How much should I pay for an architect?

Architects to not have a standard fee schedule for their services. Architects fees are greatly dependent on the nature of the development and the complexity of the design. However, you should budget between 7% and 15% of the total construction cost.

As a guide for a house that costs $300k to build you are more likely to pay the architect about 12% which comes to $36k.

For a house that costs $1.5 million to build, the architect may charge around 7% of the total construction cost. The fee comes to approximately $105K.

How you pay your fees depends on the arrangement that you have with your architect. The more popular fee payment structure is that a percentage of the total fee is paid at each stage of the design process and the final amount is paid at the conclusion of the project.

The architect's service fee also varies with the experience and the popularity of the architect. For example, an in-demand architect is more likely to charge a higher fee than standard.