Schematic Design – Developing a Project Budget — Matt Fajkus Architecture

When starting a remodel or new construction project, an important early step is developing your budget to set realistic expectations and avoid surprises midway through the design process.

This basic overview will help you understand the cost components of a residential construction project. Of course, each project is unique and complex sites or functional requirements can add additional costs to these elements. The project budget can be seen as the sum of hard costs, soft costs, other costs, and a contingency.

The hard cost of construction is typically the cost for construction of the building, materials, labor, basic site work, and the general contractor’s fee. Keep in mind that early pre-design cost per square foot ranges may be for the building only, while your project may include specialty elements that will need to be added on for things like extensive landscaping, decks, patios, pools, specialty site work like large retaining walls or bringing utilities to rural sites. Additionally, interior specialties such as audio systems, wine rooms, solar systems, or home theaters, for example, should be identified and included in the schematic design budget.