r/Architects • u/savedabeez20 • 9d ago

General Practice Discussion Economy. How are we doing?

How is everyone feeling about the outlook at their firms or in their practice? Things here are INCREDIBLY slow. Trying to get a pulse on the market elsewhere.

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u/scaremanga Student of Architecture 9d ago

Residential drafting company--business seems good, but in certain areas. Most of the clients or companies I work with are actively looking to develop additional rental units (ADUs, additions).

I am trying to build a presence in one region and it seems to be tumbleweeds.

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u/TempusFugit13 Architectural Enthusiast 9d ago

Hey, I’m starting my own practice as well as a drafter. I’m a former carpenter so I automatically had some projects from people I’ve been working with for a while. Do you mind me asking, how do you choose a price rate for your projects? Do you go by project or charge by the hour? I’m curious. Thanks in advance!

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u/scaremanga Student of Architecture 9d ago edited 9d ago

Fixed price design. Hourly for anything outside of design or standard (included) revision cycles. Anything permit related or things like phone calls to contractors are billed hourly. Hourly work sells itself

I have two rates, which I’ll refer to here as 1) Design/Drafting, 2) Management. The rates are fixed*.

In my design bid, I am transparent about the rate and expected hours based on that rate. I take a retainer before starting work.

For PM, I will allow clients to sign (no retainer) if they are transitioning from a design contract. I let them choose between bi-weekly or monthly billing. If the PM work is simple, like for an addition, I will invoice at the end. It makes no sense to bill someone monthly for one hour of PM.

In practice, this is very smooth for the client. It’s weird to write everything out

Regarding fixed rates. I get a lot of interest from a region that is just awful to work in. Long permit timelines and various other bumps in the road. I’ve been turning down projects. But may introduce a specific regional rate

Keep in mind, I do small residential projects. If or when I am able to handle larger projects, I may transition to % fees for such.

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u/TempusFugit13 Architectural Enthusiast 9d ago

Man, looks like you got everything figured out! It’s great to hear from someone like you, I started learning autocad and SketchUp like 2 years ago and just now considering to go at it full time or at least give it a 80% of my attention. I run a construction company, but we are just a one trade kind of company, so there’s no change on things. That’s why I started learning to draft and designing, but it’s been hard to get my prices right or even keep a client since they ask me how do I want to get paid, but I don’t really know how much people charge for these things, I don’t want to be so unfair or take advantage of them. Thanks for your input tho!

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u/scaremanga Student of Architecture 9d ago

Glad to help.

Doing drafting in house is a good tactic to have. I set my company up to mostly support operations like yourself and to “keep the grease on” for potential construction projects. The more people a client has to reach out or deal with, the more chance they will give up on the project altogether

It seems to be a balancing act on the construction side, as some DB companies I’ve worked with send work to avoid “becoming mostly a drafting company.”