I’ve hired an architect to help design the addition of a second bathroom on the second floor of my home; updating the electrical so it is up to code and installation of a new deck. The total budget is around $30,000.
I recently received an invoice for about 13% of the total cost of the project for the permit and that seems extremely high. I’ve seen others with a total project estimate of $50,000, paying about $2,500 for their permit.
The contract also states that any revisions per city officials are subject to additional cost as well as reimbursement for travel.
I feel like I’m being taken advantage of but want to know what some professionals think.
Our townships usually charge (for a residentional home) is $20.00 per thousand for a $30,000 job would be around $600.00 plus a few other fees but should not exceed $1,000.00
Our area we pay $10.00 per $1000.00 of total cost plus $25.00 fee. To charge the customer 13% for city offcial revisions before the work starts, that is not right nor legal, review your contract with your lawyer and contact your building official to varify such claim. Then terminate the contract.
I think you may have some of your figures confused.
I have seen projects where an architect will charge a percentage of the hard cost of construction as his fee. If that is the case, then 13% would not be out of the ordinary. All of this really depends on what type of contract you signed with the architect. For him to charge for additional costs is also pretty normal. It really doesn’t matter what he is charging you as long as you both agreed to it when you signed the contract. For example, one architect might charge $2500 whereas another could charge $25000 for the same exact thing. You usually get what you pay for.
You can look up the actual cost of your permit with the city of Chicago on this link: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bldgs/dataset/building_permits.html
If he is misrepresenting the cost of the permit, then that is an entirely different issue.
