RAIC opens access to Fee Guide
The RAIC Guide to Determining Appropriate Fees for the Services of an Architect (RAIC Fee Guide) is now freely accessible by anyone, public and professional alike, at no cost.
According to the RAIC, removing access restrictions “gives the architectural community the opportunity to reflect on the profession’s state of resilience, the upcoming salary challenges– felt by both employer and employee–and the rate and method by which we monetize design services for sustainability.”
“The amount of compensation paid to an architect for the provision of specific services has always been a challenging and polarizing discussion,” says the RAIC.
The RAIC further states that undervaluing design fees means betting a future against the existence of hyperinflation that will elevate the price of everything from software to hand soap, the Central Bank’s stated intention to raise interest rates, and more.
The organization suggests that it’s time to reconsider the current cultural biases inherent to the determination of fees, and adopt new business models and billing practices to empower learned, skilled, and licensed design professionals from internship to retirement.
“While architects have no poverty of culture, they are displaying signs of a culture of poverty. This manifests itself in interns not being paid a living wage that accounts for debts incurred from years of restricted income to mid-career professionals considering new career paths, and professionals having to extend careers past traditional retirement,” says the RAIC.
“The RAIC Fee Guide is not a salvation, but it may serve the profession well given that the offer sought by clients now extends beyond price, quality and service to include speed. Providing quality-service and speed with an undervalued fee increases the likelihood that the architect’s personal income will be the residual left over after all other expenses are paid. Architects are not residuals,” says the RAIC.
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