Guide to Design & Construction Fees

Whether this is your first time diving into a design and construction project or you’ve been through this before, depending on who you decide to work with and what services they provide, architectural and construction fees and costs can range widely. This guide is intended to help give you baseline reference for determining conceptual construction costs, understanding what other design or engineering consultants may be required for your project, and how we approach our fees as it relates to all of this.

There are many factors that can impact bottom line design & engineering service fees, and more broadly, total project costs. It is important to understand and consider all of these factors when planning and budgeting for your project.

At MAC Design, we bring budget, constructions costs, and feasibility into the conversation from the get-go so that we can have a honest and transparent conversation about the direction of the project and aim to develop a design that will meet your goals for the project and fit within your budgetary constraints.

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How Different Markets Impact Costs

Depending on where you live, rates for design and construction services can vary. A cost market is basically the environment of prices for labor, materials, and services at a given time and place and is always changing. In general, areas in and around larger city/metro areas tend to be in a higher cost market than more rural areas. However, rural areas often face greater challenges like labor availability and material delivery. Aside from the impact to hard costs (time, materials, etc.), cost markets can have an impact on soft costs (interest rates, fees, etc.). Soft costs have an impact on everything whether you’re a person looking to buy a piece of land to build on, get a loan to renovate or add on to your home, or whether you’re running a construction company or design business - everything!

Bottom line, these factors can impact the rates at which certain services are charged.

Base Architectural Services

$8-$12 / square foot

Project size & complexity, project type (single/two/multi-family/commercial), level of detail/scope of services are all factors that can impact where your project may fall on the scale of architectural fees. Use this cost/sf range as a starting point to better understand the range of fee your project likely falls in.

Additional Architectural Services

Services provided that go beyond the Base scope of Architectural services are called Additional Services. Depending on the scope of work and the requirements for your project, some Additional services may be required to be included in the work.

Additional Services can include, but are not limited to:

  • Documenting existing conditions: $1-$2 / sf

  • Attending hearings or meetings for project approvals with the town: Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Historic Commission, etc.: Hourly fee

  • Providing additional project documentation for final project approval and sign off on the Certificate of Occupancy (CO): construction control checklists, conservation approval reports, as-built drawing documentation, etc.: Hourly fee

  • Producing or coordinating Mechanical, Electrical, or Plumbing (MEP) documentation: $1 - $2 / sf

  • Interior detailed design and documentation: product selections, casework/millwork detailing, material selections, etc.: $1 - $3 / sf (depending on scope of services)

  • Structural framing design and documentation: $3 / sf

  • Exterior landscape or hardscape design and documentation: $3 / sf

  • 3D Rendering services: pricing details can be made available upon request

Design and Documentation Services from Other Licensed Design or Engineering Professionals

Beyond the Base and Additional Architectural Services, other design services may be requested or required for your project. Other design services can include, but are not limited to:

  • Structural Engineering Services: $3 - $4 / sf

  • Landscape Designer/Architect Services: $2 - $3 / sf

  • Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineering Services: $2 - $4 / sf

  • Land Surveying Services: $2 - $3 / sf

  • Civil Engineering / Septic Design Services: $2 - $3 / sf

Fees as shown are meant to express potential additional costs that the owner may incur and should account for during design. Design consultants services and fees are to be agreed upon with the consultant directly and may vary from fees as listed above.

Estimating Conceptual Construction Costs

Architect’s have the ability to control construction costs to the degree in which they influence the design of the project - overall size, construction details, product or material selections, etc… Bottom line costs of construction are ultimately determined by builders or contractors and are influenced by the design (scope and complexity), complexity of the site (influences logistics of construction), as well as other factors like permitting fees, material and labor costs, or other general contractor’s fees.

Depending on the type and scope of your project, average construction costs can range anywhere from $150/sf - $450/sf+. In some instances, these costs can be more or less than this range.

Scope / Type of Work

Cosmetic / Finish Upgrades

Moderate Renovation

$50-$100/sf+