Short version. The complete professional team for a detached house in this studio starts at 26,000 € plus VAT. That covers concept design, the outline design for the permit, the detailed technical design, site supervision, works execution supervision and the professional body’s stamp: from the first sketch to the signed completion certificate. Interior design is separate, from 40 €/m².
We bill per square metre of house, with those 26,000 € as the floor, and not as a percentage of the construction budget.
We publish it for a practical reason. If that figure does not fit your budget, better to know now than after two meetings. And if it does, you know where the conversation starts.
Why almost nobody publishes this
Search for what an architect charges and you find percentages, ranges and tables by stage, but rarely a figure from someone who would actually build your house. There are two reasons and only one of them is good.
The bad one is commercial: showing the price filters out enquiries, and filtering frightens people. The good one is real: the price depends on the commission, and a figure with no context misleads as much as no figure at all.
Our answer is to give the minimum and explain what moves the rest.
There is no official fee scale in Spain, and it is worth knowing
Architects’ fees have been deregulated in Spain since 1997. Law 7/1997 removed the professional bodies’ power to set tariffs, and article 14 of Law 2/1974, as amended by Law 25/2009, goes further: it forbids them even from publishing indicative scales, except for the assessment of legal costs.
What that means in practice: if someone shows you “the professional body’s tariff” as an argument, they are showing you something that legally cannot exist. And the famous “10 % of the construction budget” is not a rule either: it is a habit inherited from tariffs repealed almost thirty years ago.
What is included and what is not
| Included in the 26,000 € | Separate | |
|---|---|---|
| Concept design | Yes | |
| Outline design for the permit application | Yes | |
| Detailed technical design | Yes | |
| Site supervision (dirección de obra) | Yes | |
| Works execution supervision (dirección de ejecución) | Yes | |
| Professional body’s stamp (visado colegial) | Yes | |
| Completion certificate | Yes | |
| Interior design | From 40 €/m² | |
| Soil survey | Commissioned by the owner · 800–1,400 € | |
| Topographic survey | Commissioned by the owner · from 500 € | |
| ICIO tax and permit fee | 3 % to 7 % depending on the town hall | |
| Ten-year structural insurance and bonds | Only if they apply to your case |
What decides whether it is 26,000 € or more
First, and this is what weighs most: we bill per square metre of house. The 26,000 € is the floor, not the tariff. A 400 m² house takes more designing and more supervising than a 180 m² one, and the invoice reflects that.
On top of that, five things move the price, and none of them is arbitrary:
- The plot. A steep slope, made ground, rock near the surface, easements or protected status. All of that multiplies the structural and retaining work before anyone draws the house.
- The local planning regime. Some town halls require twice the documentation of others for the same house.
- The brief. Four bedrooms is not the same as a house with a basement, a pool, a guest house and a four-car garage.
- The level of detail. A highly detailed technical design costs more to produce and saves far more on site. It is the item where cutting back is expensive.
- The scope. If interior design, full project management or purchasing supervision is added, it is a different commission.
What this means in practice: two houses of the same area can cost different amounts if one is on a slope and the other on the flat. But between a small house and a large one, the large one always costs more. What does not change our invoice is what you end up spending to build it.
How we charge changes whose side we are on
This is the part almost nobody explains, and the part that can save you the most money. It is not about how much an architect charges. It is about what they charge it on.
A percentage of the construction budget
If the architect charges, say, 8 % of the construction cost, their invoice grows every time the works get more expensive.
An extra item, a variation, a higher price from the builder: all of it increases the budget and with it their fee. No bad faith is required for the incentive to point the wrong way. It is enough that it exists.
Per square metre, with a 26,000 € minimum
We charge for the house we design and supervise, not for what you end up spending to build it.
If the builder raises a price, we gain nothing. If we get it lowered, we lose nothing. Which is why we can argue over every progress certificate without it costing us anything: your interest and ours point the same way.
Where it shows: the progress certificates
During construction the builder issues a certificate each month: what they say they have built and what they are charging for it. Checking that certificate — measuring it against what has actually been built and against the contract prices — is part of site supervision, and it is the technical work where the most money is defended.
An architect paid a percentage of the budget has, right there, exactly the wrong incentive. We do not.
A real case, as Fran tells it: on one job, checking the certificates and holding the builder to the contract saved the client more than 100,000 €. That is not what happens on every job and we do not promise it as an outcome; it is what can be at stake when somebody looks at the numbers with technical judgement and nothing to gain if they go up.
How it is paid
Against milestones, never up front
Payment is tied to deliverables: concept design, outline design, detailed design, and then monthly during site supervision.
Each milestone has something you can see and judge before paying for the next.
The fee is fixed in writing before we start
With the scope set out: what is in, what is out and what happens if the commission changes along the way. Changes of scope are quoted separately, they do not turn up on a surprise invoice.
And what the house costs, not the architect
Fees are a small part of the total: on an average house they are around 5 % of the complete cost. What really decides your budget is the construction, the municipal taxes, the site works and the contingency.
The construction cost calculator adds it all up with your own square metres and your own town hall, and it already has these fees built in. No registration.
Frequently asked questions
What does an architect charge for a detached house?
In this studio, from 26,000 € plus VAT for the complete professional team. We bill per square metre of house, with that figure as the floor: more house, higher fee. Beyond that it depends on the scope you commission and how difficult the plot is. There has been no official fee scale in Spain since 1997, so any percentage you read elsewhere is a habit of the trade, not a rule.
Do you charge by area or by percentage?
By square metre of house, with a minimum of 26,000 € plus VAT. The more house we design and supervise, the more we charge; but what you end up spending to build it does not change our invoice. It looks like a small difference on paper and it is a large one on site.
Is 10 % of the construction budget normal?
It is the figure that circulates most and it is worth distrusting, not only for the amount. Charging a percentage of the construction budget means the architect’s fee rises every time the works get more expensive: every extra item, every variation, every higher price from the builder. We do not bill that way, and this page explains why it matters.
Do you check what the builder invoices?
Yes, it is part of site supervision: every monthly progress certificate is checked against what has actually been built and against the contracted prices. It is the work where the most money is defended, and where an architect on a percentage of the budget would have exactly the wrong incentive.
What is included in that amount?
Concept design, the outline design for the permit application, the detailed technical design, site supervision, works execution supervision and the professional body’s stamp. That is, from the first sketch to the signed completion certificate. What is not included is in the table on this page.
What is a “visado colegial” and why does it appear here?
It is the stamp the professional architects’ body puts on a set of drawings, certifying that the person who signed them is registered, insured and entitled to sign. Town halls ask for it, and so do banks on a self-build mortgage. We include the cost of the stamp in our fee, which is not the norm; many studios pass it on separately.
Why do I need two different professionals?
Spanish law splits the roles. On a dwelling, the design and the site supervision are reserved to an arquitecto, and the supervision of the execution to an arquitecto técnico, sometimes translated as quantity surveyor. Both sign the completion certificate. It is not an upsell: articles 12 and 13 of Law 38/1999 require it. Our fee covers both, because Fran Cortés holds both qualifications and the studio provides the two roles.
And interior design?
That is separate, from 40 €/m². It is a different commission: an interiors design, material selection, furniture and supervision of the finishing works.
Can I commission only the design, without site supervision?
Technically yes, and we advise against it. A design with nobody defending it on site ends up built to the builder’s judgement. Besides, the law requires a site supervisor and an execution supervisor on every dwelling, so you will have to appoint them anyway: the question is not whether you pay for them, it is whether you pay the people who designed the house or a third party seeing it for the first time.
When is it paid?
Against milestones tied to deliverables: concept design, outline design, detailed design, and then monthly during site supervision. Never everything up front.
Is it negotiable?
The scope is; the minimum is not. We can adjust what is in and what is out — leaving out the interior design, for instance, or reducing the level of detail in the technical design — but we do not take on detached houses below 26,000 €. We would rather say so here than have anyone spend a meeting on it.
Does that fit what you had in mind?
If the figure works for you, tell us where the plot is and what house you have in mind and we will prepare a fixed quote with the scope set out.
And if it does not, no harm done: we would rather tell you here than have you invest time in a meeting.