We paid about $9000 for our architect and engineer. The house is 8900 sq ft under roof - 4000 living and the rest is garages and covered outdoor porches and lanai.

DH and I couldn't decide on a design either. Then I found a home online (where you can buy the plans) and we took this floor plan and elevation to the architect as our inspiration along with a list of other things that were important to us (room sizes, etc.) and let him go at it. Lucky for us, he is very creative and was able to add many things we never would have thought of. So we definitely got our money's worth. Our house looks nothing like the inspiration now but it was a great starting point.

Around here they can run 10 % to 16% of the home's construction cost IF you have them do the whole meal deal including on site managing during construction. igirl's $9000 is a pretty reasonable price. After my experience with an architect with our new home I'd never build without one again. Tom

There are no reliable rules of thumb because there are too many variables depending on your wishes, budget, location, knowledge of construction, your contractor's skill and how much time you are willing to commit to the project. I have designed simple farm houses houses for developers for $6,000 and a historic renovation for $80,000. I work by the hour and have never had a fee reach 10% of construction cost. Most are in the 6 to 7% range but that might be because construction costs are very high in my area.

A word about packaged internet plans. If you want a custom well-built house you will definitely increase your chances of success by hiring an architect if you find a competent one (yes, some are incompetent). However, it is rarely helpful to give the architect sample plans since he/she should be able to produce something more suitable to your needs after just a few discussions and preliminary sketches. Avoid placing red herrings and stumbling blocks in the architect's path.

It can be very helpful to show the architect photos of the interior and exterior of houses with specific notes about what is attractive to you in each photo. Then let the architect pull these ideas together. Be careful to not get in the way of that process if you want to get your money's worth.

We've been quoted prices of about 10% of the building cost for an architect. It's convinced us we can't afford one. Does the price include all the plans and consultations with builders that would come with trying to build from a "fresh" plan? How would that compare to starting with a Gardner plan and letting his architects make the modifications?
I've been warned that builders get creative when they have never worked with plans from an architect, so it's better to use plans from someone common in the area. We're building in NC and Betz and Gardner seem to have the market cornered.

We had a rough road with a couple local architects working for firms. I look back now and see some of the reasons why. Building was booming and thier was plenty of work. Our project was also small (2000 sq. ft.)in comparison to what I saw going on in the firms. We felt rushed and over-whelmed with project bids (20-30K).

Fast forward two years and many circumstances later. We had literally gave up and decided to remodel and add a small addition. We had an engineer stamp some drawings to submit for a permit. One of his staff contacted us for some clarification. This person spent 30 minutes on the phone with me and brought up things and inquired about things that garnered my attention and to some-what, my trust.

We permitted the remodel plans and while that process was going on maintained contact with the person whom we found out was a designer doing some freelance work the firm we had used. We ultimately ended up shelving the permitted plans and spent another 3 months working on a whole new home design. We have pushed our financial reality to the edge to pull off what we have to date. We will have to finish the home on our own and in stages, but am very happy with what we will have compared to otherwise. It is after all for us, not to sell in a few months.

Our designer recently moved and is pursuing other interest. I fed off his passion and proffesional ability to give clarity to things I was confused about or un-educated to. To me, as an owner builder he was a mentor (he once was a builder), I actually talked to him often, he would even check-up on me. It was in-valuable toward keeping the motivation and building process going forward (he knew that). We encumbered many things with utilities, the munincipality, counterfiet subfloor materials, pricing issues, etc., that his experience (and this board) helped immensly with.

I look back now and wish I would had taken more time in the architect selection process. I understand the importance of assistance and clarity in things that are not of my skill set. It is amazing what one can do when given intelligent and accurate directions (detail drawings). I think back to being a youngster and recieving a snap-together car model for a gift. It was usually comprised of 10-20 pieces that you could assemble after doing a couple kits, with out even looking at the directions. On the other hand, if you try to assemble a true scale model of 63' corvette complete with glue, paint, rolling wheels, engine detaling, etc. You had better have a good set of instructions or you will botch things up and possibly quite before it is ever finished. Corny analogy sorry, I was model builder.

I paid nearly 5% of total cost so far. My designer was casual with his fees and in the end I was just paying an hourly rate for his assistance. My one regret is squandering resources away I know did not feel right. Those resources could have been used to further my time with some one who did. I took that process way to light, compared to the energy I willingly put into other details.

I'm not trying to promote neither a designer or an architect, though there is a huge difference. But my opinion is that, if your investment is something other than a spec style home that has been built in a repetitive fashion by a builder, an architect is a must. So find a good one!

8-15% is fairly standard... I think our contract with the arch we used was 8-10%. But in the end when all is said and done, that is a ballpark and the actual cost is done by computing hours spent.

It's not cheap but, in the end, if it's a custom built home you're after, hiring an architect can be worth it. The collaboration between you and the arch can produce a structure that is customized to suit your needs, personal tastes and lifestyle preferences. It's good to have a lot of lead time so you can sit and contemplate their designs and consider what they suggest, and see if it is what you really want.... and/or tweak it till it feels right.

it is rarely helpful to give the architect sample plans since he/she should be able to produce something more suitable to your needs after just a few discussions and preliminary sketches

With respect, having a designer work off sample plans is exactly what I've been doing for years with good success on relatively high-end homes. An architect may be a different matter.

On my next project, though, I am considering having a well-known spec builder's architect pull off the shelf one of his standard plans, tweak it for the lot and away we go. Last I heard, he was in the vicinity of $3-$4 a sq. ft. If he's past the $3.50 mark, I'll be working with a good designer instead. I always have a structural engineer vet plans.

Keep in mind that I'm a builder and I'm not interested in endless meetings and ego massaging. Just draw me what sells!

I shopped around for an architect, and there seems to be a tremendous difference between the folks that are part of larger firms or focus on commercial work and the one-person offices that specialize in residential work.

We spent less than 1% for an architect to do a full custom design (4400ft2), including handling the engineering. He did a wonderful job, and when we went for bids I received comments from more than one GC abou the quality of the drawings.

My original plan was to modify a stock plan, but the architect convinced me that the "savings" of taking that route were more than outweighed by the benefits of getting exactly what we want - I'm really glad he did.

So, my recommendation is to look on the AIAA web site and find someone that works alone or with one other person and does almost exclusively residential work.

Locally [SW Montana], up to 18% of the finished projected price without any construction supervision. Site visits billed by the hour, with one way milage.

If I could have found one in the 5% range, I'd have hired him in a heartbeat.

I ended up drawing my own plan and taking it to a draftsman, but he was in imcompetent nincompoop with the artistic instincts of a drunken chimpanzee.

So I finally ended up drawing a plan on the computer, and finding a builder willing to work off such [admitedly inadequete] documents.

We had an architect draw up plans with modifications from an online plan, $2 a sq ft. Halfway thru he decided to switch to an hourly fee $85. We had no written contract as he was referred by mutual acqaintance. We refused to pay the hourly rate and paid 3500 sq ft X $2. We are not going to be using the plans as our input for the most part was ignored and does not work for us. We have wasted $7000 and 9 months of time we could have been building!

So, with no consensus whatsoever, it's tough to know what to make of all this... Thanks to all of you for your comments, though. I am very interested in this thread as I have a very well-thought-out floor plan that I've done on Punch software (4 years of tweaking it -- literally). And I would like to find the right professional to a) critique it as there may be something I missed; b) point out logistical concerns, e.g. where ductwork will go and things that I have no experience with; c) create the blueprints ,etc, that a builder will need and, possibly, d) supervise the build and do inspections at crucial stages. I am really hoping that will not be more than $2 a SF. I am in a smallish city in the Midwest.

It's possible that you can get a draftsman to convert your punch [that's the software I used, too] plan into construction drawings.

He should be able to add ductwork, markout electrical locations, etc. FWIW, my draftsman charged $1500.

In terms of any professional noticing things you've missed, I wouldn't count on it. I've talked to several builders who tell me that architects are all about 'feel' and 'flow' and often get the basic math wrong. These builders told me I'd need to expect a certain amount of changes, etc., no matter who draws the plan-- things will be missed, dimensions will be off, and so on. Building is a fluid process, and rarely goes according to plan, no matter whose drawn it.

Why not get some appointments with local architects and/or draftsmen to look at your plans and give you some numbers? Given the work you've already put in, I think it would be ridiculous for an architect to charge you full price. Expect to leave an expendable set to plans and exterior elevations with each one, and wait a week or two for hard numbers.

And be very clear with them about what you are expecting: whether your plan is what you actually want to live in, or whther its only a jumping off point for their own creativity. Are they allowed to only point out major flaws, or do you want to hear their opinions on aesthetics, as well?

In my case, my draftsman the chimpanzee simply had no vision at all. I presented him a carefully rendered drawings where a lot of thought had been put into how the rooms related, what the veiws from one to the next were like, the symetry and arrangement of doors and windows, etc. It took him 3 sets of revisions to get anything close to what he'd already been given, and by the time I was done with him I had come to hate my own 'dream house' so much, I ripped it up and started over with a clean sheet of paper. It was not that my plan was unrealistic or unbuildable: the only things I'd missed were things like egress codes for guest room windows, which would have required changing the garage roof pitch.