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[quote=Anonymous]I am a GC from out of the area. I also work in an expensive area. While the percentage can be misleading I think out of the gate it is high. The one variable is how much will the architect be detailing. For 12-14% I would expect to see significant interior elevations, especially for the master bath and the kitchen. I do not know if you were planning on going custom kitchen or not. At 300k budget I suspect not. If no custom kitchen, I would not step up to 12-14%. But if all custom and he/she will be detailing kitchen, tile layout in master bath, shower, etc. I real set of high end plans than I'd be more likely to say ok. My gut tells me you should be able to buy it for about 8% which is about 25k - that's a nice budget and a nice job for an architect.

With respect to the Architect vs Design Build. I do both. I will admit that I often get frustrated by the public's notion that you need someone to protect you from builder. Historically, there was a concept of a master builder, who did both. It was his job. How come no one ever asks who is protecting you from the architect ? I also have a hard time with architects who espouse the bid process, esp. those that tout it as a way of saving their clients money (and a way for them to claim they paid for themselves.) I believe the bid process creates an adversarial relationship. And often rewards the disingenuous.

I also know for your type additions I have had architects tell me they are problematic jobs for them. Too much detail (kitchen and bath details) without enough tonnage (spend) to make their percentages work. It is one reason you see design build firms in the kitchen and bath space. My ideal job for design build is what I call a kitchen bumpout - new kitchen, mudroom, breakfast room, patio, laundry, etc. Often they are in the 400-600k range and are  highly detailed jobs. An architect has a hard time competing because they will often out source the kitchen layout to a kitchen designer - problem is it is a kitchen centric addition. So out of the gate their process is flawed. And as I can source hand made cabinets from a couple of "white label" cabinet guys I can make money on the cabinets and the construction so I don't have to kill you on the drawings - and truth be told most design build firms have a good architects they use - most often women who spent considerable time at prestigious firms and never made partner because of the mommy track. But rhere is a mistrust of builders - sometimes I can't help but wonder if that is not because of the bid process where we are forced to compete for work on price to pay for the real fox in the hen house.[/quote]

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