Architects Adu fees

[Alex U.]

How does one figure out what is a fair fee to pay architects? I am seeing ADU architects all charging about the same amount, but not really designing anything new. ADUs designs are fairly basic. An Designer/Architect has a dozen or so designs in their catalog. They ask you to pick the one you want. They take that plot in on a site map and charge roughly $12-16k per ADU. They run it through permitting etc. If you are doing multiple, they may charge around $7k/per adu for the same design.

Sure there is work involved, however, let's assume you pay the designer, $150/hour( at $16k, you would be at 106 hours). Plotting a design on a sitemap, and spending 4-8 hours with the client, for feedback, should be closer to $6k for an ADU.

Would like to hear what other folks are seeing?

[Bob Ritner]

@Bruce Woodruff:  I would have probably charged at least 10k, but that is a rough guess. My practice was commercial and institutional architecture and I specifically avoided residential because the those clients typically had no clue how much it actually cost to produce a solid set of plans that gave contractors enough information to give solid bids.