Architect Fee Proposal Template (UK)

Decide what signing does, and say so

The template opens with that choice and writes the acceptance wording to match. If signing forms the contract, the proposal must contain the scope, exclusions, assumptions, fee, payment terms, change control, copyright, liability and termination provisions — and the accompanying appointment is unnecessary. If signing is a commitment in principle, the proposal says so plainly and names the appointment that will follow, carrying the same scope and fee.

The template it replaces does neither. It asks the client to accept "the terms and conditions outlined in the above proposal" while containing no terms and conditions at all, and prints two separate signature blocks for the same acceptance. This version has one acceptance block, with the signatory's name, position and date, and it states which of the two things that signature is doing.

Scope, exclusions and assumptions

Fee disputes on small UK projects are almost never about the rate. They are about whether something was inside the fee. The cure is not a longer scope list but a short, blunt exclusions list — measured survey, structural and services engineering, principal designer role, party wall matters, planning appeals, building control fees, interior fit-out, CGI beyond a stated number — and a stated set of assumptions the price depends on.

Assumptions do a specific job: they turn a hidden risk into a visible, priced one. One planning submission allowed for; no listed building or conservation area designation; an existing measured survey available; ground conditions as reported. If an assumption turns out to be wrong, the proposal already says what happens rather than leaving it to a conversation after the work is done.

Deliverables per stage matter for the same reason. Concept design means one thing to an architect and something else to a homeowner. Naming the outputs — a site appraisal, two concept options, one developed option, a drawing set at a stated scale, a stated number of visualisations — converts a stage heading into a promise.

Fee, VAT 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 insists on the VAT position being stated rather than implied. Quoting a figure to a homeowner without saying whether VAT is included is one of the fastest ways to lose the client's trust at the first invoice.

Payment terms are set out in full: stage payments or a schedule of dates, payment days, and an interest rate for late payment — with a note that where the client is a business, statutory interest and compensation on late commercial payments may also be available, so the contractual rate is not the only remedy.

The construction budget is kept firmly apart 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, based on today's market, and it 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. Saying this up front is far easier than saying it after the tenders arrive.

Validity, consumers and the ideas you are giving away

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. On longer engagements it can add an annual rate review so an increase later is not a surprise.

Where the client is a consumer — a homeowner, typically — and the proposal is agreed away from the practice's premises or at a distance, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 bring pre-contract information duties and a 14-day cancellation right. The practical trap is starting work during that period: the practice needs the consumer's express request to begin, and should explain that if they then cancel they may have to pay for the services already provided. The template can print that notice.

Finally, the concepts. A fee proposal often carries a sketch, a massing idea or a planning strategy, and under UK copyright law the author owns those from the moment they are recorded. The template says 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 share any concept arises unless the practice is appointed and paid. Without that clause a pitch can quietly become free design work for whoever the client hires 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 work stage

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

Exclusions

Surveys, engineering, principal designer role, party wall matters, appeals, statutory fees, fit-out — the most valuable list in the document.

Assumptions

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

Programme

Indicative durations per stage, dependent on the client's decisions and statutory timescales rather than promised as fixed dates.

Fee, VAT and payment

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

Construction cost estimate

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.

Validity and acceptance

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

UK checklist before you send it

Commercial document, but these points have regulatory or legal consequences.

• Make sure written terms are in place before work starts

  The ARB Architects Code expects clear, understandable written terms of engagement, provided before work commences, covering scope, responsibilities, fees, dispute resolution, liability and insurance. If a signed proposal is your contract, it has to carry those terms.

  ARB - Architects Code: standards of conduct and practice

• Use the title architect accurately

  Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997 restricts practising or carrying on business under a name, style or title containing the word architect to those registered under the Act. A proposal is marketing as well as a contract, so the wording matters.

  ARB - the Architects Act 1997

• State the VAT position explicitly

  Say whether fees are quoted exclusive or inclusive of VAT and at what rate, and treat disbursements and statutory fees separately. Ambiguity here is the most common first-invoice dispute with homeowners.

• Give consumers the pre-contract information and cancellation notice

  For a consumer contract concluded away from business premises or at a distance, the Regulations require prescribed pre-contract information and give a 14-day cancellation right. If the consumer wants work to begin during that period, get their express request and explain they may have to pay for services already provided if they cancel.

  Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

• 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 copyright in the proposal

  Under UK copyright law 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.

• Be clear whether the principal designer role is included

  Duties for the design phase of construction work are a separate statutory appointment. Put it in the exclusions unless you are genuinely taking the role, and price it separately if you are.

  HSE - Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

• Never restrict the client's right to complain to the ARB

  No term of a proposal or appointment should prevent or discourage a client from raising a complaint with the regulator.

How to build this fee proposal

1. Restate the brief. Summarise the project, the site and what you understand the client wants, so any misunderstanding surfaces now.
2. Set services, exclusions and assumptions. List the work stages and deliverables, then the exclusions and the assumptions the fee depends on.
3. Price it and state the VAT position. Choose a lump sum, time charge with a cap, or percentage of construction cost, then set the payment schedule, payment days, interest rate and VAT 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 contract or leads to an appointment, switch on the consumer notice if needed, then download and send.

Frequently asked questions

Related templates

• Adviser Agreement Template (United Kingdom)
• Architect Appointment Agreement Template (UK)