When planning a new home or a remodel to your current home you will probably have a lot of questions.

Most of them will revolve around money. Budgeting and saving money when you can is always important—especially in higher-cost areas like New Jersey.

How much can you expect to pay architects in northern New Jersey? How will the architect get paid? What do you get for your money? Is it even worth it to hire a residential architect? 

Those are all questions we routinely hear. 

Since we know that your budget and money is important to you, we wanted to dedicate a whole blog post to answering those questions. Here you will learn:

• How much it costs to hire residential architects in northern New Jersey
• The different ways architects structure their fees (and why our way is the best way)
• The difference between project costs and an architect's fees
• And, why an architect is 100% worth the money

How Much Does it Cost for Architectural and Design Services

in New Jersey?

Unfortunately, the answer when you ask an architect how much they will charge you is usually, “that depends.” 

We know that is a frustrating answer. 

The reason we can’t give you a definitive answer is most architects (including us) structure our fees based on a percentage of the construction cost. We will go more into the fee structure later, but the main thing to know now is that the cost to hire an architect will mostly depend on how much your house costs to build.

In northern New Jersey for a typical project, $400 to $500 per square foot for new construction is what you should expect. 

The actual cost to build your house will depend on a lot of things, like:

1 - Location

Every location and town will have different costs for the permitting or to hire a contractor or interior design services.

The cost to buy your home or land isn’t included in the cost to build your new or remodeled home, so it won’t impact your architect’s fees. But it is important for your budget to know that the cost of property in northern New Jersey is higher than the national average.

2 - The Market Value of Building Materials

Recently, the cost of building materials has skyrocketed. This is why it’s essential that you nail down your final design as early as possible and trust your team to know your brief and specify the most suitable materials for your home.

3 - The Design Decisions You Made

If you want custom or high-end items, you will end up paying more for that. We will work with you during the design process to make sure that your dreams match up with your budget. You will be the one making the final decisions and choosing the builder you feel best about, based on the final cost to build your home that the builder provides in their estimate.

4 - The Size of Your Home or Remodel

The more you build, the more it costs. You will be paying more for materials and more extensive labor.

How are Architectural Designers Typically Paid?

Architects usually charge based on their fee structure. There are 3 fee structures that most architects will use.

1. Hourly
2. Fixed-fee or lump sum
3. Percentage of construction costs

Our fee structure at Sweebe Architecture is a mixture of the percentage of the construction costs with an hourly rate. 

Why do we feel mixing the two is the best approach to architectural fees? Unlike other firms, we only want to get paid for the work and hours that we provide.

What Percentage Can You Expect an Architectural Designer to Charge?

Sweebe Architecture is a full-service firm for any project we take on. This means we provide architectural design, as well as interior design and structural engineering services.

These are services that not all architect’s provide, so our fee percentage will be a bit different than architects who only do architectural design. To get a better understanding of the average for firms like ours, you have to look at what firms with interior design departments are charging. 

Our research found that such firms in northern New Jersey, with all three disciplines contributing to a project, are charging anywhere from 15-40% of the cost of construction.

Currently, for all three disciplines—for single-family residential projects, not commercial buildings or giant skyscrapers—we charge around 6.5- 8.5% of the estimated cost of construction. 

This is a lower percentage than most in our area, because our fee structure is not strictly set on percentage of construction cost alone. 

When we know the scope of the project, we will know how much work we need to do and how many hours it will take each person in the office to provide our services. 

So the 6.5- 8.5% of the estimated cost of construction is balanced with our estimated work hours to arrive at our actual fee. Bottom line here is, we only want to be paid for what we provide. We think this approach is the most fair for the architect and the homeowner.

What Do You Get For Your Money When Hiring an

Architectural Firm?

Hiring an architect isn’t always just about building or remodeling a home. When you hire an architect you are also hiring an advocate and someone to get you through the process.

Especially when hiring a company that provides full-service architectural services, your entire construction can be as stress free as possible.

At Sweebe, we provide full-service architectural and design services all across northern New Jersey. When you hire us you get someone to help you:

• Discover exactly what you want to build
• Develop your budget to be in line with your own expectations
• Estimate costs 
• Check over the project location and any existing buildings
• Creating a plan of action that includes architectural design, interior design, and structural engineering 
• Get through all of the municipal board approvals (e.g. zoning, planning, historic preservation)
• Develop the technical design drawings 
• Go through all the different contractor bids and select the best one for the job
• Make sure your home is being built right 
  
  

Sound like a lot? That’s because it is. But with the right firm, all of this can be handled by the same team — streamlining the entire construction process.

Are There Any Benefits of Hiring a Full-Service Architectural Firm?

In terms of cost, hiring a full-service architectural firm will mean that your project is managed more effectively by just one team. This usually means that when issues arise, your team can use their individual expertise to find a solution together, while still respecting your original budget.

As well as helping to better manage costs, a full-service architectural firm offers other significant benefits. These can include:

• Better cohesion with only one team taking care of your entire project
• Only need to communicate with one project lead 
• Issues being rectified through the support of a team with a varied range of skills, experience, and understanding of each other’s roles

This all helps to minimize design changes and delays—both of which can significantly cost you.

What Costs Are Not Included in the Fee For Residential Architects?

There is a big difference between construction costs and an architect's fees. Construction costs will include all of the costs to build or remodel your home. Contractor profit and overhead, material and labor costs, as well as town fees such as the permit application fee, are all part of the construction costs. All of these are not included in the architectural design fee.

Oftentimes, projects will trigger unforeseen costs. This can include anything from historic preservation commission review, zoning applications, to civil engineering costs that fall outside of your residential architecture fee (basically all of the stuff that nobody really mentions when you say you’re building or remodeling a home!).



For example, in New Jersey and some other municipalities, stormwater retention and mitigation measures are also now part of the town’s review process. This additional cost for civil engineering services can add up to a few thousand dollars.

Consider The Bigger Picture Of Architecture Costs In New Jersey

When it comes to the cost of architects in northern New Jersey, don’t forget that the quality of the customer experience also matters. A true professional will utilize their expertise to ensure that your build runs smoothly, and that costs remain somewhat in line with what was originally agreed. 

As a  full-service architecture firm, we will be the ones balancing engineering, construction, and interior design. For everything to be taken care of in one go, by one professional team, is a service that will save you time and money in the long run.

 If you’d like to involve us in your home build or major renovation, it’s just a case of getting in touch!