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Architect Fee Proposal Builder
Turn a construction budget into a fee, a stage payment schedule and a proposal you can send.
Why this exists. Every fee calculator online stops at a number, while the most common search is for a fee proposal template. Nothing produces the document.
Everything here is calculated in your browser. Your numbers are never sent anywhere, stored or seen by us.
- Design fee at 8.00%
- $40,000
| Phase | Share of fee | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Schematic design | 15% | $6,000 |
| Design development | 20% | $8,000 |
| Construction documents | 40% | $16,000 |
| Bidding and negotiation | 5% | $2,000 |
| Construction administration | 20% | $8,000 |
US percentages here are observed market ranges. There is no recommended or endorsed fee schedule in the United States: the AIA stopped publishing one under antitrust consent decrees in 1972 and 1990.
How this is calculated
- The fee base excludes the price of land in all three regions.
- India: percentages are the Council of Architecture Scale of Charges, which is a statutory minimum under the Architects (Professional Conduct) Regulations 1989, not a guideline. The fee base changes by stage, from rough estimate to preliminary estimate to accepted tender cost to actual cost on completion.
- UAE: the milestone split shown is the common market convention. The Dubai standard consultancy contract prescribes three design milestones but leaves the percentages blank for negotiation.
- US: the phase split shown is a widely used convention, not a published standard. Adjust it to your own contract.
- Taxes are shown on the fee only. Confirm your own registration and rate before invoicing.
Sources
- Council of Architecture, Scale of Charges and Conditions of Engagement
- US v. American Institute of Architects, consent judgment 1972
This is a planning estimate, not professional advice. Read the full disclaimer.
The fee is the easy part. Getting the enquiry was the hard part.
If you are quoting less work than you would like, the problem is usually further up the funnel. A free growth audit maps where enquiries reach you and where they die.
Talk to the founderThe thinking behind it
Where this number comes from.
What architects actually charge: fee benchmarks for the US, UAE and India
Observed fee ranges in three markets, what the percentage is calculated on, and why the answer is structurally different in each.
IndiaThe Council of Architecture Scale of Charges, explained properly
India's architect fee scale is a statutory minimum, not a guideline. Here is what it says, how the stages release, and the notation that trips everyone up.