How Architects Can Explain Design Phases and Fees on Their Website

By Tim Miner, founder of Next Drop Design. I build websites for builders, architects, interior designers and landscape architects across the country.

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Every new residential client asks some version of the same questions. What happens first? When do we see drawings? How is your fee structured, and what are we paying for at each stage?

Most architects answer them in person, project after project. Very few answer them on their website, even though a referred client is reading the site before the first meeting.

This article covers how a residential architect can explain design phases and fees on their site, and why doing so makes the first conversation easier.

Key takeaways

• Clients who understand the phases arrive at the first meeting with better questions and fewer surprises.
• Explain the phases in the client's terms: what you produce in each, what they decide, and roughly how long it takes.
• You don't have to publish a fee percentage. Explaining how the fee is structured and billed does most of the work.
• A phase-by-phase article is one your team can send to every new client, which saves the same explanation on every project.

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Why explain phases on your website

Clients building a custom home for the first time often don't know what an architect does between the first sketch and the start of construction. That gap is where misunderstandings about fees and schedule start.

A clear explanation on your site does two things. It answers the questions before the meeting, and it shows a referred client that your process is organized. Builders and interior designers who recommend you read it too, and it tells them how you'll work with them.

The phases, in plain terms

The AIA's standard owner-architect agreement, B101, organizes basic services into five traditional phases: schematic design, design development, construction documents, procurement, and construction. Your clients don't need the contract terms. They need to know what each phase means for them.

1. Schematic design. The big moves: how the house sits on the site, the plan, the massing. The client decides on the overall direction.
2. Design development. The house gets specific: materials, window systems, structure, major finishes. The client makes most of the decisions that drive cost here.
3. Construction documents. The drawings and specifications the builder prices and builds from. Usually the longest phase, with the fewest client decisions.
4. Procurement. Pricing with one or more builders, or negotiation with a builder already on the team.
5. Construction. Site visits, questions from the builder, and reviewing work against the drawings.

For each phase, say what the client receives, what they need to decide, and a typical duration on a project of your size. If you bring the builder or interior designer in during a particular phase, say when.

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How to talk about fees

B101 itself doesn't set a fee percentage, and firms structure fees differently: a percentage of construction cost, a fixed fee, hourly, or a mix. Whether to publish numbers is your call. Even without them, you can explain:

• How the fee is structured, and why you chose that method for residential work.
• How it's billed. By phase, monthly, or by milestone.
• What's included and what isn't. Interior architecture, landscape coordination, renderings, and extra site visits are common questions.
• What happens if the scope changes. A sentence on additional services prevents a hard conversation later.

Clients rarely object to a fee they understand. They object to one they didn't expect.

Where it belongs

A process page with the phases summarized, linked from your home page and contact page.

A resource article with the full explanation, written so your team can send it after the first call.

Project pages that mention when the builder joined and how long design took, so the phases connect to real work. (Project storytelling)

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How we help

A phase-by-phase article is one of the resource articles our Content Creation service writes for architects, in your voice and with your projects as examples. Content Creation starts at $750 a month, and Studio ($2,500 on a 6-month retainer) plans and publishes everything for you. See Content Creation

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Related resources

• Website Design for Residential Architects
• Project Storytelling: what it is and how we build it
• Referral Validation: what it is and how it looks on client sites
• The 2026 Benchmark: The State of Luxury Residential Web Presence

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Frequently asked questions

Should architects publish their fees on their website?

That's a business decision. Publishing how your fee is structured, how it's billed and what it includes answers most client questions, with or without a number.

What are the phases of residential architectural design?

The AIA's standard agreement uses five: schematic design, design development, construction documents, procurement, and construction. Many residential firms describe them in simpler terms for clients.

How do I explain design development to a client?

It's the phase where the house gets specific: materials, windows, structure and major finishes. It's also where most of the decisions that drive construction cost are made.