumbing plans and Schedule B need to be revised and resubmitted almost 100% of the time.  This is often due to homeowner changes but just as often to architect/engineer error.  You should discuss this with your architect.  It is common for them to include one refiling in a flat fee.  It’s best if they get the plumbing right the first time. I also find engineers or architects inferring that the builder will pay for special inspections, which I always exclude.  So make sure everything called out on the TR documents (which name the special inspections and who is handling them) gets covered.

agdipierro

in Construction 13 years and 4 months ago

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This is a good price from a licensed architect.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 4 months ago

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The $6,500 sounds reasonable.  What are you guessing the entire construction bill will be? Try and negotiate something a bit more firm or less open ended with them on the “hourlies”

bullfrog | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Sounds very reasonable and maybe even a bit low.

dillettanteinbedstuy | 13 years and 4 months ago

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if you go with them, please promise to follow up and let us know in retrospect if you would have paid more. or in other words sounds cheap to me.

bostudio | 13 years and 4 months ago

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There is always a chance that something happens and there will be changes.  You could ask to negotiate a fixed fee when and if additional services come up, instead of having the architect work on an hourly rate.

sharon121 | 13 years and 4 months ago

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I’m just starting off so I haven’t obtained other proposals. However, I do like this architect and I want to begin working on this house asap (I have a firm completion date that needs to be met) which is why I’m leaning towards using him. I just want to make sure the structure of this estimate is “correct” and nothing is being left out. The $6500 seems reasonable to me. I’m just concerned that something will happened after the plans are approved to change the work and then I’m getting billed by the hour. As for that hourly rate, I don’t know if $120 is overpriced.

bostudio | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Did you obtain more than one proposal to compare?  This is the best way to find out if the proposal is reasonable.  Regarding additional services / hourly rates: you can request that your written approval will be required prior to any additional services being performed. Ula Bochinska, www.bostudio.us