Question: How do Architects charge for a project?
Answer From Prof. Christopher Charles Benninger :
The architecture firm is not just about the designers, it involves a lot of people. So when taking up a project even I was discussing it with one of the directors that 1% must be paid to the consultants. Apart from that the office space and the air conditioning, all must be paid for by us. So it consumes 2% of the benefit from the project. Apart from that, you should benefit from the project. That’s how you buy the software for your project. There are many people who are charging L1 fees which is literally 1% in government projects. To my knowledge, this cannot happen. This will reflect in the quality of the work and it also affects our work. This results in bad architecture and society.
I feel young architects are going to come out now and people are going to exploit them, like work for half a percent or work for free and as such. When we charge a standard of 5% for our work which is legible, this 1% L1 fees make people think we are charging more for it. Even in our community when other architects charge less than 5% it brings down the overall market value for us. So a standard charge of 5% must be a fixed one for all of us to benefit from it.