For architects
Before you sign that owner-architect agreement, check these three things.
An architect's agreement sets out services by project phase and a fee. It decides which services are included, whether the client may reuse your drawings, and how much you may owe if something goes wrong.
This owner-architect agreement folds additional services into the base fee and lets the owner reuse the drawings without you.
Additional services with no approval or fee
Additional services are folded into the base services, so an owner's request adds work without a fee or an approval step.
Ask for
Check which phases and services are included, and how additional services are approved and paid.
- Drawings reusable without youMedium · IP
- Insurance amount not statedLow · Insurance
The numbers
In May 2025, there were 106,770 wage and salary jobs for architects in the U.S., with a median annual wage of $99,280.
These figures count jobs, not people, and do not include self-employed work — so they say little about how many architects work freelance or run their own business.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national estimates for SOC 17-1011. Public domain.
Services by phase, drawing reuse and liability
- Scope of services — Check which phases and services are included, and how additional services are approved and paid.
- Use of drawings — Look at whether the client may reuse the drawings for other projects or changes without you.
- Liability — Check whether the agreement limits what you may owe, and whether the limit matches your insurance.
Check the agreement before schematic design
An architect's agreement decides what the fee covers. Free: one analysis every 30 days, no card. Each analysis gives a risk read of the key clauses, quotes the contract's own words for its findings, and turns each flagged clause into a specific ask.
Analyze my contract — free- Encrypted in transit & at rest
- Files auto-deleted after 30 days
- Never used to train models
- Informational — not legal advice