What should be optional in a architecture proposal?

In this template: Technical design ($4,800.00 USD), Tender and contract ($1,800.00 USD), Site visits during construction ($550.00 USD per visit). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.

How much to charge for architecture

Updated September 19, 2026. Example prices in US dollars from the architecture proposal template.

Short answer: Price architecture as one fixed line (concept and planning at $6,200.00 USD) with a starting total of $11,000.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (technical design, tender and contract, site visits during construction) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.

A worked example for architects: the pricing lines from our architecture proposal, what is fixed, what the client can switch on, and how to present it so the total gets accepted rather than negotiated.

The example pricing

Line	Example price	How it is sold
Concept and planningSurvey, two concepts, the planning application	$6,200.00 USD	Included
Technical designConstruction drawings and building regulations submission	$4,800.00 USD	Optional, on by default
Tender and contractThree builders priced and a contract set up	$1,800.00 USD	Optional, off by default
Site visits during constructionFortnightly visits over a typical five-month build	$550.00 USD per visit	Optional, off by defaultClient picks 0 to 12

Starting total with the defaults on: $11,000.00 USD, before the client chooses among 3 optional lines, with 1 quantity the client sets within your limits. Example prices in US dollars; the template works in 16 currencies and every number is yours to change.

How to present it

Design is bought on trust, so the proposal has to show the work before it talks about money. Put the directions or a comparable project up front, then the price. A client who has already pictured the result argues less about the number.

Price the outcome, not the hours. "Three directions, one refined mark, every file" is a thing a client can want; "twelve hours" is a thing they can haggle over. Keep revisions explicit: two rounds included, a third by the round, priced.

Put the extras on the page as optional lines rather than in a follow-up email. Brand colours, business cards, an extra direction: when they sit next to the base price with a switch, a fair share of clients turn one on.

Questions people ask

How much should I charge for architecture?: Price architecture as one fixed line (concept and planning at $6,200.00 USD) with a starting total of $11,000.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (technical design, tender and contract, site visits during construction) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.
What should be optional in a architecture proposal?: In this template: Technical design ($4,800.00 USD), Tender and contract ($1,800.00 USD), Site visits during construction ($550.00 USD per visit). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.
How do I present architecture pricing so it gets accepted?: Design is bought on trust, so the proposal has to show the work before it talks about money. Put the directions or a comparable project up front, then the price. A client who has already pictured the result argues less about the number.

Why this structure gets accepted

One fixed line the client can say yes to. Concept and planning is priced as a whole, so the conversation is about the result, not the hours.
Options on the page, not in follow-up emails. Technical design, Tender and contract, Site visits during construction sit next to the base price with a switch. People choose what they can see.
The total moves as they choose. On a Quote and Sign page the client toggles lines and sets quantities, watches the total update, and signs with their name. What they chose becomes part of the signed record.

Put it in front of a client

Open this pricing as a real proposal, change the words and numbers, and send the link. Your client reads it on their phone, adjusts the options, and accepts with one tap. Both of you get the signed PDF.

Try it in the editor, no account See the architecture proposal template