citygirl

Ha ha, that's exactly what confounded me in the first place, reading how some on this forum have rebuilt their house for so little. I spoke to my architect further to my initial post and he said that he based his S$1m estimate on a rough cost of S$350psf (my built-up in the new design is over 3000 sq ft). Looks like it's quite a reasonable estimate after all.

I spoke to an architect recently and he told me that it is the norm for an architect to quote a fee based on percentage of construction cost, and depending on the complexity of the work, is usually 6-12%. When I asked about flat fees, he said it can be calculated by man hours, but the architect will likely factor in a little more.

Wow, S$1.8m and still increasing! Would you be able to share the breakdown - architect's fees (based on fixed cost or percentage of construction cost), structural engineer's fees, quantity surveyor's fees and I assume the rest would be construction cost?

Wow pantieileen, I admire your energy and drive! My husband and I are of the lazy sort and the most we have done is to drive around the estate, looking at houses that were being built and taking down the builders' contact numbers. And then not call them! I have seen this architect's portfolio (on paper and the actual home) and I have spoken to his previous customers and they all raved about him. But then again, these people are rich so I believe money was the least of their concerns. What they cared about was the quality of work and the design. And of course, they had a much larger canvas for the architect to draw on! Pantieileen, if your project cost is 350K, would you mind sharing what was the cost of the architect, PE and QS? At this moment, I am still undecided and am waiting for more quotes to come in. Think I should go pray about it and ask God for wisdom! :-)

Thanks all for sharing such useful information!

Hi wildfaye29, I have just started on my project and think I'll have about a year to 1.5 years before I can move in. I started out by talking to an architect but as you can see from this thread, I might have made the wrong move by going to a well-known, award-winning one. From what I have deduced, because a "famous" architect is helming the project, I've been getting slightly higher quotes for everything. Eg. S$15K for PE (as opposed to petunialee's S$12K) and S$9K for QS (Petunialee's S$8K). I believe when contractors are invited to quote, they are likely to quote on a higher side as well, perhaps because they know my architect will demand a high standard from them. Of course, that is not to say that other architects will not demand high standards. :-) Having said that, I spoke to another friend who is in the building industry and he mentioned that such costs (architect, PE etc.) for inter-terraces may be higher than semi-detached or detached homes because of the complexities involved and the difficulties working within a tight plot. Similarly, an A&A (like mine) is more complicated than a recon and likely to involve more work/calculations etc. hence the higher fees. I am not inclined to supervise builders and contractors so I firmly believe in hiring a good architect who can take care of all that, even if it means paying a premium. Petunialee's S$70K for architect is high, compared to others, but if you see from her blog, a good architect makes all the difference. I think I have a good one as well, though a tad too pricey; let's see if I can get him to quote me a flat rate. I really like the design he has given me, for it's not a cookie cutter-type house. For my size, he even managed to get six good-sized bedrooms in it, plus spacious living, dining, dry and wet kitchens. You're lucky you can build to 3/3.5 storeys. My terrace is in a zone where the max is 2.5 storeys. Anyway, good luck, and let's share more information as we move along! Citygirl

Hi yoongf, thanks for your suggestion. Yes, after reading all the forum pages, I'm considering a reconstruction as well. I was just thinking that if my kids were to inherit the house 30 years from now, they'd probably have to redo the house and will then be building on a foundation that's 60 years! If I can do it now, I'll leave a slightly newer house for my kids! :-) So definitely considering a recon!

Thanks petunialee for your detailed reply. You make a lot of very good points and I shall get more quotes from other architects. Would you be willing to share the contact of your architect, QS and SE? You can pm me the details, thanks!

Hi Petunialee, thanks for your response. Did your architect from heaven first give you a quote based on percentage of construction cost from which you negotiated a flat fee, or did he offer a flat fee first? If the former, can you share what his percentage was? I'm hoping to have some basis for comparison so that when I negotiate for a flat fee as well, I'd have a ballpark figure in mind. Thanks!

Hi moneymonkey, Thanks for your view. I guess I'm harbouring hope that he was just being on the safe side when estimating S$1m. As he quoted me a percentage of total construction cost, it still boils down to how much the construction costs so if we go for truly modest materials, we may not get to S$1m. He did encourage us to do a recon, but the estimate for that was S$1.2m. I had spoken to another award-winning architect two years back and the estimate was about the same. Perhaps I should stop looking at award-winning architects!

I have recently purchased a 30+ year inter-terrace house in Serangoon Gardens. It is 2 storeys, 2500 square feet land, about 2900 square feet built-up. I consulted with an architect (famous, award-winning) and he kindly drew up two rough designs for me, one for a reconstruction and another for an A&A. We liked the A&A design better and would like to proceed with it. The works to be carried out is pretty extensive - adding an attic to make the structure 2.5 storeys high, maximising the land usage by extending the existing house front and back, refurbishing the entire house... literally everything except the foundation. His advice is that we need to appoint an Architect, a Structural Engineer and a Quantity Surveyor. The quotes I received so far are: Architect's Fees: 10.75% of total construction cost, covering everything from concept drawings, hardscaping, fixed interior design, supervising contractor etc. Structural Engineer Fees: S$15,000 Quantity Surveyor: S$9,000 The architect said that we should budget about a million for the entire project, using modest materials, though that is only a rough estimate as it is the quantity surveyor who will do up the costing. Do the fees and the architect's estimate look reasonable? As I read the entries of other forumers where I see sums like S$250,000 - 500,000 for an A&A being mentioned, I fear that I am overpaying. Or do you think my architect is just giving the high-end side of the estimate? I realise that architects usually quote a percentage of contruction cost as their fees; is 10.75% a good rate? While I don't mind paying a slight premium for a really beautiful design from an award-winning architect, I do not want to overpay either. So grateful for any views and advice! Thanks!