Setting Your Scope and Budget Before the First Call

Chapter 3 of 12Part I: Before You Hire

Architects can do a lot with a vague idea, but the first conversations go much better when you arrive with a short written brief. The California Architects Board lists defining the basic project criteria as the first step in hiring. This chapter turns that advice into a one-page brief you can write in an evening, and walks through the costs that tend to be left out of early budgets.

Step 1: Say what the project is for

Start with the problem, not the solution. “We need a third bedroom and a second bathroom” gives an architect more room to help than “we want to build up.” Write down who will use the space, how, and for how long you expect to stay. A home you plan to sell in three years and a home you plan to age in lead to different designs.

Step 2: List the rooms and must-haves

Make two lists. The first is what the project must deliver: rooms, rough sizes, accessibility needs, a rental unit, parking or storage. The second is what you would like if the budget allows. Architects use these lists to test options quickly, and they will tell you early if the must-haves do not fit on your lot.

Step 3: Collect what you already know about the property

Gather anything that describes the building and lot. Useful items include:

• the zoning district and any special designations, which you can look up on San Francisco Planning’s Property Information Map;
• old permits and plans, which the Department of Building Inspection keeps as records for the address;
• a recent survey, if you have one, and any known issues with the foundation, drainage or neighbors’ walls;
• photos of the inside and outside, including views from neighboring lots if you can take them.

None of this is required before the first call, but each item saves the architect time you would otherwise pay for.

Step 4: Build a budget with every layer in it

The Board’s guide suggests a proposed total budget that includes fees, permits, construction costs and contingencies. Owners often know the construction number they hope for and forget the rest. A complete budget has these layers:

Layer	What it covers	Why it is easy to miss
Construction	The contractor’s price for the work	Usually the only number owners think about
Design fees	Architect and engineers	Often quoted separately and in phases
Other consultants	Survey, soils report, energy calculations	Only appear once the design starts
City fees	Planning, building permit and other agency fees	Depend on scope and are set by the city
Owner costs	Moving out, storage, temporary housing	Not part of anyone’s quote
Contingency	Surprises in old walls and design changes	Cut first when budgets are tight

Do not guess the city fees or consultant costs from memory or a friend’s project; ask the architect to help you estimate them for your specific scope once they know it.

Step 5: Decide how you will pay

Note who is financing the project and on what timeline. If you are borrowing, the Board’s guide reminds owners to make sure the loan covers the architect’s services as well as construction. Lenders also have their own requirements for drawings and inspections, and your architect should know them early.

Step 6: Set dates, then add slack

Write the date you would like to start construction and the date you need the work done, if one exists, such as a new baby or a lease ending. Then leave room. In San Francisco, projects that trigger neighborhood notice spend at least 30 days in that step alone after Planning finishes its review, and plan review at the Department of Building Inspection can take several rounds. San Francisco Planning Review and the 30-Day Neighborhood Notice and Building Permits at DBI: Over-the-Counter, In-House and Site Permits explain why.

Questions to ask yourself before the first call

• Would we rather have more space or a better version of the space we have?
• Is a second unit, now or later, part of the plan? It changes which rules apply, as ADUs and Older Buildings: Two San Francisco Special Cases explains.
• Can we live in the house during construction?
• How involved do we want to be in design decisions, and how quickly can we make them?
• What would make us stop the project?

Answering these honestly helps an architect design the right project rather than the biggest one the lot allows.

A brief you can send

Put the answers on one page: purpose, must-haves, nice-to-haves, what you know about the property, the full budget and the dates. Send it before each interview. Architects will respond to the same brief in different ways, and that difference is one of the best clues to who fits you.

With a brief in hand, the next part of the handbook moves on to finding candidates: Building a Shortlist of San Francisco Architects.