Architects should charge more for small projects, ACA survey initial findings show
Preliminary findings from our fee survey reveal that architects continue to under-charge for their services, especially on projects with a total build cost of less than £250,000.
Analysis based on the number of hours taken to resource projects aims to fill the gap left by the RIBA fee scales, which until 1982 controlled prices for architectural services. The RIBA indicative ‘fee graph’ was abolished two years ago.
According to the data collected architects aiming for an ‘average charge out rate’ of £60 per hour must bill at least 13 per cent on projects worth less than £250,000. On schemes below £100,000 that rises to 27 per cent.
Alfred Munkenbeck, author of the report and ACA Council member said: ‘On projects below £250,000 it’s almost impossible to make your money back or to make a decent wage.’ He added: ‘The RIBA should not have abandoned fee scales. Fee scales should be based on work needed, not marketplace rumours. There needs to be a connection between what we charge and what we take home.’
The preliminary study is based on 115 projects. If you would like to contribute with your project data– such as a description, the cost, and time taken on the scheme. We hope to release a revised fee graph once data from 1,000 projects is received. Survey