Questions to Ask an Architect Before Hiring
Twenty questions for homeowners and small developers interviewing architects. They cover licensing and who does the drawing, what each fee actually includes, budget realism, permits and consultants, construction support, and what happens when tenders come back high.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Are you licensed to stamp drawings in this jurisdiction, and who would seal my drawings?
Why ask it
Firms sometimes market work led by unlicensed designers with a licensed principal signing at the end. Ask for the name of the architect of record and check the registration on the state or provincial board register.
Have you built anything like this before, and where can I see it?
Why ask it
An address you can visit, or a finished project you can walk through, is worth more than any portfolio. Renderings show intent; a completed building shows what actually got built and how the details held up.
Who would actually be doing the work on my project?
Why ask it
The principal who wins the job is often not the person drawing it. Ask who your day-to-day contact would be, how experienced they are, and whether the principal reviews the drawings before they are issued.
How do you charge, and what does that percentage or figure apply to?
Why ask it
Percentage of construction cost, hourly, fixed fee and cost per square foot all behave differently as scope changes. A percentage fee rises when the build gets more expensive, which is worth understanding before you agree to it.
Which phases are included in that fee, and which are extra?
Why ask it
Concept, design development, permit drawings, tender, contract administration and site visits are separate services and quotes frequently stop at the permit set. The gap between drawings and construction support is where budgets get blown.
What is your fee for site visits during construction, and how often would you come?
Why ask it
Weekly presence on site is a different service from answering emails. Ask how many visits are in the fee, what a report looks like, and what happens when the contractor asks a question that needs a drawing.
How many revisions are covered before I start paying more?
Why ask it
Vague answers here are the most common source of unexpected invoices. You want either a stated number of design options or an hourly rate that begins at a defined point.
What can I realistically build for my budget in this area?
Why ask it
Ask early and be specific about your number. An architect who is unwilling to say your budget is short is not doing you a favour; the honest ones will name a cost per square foot or per square metre for local construction.
What happens if the tender prices come back over budget?
Why ask it
You want a described process: value engineering, redrawing at reduced scope, phasing, or re-tendering. Find out who pays for the redesign, because that clause matters far more than the initial fee.
How long will each stage take, and what is the current planning or permit timeline here?
Why ask it
Permit and planning delays commonly exceed design time and are outside anyone's control. An architect who works locally will quote real recent figures rather than a legal minimum.
Who applies for planning permission and permits, and is the fee included?
Why ask it
Application drawings, forms, statutory consultations and responding to objections are real work, and some firms treat all of it as an extra. Get it named in the proposal.
What consultants will I need to hire, and roughly what will they cost?
Why ask it
Structural engineer, surveyor, energy assessor, geotechnical, arborist, mechanical designer. Consultant fees are separate from architectural fees and can add substantially, so a firm that lists them upfront is being straight with you.
How do you handle it when a design fails a code or planning requirement?
Why ask it
You are asking who bears the cost of a redesign caused by a compliance miss. A clear answer about their own responsibility for code-compliant drawings is a good sign; deflection towards the authorities is not.
Have you worked with the contractor I am considering, or can you recommend two?
Why ask it
Existing working relationships shorten arguments and speed up decisions on site. Be alert if the architect will only work with a single contractor and cannot explain why.
How do you prefer to work through changes I ask for during construction?
Why ask it
Site changes cost money in three places: drawings, materials and programme. A described change order process, with the architect pricing the drawing time, avoids the argument happening after the invoice.
What do you want to know about how we actually live in the house?
Why ask it
This is the question that separates architects. Someone who asks about where the shoes go, how you cook, who does the laundry and which room you use in the evening will design something you can inhabit.
What would you push back on if I asked for something you thought was a mistake?
Why ask it
You want an architect who will disagree with you. If the answer is that the client is always right, you are hiring a draughtsperson and will get the consequences of your own untested ideas.
What did you learn from a project that went badly?
Why ask it
Ask plainly. Every practice has one, and how they describe their part in it predicts how they will behave when yours has a problem.
What will you hand over at the end, and in what format?
Why ask it
Ask for as-built drawings, specifications, warranties and files you can use in future. Some firms hand over only PDFs and retain the editable drawings, which makes any later work harder and more expensive.
Can I speak to a client from a project that is two or three years old?
Why ask it
Recent clients are still pleased; older ones know how the roof performed and whether the final invoice matched the estimate. Willingness to give you that number tells you most of what you need.
Choosing an architect
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Prepare before you meet anyone
Write your brief as problems, not solutions
Describe what does not work now, the dark kitchen, nowhere to put coats, no room for a growing family, rather than specifying an extension of a given size. Architects earn their fee by solving the problem in a way you had not thought of, and a brief written as a solution removes that possibility.
Know your total budget, not just the construction budget
Set aside professional fees, consultants, permits, surveys, furniture and a contingency of at least ten to fifteen per cent of the build cost. Telling architects the construction figure only is how projects end up unaffordable at tender.
Interview three practices
Comparing three proposals is the only way to see what one firm has quietly excluded. Ask them all the same fee and scope questions so the answers line up.
Look at buildings, not images
Visit at least one finished project, ideally one that has been lived in for a few years. Photographs are taken on the best day of a building's life.
Reading the proposals
- 1Line up the phases each firm has included and rewrite them onto a single sheet before you compare prices.
- 2Check what happens after the permit drawings, since that is where quotes most often stop.
- 3Convert percentage fees into a figure using your actual budget, then compare with the fixed quotes.
- 4Note who signs the drawings and who does the drawing, and whether that person is named in the agreement.
- 5Confirm professional indemnity insurance and the level of cover.
- 6Look for a stated hourly rate for additional work. Its absence is not generosity, it is an unquantified risk.
Warning signs
- A design shown to you before anyone has asked how you live or looked at the site.
- No willingness to say whether your budget is realistic for the local construction market.
- A fee proposal that does not list phases, or lists them without prices.
- Reluctance to name the person who will do the work day to day.
- Only one contractor they will work with, and no explanation why.
- No client you can speak to whose project finished more than a year ago.
Getting the agreement right
Use a written agreement that names the scope by phase, the fee for each, the hourly rate for extra work, the number of design options included, the site visit count, the ownership of drawings and the process for terminating. Standard forms published by national architectural institutes exist for exactly this purpose and are safer than a letter of engagement drafted from scratch. Agree at the outset who is responsible for the redesign cost if tenders exceed the budget, because that is the single clause most likely to be tested on your project.