Frequently Asked Questions.
If you don’t know now you know…

Design fees are included in the overall project budget and considered a “soft” cost. They are typically estimated as a percentage based on the construction budget – somewhere between 9-17% including standard engineering. The range of percentage is due to the varying complexity of project types and their scales.

As design professionals, we are trading time and expertise for money. It’s as straight forward as that.

For more information on architectural fees, download the RAIC Guide to Determining Appropriate Fees for the Services of an Architect.

No easy questions from you, eh? Every project is unique. At this stage of the project everyone is raring to go and dive in without really understanding how we should proceed. Let’s spend the time together and sort through your particular needs and requirements. Through that process we can create a proper construction budget, assemble the best team, determine the appropriate design fees, and set up a production schedule that is achievable without frustration.

JC ROBBINS ARCHITECTURE has a number of consultants to work with who all have unique strengths to bring to certain projects. Once we define your requirements through an Options Review we will find the best team for you!

In the meantime, check out the About page for a list of consultants we’ve used so far.

I’m excited to start, too! Set up a call through my Calendly page and we can get started!

The greatest value of advocate architecture services are communicating your requirements to the consulting architect and contractor more clearly — and vice versa. This enhanced communication means you will avoid costly changes or suprises that often occur during later stages of design or into construction.

The more detail we can give the consultant architect at the beginning of the project, the better their technical proposals will be, giving you a smoother construction process and better architecture.

As an advocate architect, I am able to spend the necessary time understanding your specific requirements. Developing a clear design brief, and knowing which kind of project delivery method can be a difficult and risky procedure. When you go out straight to an architect without a complete design brief, you risk budget and schedule overruns, and surprises when you don’t want them.

Yes. All architects serve to protect the Public Interest, but with different roles.

Depending on the size of your project, you will already have a Design Architect and possibly a Project Architect. Some firms will even set up a third architect to oversee construction — even if they were not involved in the design and development process.

We’re all striving for the same goal – to give you an amazing space. But, sometimes when difficult decisions need to be made, we are influenced by our particular interests. The Design Architect team is protective of their design. The Project Architect is worried about construction details & schedule. And if the contract is between a benevolent developer and the architect you have even less influence on the process.

The Advocate Architect is your voice to make sure your building is exactly what you need — especially when funding changes.

We will all do better work when the design brief is more clear and better resolved.

When clients use an advocate architect we are able to focus our efforts and avoid changes that affect your bottom line and the client’s. The greatest value an advocate architect brings to a project is clear communication. We all strive to be better communicators but it’s hard to find the time when we’re all working on multiple projects.

It works out better for everyone.

Why, yes there are. I’m glad you asked.

Another important benefit to clients and architects is in the case of feasibility studies. There is often an exclusion for architects who participate in a feasibility study, so they can’t participate in the RFP for the design project. This can create a problem because a firm that wants to be awarded the design won’t develop the feasibility creating an imbalance.

By using an advocate architect to develop the feasibility, or concept design, the best design team can propose on the project creating a better process for everyone.