Architect's fee for cost estimation and floor plans

Good day everyone,

in order to create the cost estimate + preliminary draft needed for the financing, our architect prepared a contract with an estimated 25 hours.

Three items were mentioned to us here:

Architect €81
Technical staff €57
Averaged €69
Office assistance €20

Costs for copies €0.25 - €2.50
Kilometers €0.38
Photo + fax each €0.50
Postage with direct proof

Today we received the invoice with 35 hours instead of the 25 hours + incidental costs €93.45 and a flat fee for the invoice of €10. Total gross €3,020.76

According to the architect, performance phases 1+2 and parts of 3 were necessary for the preparation. However, his invoice does not mention any performance phases but only preparation of the preliminary draft and multiple revisions. The multiple revisions, by the way, were due to his own "thinking errors."

Now I have the following questions regarding this.

Can the architect actually only bill as much as stated in the HOAI, in our case €25,827 gross, or can he charge us more through "incidental costs" or other levers?

Are the 35 hours really appropriate for a cost estimate which, according to his statement, may deviate up to 30% from the actual construction costs? As mentioned, changes arose more or less due to incorrect assumptions made by him and were documented in writing. Furthermore, he estimated 25 hours in advance.

Is it common that the architect does not specify the performance phases exactly in the invoices, and would we suffer disadvantages from this in case of doubt, such as double billing of performance phases 1+2, etc.?

You have an architect who charges according to HOAI. That means he is allowed to go up to the maximum cost limit including ancillary costs of the respective service phases. Be glad that he didn’t charge you more. But if it starts like this, you can expect additional costs.

How do you come up with €25k? Which phases is the architect supposed to accompany? A single-family house with an estimated €300k falls into fee zone III and the medium rate. Thus, the service phases 1-8 cost €46k gross.

Thank you for your contribution. Our BV is estimated to cost around 325 including garage and 30 sqm terrace. According to his calculation based on HOAI 2013, the architect receives 25,827 €. I can only explain the difference as him applying fee zone 1 here and showing the minimum rate.

For the cost estimate, as already mentioned, we commissioned phases 1+2 and additionally, from his point of view, parts of the third phase were also necessary. However, none of the services are mentioned in the invoice, which creates a certain uncertainty regarding future collaboration.

Well, you would need to know the eligible costs net (!) to be able to recalculate this. Fee zone 3 would be correct, however, I would assume the minimum rate. But that may vary regionally. Which LP should be included in the ~25K€ – that of course also makes a difference.

I would always negotiate a fixed price!

I would always negotiate a fixed price!

Even though you often read that (here), it must be clear that the HOAI is binding. Fee agreements below the minimum rate are invalid. But where no plaintiff ...