Professional design fees and why you pay these rates

“I would rather pay for a pallet of pavers than pay for apiece of paper with landscape or house plans. I feel totally ripped off, but I need them for my building permit”.

I have heard this enough times in my career as a consultant and builder. This is not unusual. People’s natural interpretation or deduction is that there is nothing to show for it but they could not be further from the truth. What is lacking is information and experience.

The reason why there are 250,000 architects and 175,000 landscape architects in this country is not to make money. If that is your modus operandae then you’re better off to be a lawyer and bill out at a 10 minute rate. No, designers are in the business because they love the work and they truly believe they are providing a service that directly improves the quality of life for communities, families and individuals even to the sacrifice of monetary gain. And most importantly today, many are interested in participating in the clean up of our country.

Designers do not typically bank a steady income. Income is generated sporadically or in stages that often depend on construction seasons, schedules and markets. Fees are determined by regional commerce trends (market oriented) and not set by any institute or government agency. Typically the investment on education does not correspond to the salaries in these professions. They are far below what any other professional earns unless you are based in a large metropolis. This is at least what I have observed while working in the various six capitals/cities of the western world these past thirty years.

Let’s get down to particulars for the analytical crowd. You are not paying for the final sheet of plain drafting that lies before you. You are paying for the following laundry list that was necessary to generate that sheet of paper. You need to understand that there is a lot more to it than sitting at a drafting table or CAD work station and cranking out six hours of line drawing.

The cost is derived by the even breakdown of all these tasks and additional fees you do not see directly on your invoice:

• Travel time to and from the project site
• Meetings with the clients
• Walking the site and taking inventory (recording all the natural resource data and human impacts eg. Soil types, geology, erosion issues, pollution, environmental .impacts, orientation, aspects, shading, hazards, circulation types, parking issues, site context and what is happening along the property boundaries, relationships or factors that influence change on the site or building, and on and on)
• Collecting all the base information the client was not able to gather or in many cases is just not available (base maps, surveys, elevations, utility locations, etc)
• Revisiting the site to discuss new details or observe construction (… just drop by and see if things are being done right? What do you think?) , or supervise the subs/trades in the field.
• Photo inventory
• Site inventory and gather or seek out base information from other agencies at the County or State agencies.
• Review local codes in that construction area
• Hire specific consultants necessary for this particular task on the project
• Pay your annual license installment. Do you have any idea what that is. For one license in one State or Province is $1000 annually. Many professionals have multiple licenses.
• Pay your annual insurance installment
• Pay your annual software and hardware installment
• Pay your monthly rent and utilities fee
• Pay for your required professional continuing education fees (x credits per year)
• Pay your employees
• Pay your health & benefits
• Pay your employee salaries and benefits
• Pay for your transportation and vehicle maintenance.
• Pay into company profit deductions
• Phone calls and emails with the client. Have any idea how much time you spend talking or emailing with your consultant? That is costing a lot of time and production of a different kind.
• And more…

It is not the fee derived from one person alone. It is not the take home earnings by any means. Many are confused by that.

I know you wish you did not have to pay for it. Somehow there is more satisfaction for some people to be able to visualize their expense(s). Think of it as a loaf of bread only it is nutrition for your brain and not your stomach… and a gain in the following:

The intangibles_ difficult to measure such as quality of life, health benefits, peace of mind, sense of place, sense of belonging, the home feeling, the my personal office feeling, the
feeling that this is very comfortable but I cannot describe why it is so, the sensation that everything in this newly designed environment flows well into each other, the unification, the spirit and emotion these new spaces produce. Put a dollar value on that for me please!

What is it worth to you?

• Increase in productivity
• Increase in relaxation
• Increase in a healthy state of mind
• Increase in property values and resale
• Increase in spending time efficiently
• Better or improved natural environment
• Better programming
• Efficient use of your immediate resources (natural and others)
• Less waste, less pollution, less toxicity (lower VOCs), less maintenance = right attitude
• Education source for others
• A little pride and ego build up
• Energy and spatially efficient
• And it is more comfortable

If you still disagree you need to talk to us some more because this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you gain something from this.

Markthor MacFarlane
Landscape Architect and F.Architect
Arch-Eco Design

Cascadia Design Build
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