Design fees, project costs and timing.
Your project budget includes design, engineering and other consultants, permit fees, and construction. Here is who you pay for each, what shapes our fee, and how long each stage usually takes.
What makes up your project budget
- 01 · Set before work starts
Our fee
Our fee covers the services listed in your proposal, with a payment schedule tied to the work. This usually begins with a retainer, followed by payments as phases are completed. If the scope changes, we explain the additional work and fee before proceeding.
- 02 · When the design calls for them
Engineers and consultants
Structural, MEP or civil engineering. When engineering is included in your proposal, we hire and coordinate the engineers and their cost is part of the fee shown there — you don’t pay them separately. Land surveyors, geotechnical engineers, zoning attorneys, permit expediters and special-inspection agencies are hired and paid by the owner directly.
- 03 · At filing and approval
Permit fees
Set and collected by the City or township. In Philadelphia a nonrefundable filing fee is paid with the application and counts toward the permit fee; the balance is due once the permit is approved.
- 04 · As the work is built
Construction
Construction is usually the largest part of the project budget and is paid directly to your contractor. A pricing set allows contractors to estimate the work before the permit drawings are complete, while there is still an opportunity to adjust the design.
The fee is one part of the cost.
A lower architectural fee can look like a saving at the start. If important questions are left unresolved, that saving can be eaten up by redesign, delays, or changes during construction.
We put time into understanding the building, testing the design, and coordinating the drawings because those decisions matter long after the architectural fee is paid.
When you compare proposals, look at how the design will be developed, what you’ll be able to review, and how thoroughly the work will be documented — not just the number at the bottom.
When you compare proposals, ask:
How will the existing building or site be documented?
We laser-scan and model the spaces involved in the work; on an empty lot, we start with a site visit. A property survey, when one is needed, is by a land surveyor you hire.
How will I see and review the design?
You see floor plans and 3D views, comment and approve in your project portal, and work through changes with us in live Virtual Drafting Sessions.
What revisions and design meetings are included?
Your proposal sets the number of revision rounds — usually two. Virtual Drafting Sessions are included in the design fee.
Which engineering services and coordination are included?
Your proposal names the engineers we coordinate — structural, MEP or civil, as the work needs — and any consultants you hire directly.
Who reviews the drawings before they are issued?
On most projects, a second architect reviews the drawings before they are issued.
What support is included during permitting and construction?
We answer the reviewer’s comments, usually within a few business days. Construction-phase services are included when your proposal lists them.
What shapes our fee
- The size of the building and how much of it changes
- Whether there is a concept stage, and how many options
- Which engineers we coordinate — structural, MEP, civil
- Zoning drawings, when the design needs zoning relief
- A pricing set, or construction-phase services, when added
What we need for a proposal
- Where
- The address, so we can look up the zoning and the property records
- What
- What you want to change or build, in your own words — photos help
- What exists
- Any old drawings, surveys or permits, if you have them
- When
- When you’d like to start, and any date that drives it (a lease, a closing)
- Budget
- A construction budget, if you have one — it shapes what we recommend
What your proposal sets out
- Scope
- The phases of work, from survey to permit set, and what each one produces
- Fee
- The fee for that scope, and when each payment is due
- Timeline
- A dated timeline for our part, and where the City or township sets the pace
- Who does what
- The engineers we coordinate, the consultants you hire, and who files the permit
Typical timing
Our part — a renovation or addition
- Proposal and kickoffSet up within about one business day of signing
- Building surveyAbout 45 minutes for most houses; longer for larger buildings
- Existing-conditions modelUsually within about a week of the survey
- Concept designUsually about 3 weeks from the survey
- Permit drawingsUsually about 3 weeks after concept approval (often 4 for new buildings)
Set by others
- Permit reviewL&I’s published review targets are 15 business days for one- and two-family work and 20 for other projects — targets for each review, not the total time to a permit. Townships set their own. Each round of comments adds time; we usually answer ours within a few business days. The City’s permit page
- Zoning relief, when neededIn Philadelphia it is often about four to five months from filing to the hearing, in our experience. How zoning relief works
- EngineeringRuns alongside our drawings. When engineering is in our proposal, its time is already in the timeline.
Next step
Ask for a proposal
Send us the property details and what you’d like to do. We’ll discuss the scope with you and prepare a proposal outlining our services, fee and schedule.
Get a ballpark design fee A preliminary architectural fee range by email, for houses and buildings of up to four homes. The design fee only, not the cost of construction.