Phase fees get negotiated verbally
Without a formal breakdown, the client doesn't understand why schematic design costs differently than construction documents, and every phase gets re-argued from scratch.
For architecture firms
Architecture fees, quoted by phase and payment milestone
Split the fee across project phases, tie a payment milestone to each deliverable, and document the percentage or flat amount per phase before the project starts.
Free to start. No card required for your first quote.
Fees by phaseClear payment milestonesSimple e-signature
Industry problems
Payment milestones aren't tied to deliverables
Fees get billed by construction progress or by date, but without linking payment to a concrete deliverable, clients delay transfers with no clear justification.
A percentage of construction cost stays ambiguous
When the fee depends on an estimated construction cost, any later budget adjustment opens a fight over how much is actually owed.
How Quotive helps
Quote by phase, with its own milestone
Break out line items for schematic design, construction documents, and construction administration, each with its percentage or amount and the milestone that triggers billing.
Send a link, not a lost PDF
Your client reviews the full proposal through a professional link, no download required, with the breakdown for every phase visible.
Close the deal with a signature
Once the client signs, the fee per phase and payment milestones are documented, ready to invoice each deliverable without renegotiating.
Real example
Quote example
Single-family home with the fee split across 3 phases
A firm quotes the full fee for a house as 8% of the estimated construction cost, split across schematic design, construction documents, and construction administration, each phase with its own payment milestone. The client opens the link, reviews the breakdown, and signs the proposal.
- Schematic design (30% of the fee) — $2,400
- Construction documents (50% of the fee) — $4,000
- Construction administration (20% of the fee, billed monthly) — $1,600
Benefits
Clients understand what they're paying for at each phase
The schematic design, construction documents, and administration breakdown is visible right in the proposal, no repeated explanations by email.
Billing tied to deliverables, not promises
Every payment milestone is attached to a specific phase, so the client knows exactly when and why an invoice goes out.
Reuse the structure on your next project
Duplicate a previous project's quote and adjust only the estimated construction cost and the per-phase amounts.
Frequently asked questions
Can I quote the fee as a percentage of construction cost?
Yes. You can set the total fee as an estimated percentage and then split it into line items by phase, each with its own amount.
How do I tie a payment to a specific phase's deliverable?
Each line item represents a project phase (schematic design, construction documents, construction administration); the payment milestone is described alongside that line item.
Can the client see the full breakdown before signing?
Yes. The client accesses the proposal through the public link and sees every phase with its amount before approving and signing.
Does it work if the construction cost changes after the initial proposal?
Yes. You can generate a new version of the quote with the updated construction cost and resend it for signature.
Can I reuse the same phase structure across different projects?
Yes. Duplicate a previous quote from your catalog and adjust only the amounts and construction cost for the new project.
For architecture firms
Put your project's fee in writing, phase by phase
Quote schematic design, construction documents, and construction administration with clear payment milestones and simple e-signature.
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