Architect - Preliminary Meeting Costs

Initial meeting to get to know each other with a view to acquisition for the architect should usually be free of charge.

Architects earn their living with professional building planning, not with speed dating for prospective builders. Should the Salvation Army soup kitchen and the Caritas clothing room take care of the architect, or how should free initial consultations work economically? - There is no fund for this; with the architect, you are always a private patient. Or should, for example, the KfW issue consulting vouchers?
Anyone who wants to tinder for Mr. Right beforehand can visit their website. Time for individual audiences free of charge does not work. I am also happy to advise on how to choose architects. Castings, where academics beg for the favor of the client king, remain the domain of private television ;-).

Usually, there's no project-specific advice but rather general chit-chat.

And that is exactly a waste of time that no one should impose on another (and really not even on themselves).

For everything that means work, money is then charged if you’re not careful (and are used to the “free” drafts of the general contractors) – however, a good architect should also point this out.

What does most of the work in planning also saves the most money during execution: service phase 5. The HOAI already points to the basic remuneration claim for qualified work – regardless of whether you also agree to apply its fee table(s).

For a first consultation, on the other hand – what speaks against asking an architect what exactly it costs and demanding a written offer from them accordingly?

For that, one should definitely pick up the phone. By the way, good architects hardly have time to write offers for just anyone. It helps to present yourself with information on whose recommendation you are coming from. This can be that of a client, a builder, a colleague, or also a building consultant. The important thing is that the professional recognizes that this is not some wannabe stealing their time for fun because they enjoy castings.

We received a form with the price per hour during the initial consultation beforehand. There we signed what the hour of consultation costs, and during the conversation, by glancing at the clock, we had the final amount under control ourselves. Easy.

Architects earn their living through professional building planning, not through speed dating with prospective builders. Should the Salvation Army soup kitchen and the Caritas clothing bank take care of the architect, or how are free initial consultations supposed to work economically? - There are no funds for that; when dealing with an architect, you are always a private patient. Or should, for example, the KfW issue consulting vouchers?
Anyone who wants to find Mr. Right beforehand can visit his website. Time for free individual audiences does not work.

As soon as money is involved, corresponding acquisition activities are not unusual at all.
The demolition contractor also inspects the demolition object beforehand and makes a corresponding offer – entirely without compensation for this activity.
The management consultant writes partly elaborate proposals, on which several men/women spend several weeks to win a contract. Nothing unusual about it, but the holy architect is supposed to be paid for his magnificent appearance itself? If I offer someone a fee in the six-figure range, I would expect at least 30 minutes invested beforehand – to see whether you are even roughly on the same wavelength.

I am also happy to advise on how to select architects.

But hopefully without a free initial meeting beforehand.

Good architects hardly ever have time, by the way, [...] It is helpful to envision this based on whose recommendation you come.

I can fully confirm this, at least speaking for our region.

As soon as money is involved, corresponding acquisition is nothing unusual.

As soon as time is involved, a professional carefully selects their clients. For example, I want to earn my fee as a wage and recognition for my competence, not as pain and suffering compensation for an annoying client. Other professionals I recommend know and appreciate this – accordingly, clients recommended by me are also welcomed more gladly than anyone and everyone who spams cold acquisitions by email.

The demolition contractor also inspects the demolition site beforehand and makes a corresponding offer – entirely without remuneration for this activity.

In construction and construction preparation, demolition and civil engineering contractors ultimately earn their money best from "sad knights of the excellent figure," who in their self-perception are savvy bargain hunters and remain silent about the tuition fees for their crash landings afterwards. Offers, the format of which the bidder themselves determine, are "no gain" for the clients.

The management consultant sometimes writes elaborate proposals on which several men/women work for several weeks to get a contract. Nothing unusual so far,

I also look back on over thirty years of experience in the field of classic management consulting. In doing so, I have never applied for mandates. I know this other type of colleague as well, in no small number. But also a third type: namely those who write applications for really big money specifically for the purpose of providing completely clueless preliminary decision-makers with some to reject. These other two types work precisely for the companies that I leave to their Darwinian fate: namely those that are sick at "management level II."

but the holy architect is supposed to be paid for his magnificent appearance in itself? If I offer someone a six-figure fee in prospect, I would expect them to invest 30 minutes beforehand – to see if you are even remotely on the same wavelength.

An architect commissioned according to my schedule has long since shown how well they fit together before the fees climb. Nothing can be achieved in 30 minutes of getting to know each other; that is a waste of time for both sides. More useful are one and a half to two hours, for two to three hundred euros. These are not infrequently credited against the fee of module A (service phases 1 and 2). That is sufficient as a protective fee against time thieves, and not much money for an increase in knowledge acquired in the process.

But hopefully without a first free introductory meeting beforehand.

If 23,000 forum posts of free introductory meetings are not enough, I add one such initial meeting on top. That is another 30 to 45 minutes (during which my beloved regularly "scolds" me for not watching the clock enough). But those willing to build are regularly laypeople and can hardly explain their project with a ticking meter at their neck. Elevator pitches are shamefully little practiced and accordingly poorly mastered in German offices, although many interested parties are active in career networks and attend their meetings.