Architecture Proposal Template (Australia)

Say what signing does

The template opens with that choice and writes the acceptance wording to match. If signing forms the agreement, the proposal must carry the scope, exclusions, assumptions, fee, payment terms, change control, copyright, liability and termination provisions. If signing is acceptance in principle, the proposal says so and names the client and architect agreement that will follow, carrying the same scope and fee across.

It also fixes the signature problem: one acceptance block with the signatory's name, position and date. Two blocks for one acceptance invites the wrong person to sign the wrong one, and creates an argument about who was authorised.

Scope, exclusions and assumptions

Fee disputes on small Australian projects are rarely about the rate. They are about whether something sat inside the fee. The cure is a blunt exclusions list — survey, structural and services engineering, certification, bushfire or flood assessment, BASIX or energy reports, heritage and planning consultants, development application appeals, authority fees, interior fit-out, renders beyond a stated number — and a stated set of assumptions the price depends on.

Assumptions turn hidden risk into visible, priced risk: one development application allowed for; no heritage listing or overlay; an existing survey available; ground conditions as reported; no strata or body corporate approval required. If one turns out to be wrong, the proposal already says the affected work becomes an additional service at a stated rate.

Deliverables per stage matter for the same reason. Concept design means one thing to an architect and another to a homeowner. Naming the outputs — a site analysis, two concept options, one developed option, a drawing set at a stated scale, a stated number of visualisations — turns a stage heading into a promise, which is also what a fair standard form should do.

Fee, GST and the construction budget

The template supports a lump sum, a time charge against a not-to-exceed figure, or a percentage of construction cost, and it requires the GST position to be stated. Quoting a bare figure to a homeowner and adding GST at the first invoice is the fastest way to damage a new relationship, and it is the kind of surprise the consumer-law regime frowns on.

Payment terms are set out in full: stage payments or dates, payment days, and an interest rate for overdue amounts — kept at a level that reflects the practice's actual cost of being paid late rather than acting as a penalty, because a disproportionate interest term in a standard form contract is a candidate for being unfair.

The construction budget stays firmly separate from the fee. The practice's fee is what it is quoting; the estimated cost of building the project is an opinion about somebody else's price in today's market and is not underwritten. If tenders come in high, the remedy is a joint review of brief, scope and specification, with redesign for that purpose charged as an additional service.

Validity, consumer guarantees and the ideas in the proposal

A proposal with no expiry date is an open offer priced against costs that move. The template sets a validity date and states what happens after it: the proposal may be revised or withdrawn, including the fee and the construction estimate. Longer engagements can add an annual rate review so a later increase is not a surprise.

Where the client is a consumer, the services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded — including that they be supplied with due care and skill, be fit for any disclosed purpose and be supplied within a reasonable time. This template says so expressly rather than attempting a blanket exclusion, which would be both ineffective and a poor look under the unfair terms regime.

Finally, the concepts. A fee proposal often carries a sketch, a massing study or a planning strategy, and under the Copyright Act 1968 the author owns those from the moment they are recorded. The template states that the proposal and everything in it remains the practice's copyright, that the client may use it to evaluate the appointment, and that no licence to build from or pass on any concept arises unless the practice is appointed and paid. Without that clause a pitch quietly becomes free design work for whoever the client engages instead.

Section-by-section guide

Cover and understanding of the brief

Restates the project as the practice understands it so a misunderstanding surfaces before it is priced.

Services by stage

What the practice does at each stage, with named deliverables and the number of options and revisions included.

Exclusions

Survey, engineering, certification, specialist reports, appeals, authority fees and fit-out — the most valuable list in the document.

Assumptions

The facts the fee depends on, with a stated consequence and rate if one turns out to be wrong.

Programme

Indicative durations per stage, dependent on client decisions and authority timeframes rather than promised as fixed dates.

Fee, GST and payment

Lump sum, time charge with a cap or percentage of construction cost, with the GST position, payment schedule, payment days and a proportionate interest rate.

Estimated construction cost

Kept separate from the fee and expressed as a professional opinion, with an agreed route if tenders exceed the budget.

Changes and additional services

How a change is proposed, priced in writing and approved before any chargeable work is done.

Copyright in the proposal

Concepts, sketches and pricing remain the practice's property, with no licence until appointment and payment.

Consumer guarantees and fairness

Preserves the guarantees that cannot be excluded, and records that the terms were open to negotiation.

Validity and acceptance

How long the offer stands, and one acceptance block stating whether signing forms the agreement or leads to a separate one.

Australian checklist before you send it

A commercial document, but several of these points carry penalties or regulatory consequences.

• Treat a reused proposal as a standard form contract

  Since November 2023 it has been unlawful to include, apply or rely on an unfair term in a standard form contract with a consumer or a small business, with penalties up to $50 million for corporations and $2.5 million for individuals. Small business means 100 or fewer employees or annual turnover under $10 million.

  ACCC - a guide to unfair contract terms for businesses

• Preserve the consumer guarantees

  Services supplied to a consumer come with guarantees that cannot be excluded, including that they be supplied with due care and skill and be fit for any disclosed purpose. Say expressly that nothing in the proposal excludes, restricts or modifies them.

  ACCC - consumer guarantees

• Use the title architect accurately

  In each state and territory, using the title architect or offering services to the public as an architect requires registration with the relevant board, and misuse is an offence. A proposal is marketing as well as a contract, so the wording matters.

  Architects Registration Board of Victoria - the registration acts

• State the GST position

  Say whether fees are quoted inclusive or exclusive of GST, and treat disbursements and authority fees separately, issuing tax invoices where required. Ambiguity is the most common first-invoice dispute with homeowners.

• Do not present an estimate as a price

  A construction cost estimate is a professional opinion informed by experience, not a tender. Say so, keep it separate from the fee, and set out what happens if tenders exceed the budget.

• Keep interest and cancellation terms proportionate

  Disproportionate interest, one-sided cancellation rights or unilateral variation powers in a standard form contract are the shape of terms the unfair terms regime targets. Keep them mutual and no wider than necessary to protect a legitimate interest.

• Keep copyright in the proposal

  Under the Copyright Act 1968 the author owns the drawings and sketches in a pitch. Say the proposal remains the practice's copyright and that no licence to build from or share the concepts arises unless the practice is appointed and paid.

• Check state residential building rules

  Residential building work in several states carries its own contract-content, insurance and dispute requirements, and design and certification roles differ by jurisdiction. Confirm the position where the project is located before sending a proposal for a home.

How to build this fee proposal

1. Restate the brief. Summarise the project, the site and what you understand the client wants, so a misunderstanding surfaces now.
2. Set services, exclusions and assumptions. List the stages and deliverables, then the exclusions and the assumptions the fee depends on.
3. Price it and state GST. Choose a lump sum, time charge with a cap or percentage of construction cost, then set the payment schedule, payment days, interest rate and GST treatment.
4. Separate the construction budget. Give the estimated construction cost as an estimate, and say what happens if tenders exceed it.
5. Choose what signing does, then send. Set the validity date, decide whether acceptance forms the agreement or leads to a separate one, then download the DOCX or PDF and send it.

Frequently asked questions

Related templates

• Adviser Agreement Template (Australia)
• Client and Architect Agreement Template (Australia)