There are a few ways in which we charge for our services, and it will depend on the project, what is required of us, and your preference. We can charge based on the time we spend, or we can give you a fixed fee based on a projected contract sum, or we can base our fees on a percentage of the contract sum. In reality, we often employ at least two of these methods, let me explain.
For most of our work, it is clear what is expected of us and the scope of work is clearly defined. In a case like that, we can give a fixed fee based on a percentage of the projected contract sum, and this fee will not change (up or down) – this is important. Alternatively, we might give a fixed-fee quote for part of the works, such as a feasibility study to help define the brief, and then a percentage-based or hourly fee for the rest of the work.
In a case where the scope is not defined, or there is lack of clarity in terms of what will be expected of us, we tend to base our fees on an hourly rate, more often than not capped at a projected contract sum. This fee is not fixed, and if the contract sum falls significantly below what was projected, then our fees will reduce for the remaining stages in accordance with that reduction. Bear in mind, ‘significant’ would be 20% or more, and not a few pounds.
Whichever way we charge, we are always open to discussing the fee structure and amounts before work starts and throughout, and will always want you to walk away feeling that you have had value for money.