Under the AIA's standard owner-architect agreement, an existing-conditions survey is not part of the architect's Basic Services. B101-2017 puts it in one of two places: the owner furnishes it under Section 5.4, or the architect takes it on as a Supplemental Service under Section 4.1.1.4 and bills it under Section 11.2. In practice there's a third place, which is the one that costs firms money: the survey never gets written in, and the hours to measure and draw the building come out of the basic fee.
Capturing the building yourself with a LiDAR phone changes what that line item costs you, which means you get to decide what it costs the client. This article walks through how to price existing conditions surveys into a design fee: where the survey sits in B101, what it costs when outsourced, what in-house capture does to the number, and a worked example with every assumption labeled.
Key Takeaways
- B101-2017 lists "Existing facilities surveys" and "Measured drawings" as Supplemental Services, not Basic Services, so the survey is a separate, priceable line.
- Outsourced as-built surveys that publish rates start at about $2,500 for a house. Capturing it in-house costs a Polycam Business plan at $400 per user per year plus your time.
- Firms using Polycam report 50 to 90 percent less time modeling existing conditions, which is the number that decides whether you cut the line, keep the margin, or both.
- The contract language also protects you. A written Supplemental Service with a described deliverable stops the survey from becoming unbilled hours.
Where the Survey Sits in a Fee Proposal
B101-2017 handles existing conditions in three sections:
- Section 5.4 says the owner "shall furnish surveys to describe physical characteristics, legal limitations and utility locations" of the site. That's the default: the survey is the owner's problem.
- Section 4.1.1 is a table of Supplemental Services. Row 4.1.1.3 is "Measured drawings" and row 4.1.1.4 is "Existing facilities surveys." For each row, the parties mark whether the Architect, the Owner, or no one is responsible. If the Architect is marked, Section 4.1.1 says the owner "shall compensate the Architect as provided in Section 11.2."
- Section 11.1 sets the compensation method for Basic Services, usually a stipulated sum, a percentage of construction cost, or hourly rates. The Supplemental Services fee in 11.2 is negotiated separately.
On renovation work, the owner rarely has a usable survey to furnish. So the survey either goes into the 4.1.1 table as the architect's Supplemental Service, with its own fee, or it gets done anyway and absorbed. The absorbed version is where drafting hours disappear.
Public fee schedules show how the structure treats renovation. Washington State's A/E fee guidelines, for example, price Basic Services as a percentage of construction cost, allow an increase of up to three percent for remodels where conditions warrant, and treat an independent site survey as a reimbursable cost rather than part of the fee.
What the Survey Line Item Costs Today
When the architect outsources the survey, the cost is what the survey firm charges. US firms that publish rates start at about $2,500 for a house. LiDAR Precise Plans lists $2,500 to $4,000 for a home between 2,000 and 4,000 square feet, with a Revit model as a $1,500 to $3,000 add-on, and commercial work at $0.35 to $3.00 per square foot. THE FUTURE 3D sells the scan alone at $0.15 to $0.25 per square foot with a $2,500 minimum, and the drawings are a second bill.
When the architect does the survey by hand, the cost is hours. JNR Architecture estimated 16 hours to measure a 100-year-old house by hand. Esteban Martínez Homes put manual on-site documentation at one to two hours per visit, before any drafting.
Either way, this is the number that lands in the 4.1.1 fee or vanishes into the basic fee.
What In-House Capture Does to That Line
Capturing the building yourself replaces the outsourced invoice or the hand-measuring hours with a scan. The published figures from firms that made the switch:
| Firm | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| JNR Architecture (sole practitioner, Columbus, OH) | 16 hours estimated to hand-measure a house | About 1 hour to scan. 88% less on-site measuring. About 2 weeks of Revit modeling saved per project with Transform Engine |
| Clark Nexsen (architecture and engineering, Virginia Beach, VA) | Manual capture and modeling | 75% less capture time. 50% less time modeling existing conditions. 50% fewer site visits |
| Esteban Martínez Homes (design-build, Dallas-Fort Worth) | 1 to 2 hours per site to document by hand. Hours to model in Revit | 90% less documentation time. Existing-conditions Revit model in about 20 minutes |
The cash cost of the in-house route is a Polycam Business plan at $400 per user per year, which covers floor plans, the Floor Plan Editor, DXF export, and point clouds, plus a LiDAR iPhone or iPad. A scan takes about 2 minutes per 100 square feet.
That leaves three ways to write the proposal:
- Cut the line. Price the survey at your new cost and win on a lower total fee. This is the "design fee comes down because the information is there up front" case, and it's the one clients notice.
- Keep the line, keep the margin. Price the Supplemental Service at the going outsourced rate and deliver it in-house. The client pays what they'd pay anyone, and the difference is yours.
- Split it. Price below the outsourced rate but above your cost, and point to the lower number in the proposal.
Which one fits depends on the client and how you're competing for the work. The contract mechanism is the same in all three: row 4.1.1.4, Architect responsible, fee under 11.2.
A Worked Example
A 2,500-square-foot whole-house renovation. Everything marked as an assumption is one.
| Line | Outsourced survey | In-house capture |
|---|---|---|
| Survey cost | $2,500 to $4,000 (LiDAR Precise Plans, published range) | $400 per year for Polycam Business, spread across every project that year |
| Site time | A site visit to meet the survey crew | About 50 minutes of scanning (2 min per 100 sq ft) |
| Existing-conditions model | Included in the survey price, or a $1,500 to $3,000 Revit add-on | About 20 minutes (Esteban Martínez Homes) to a few hours, depending on detail |
| Turnaround | Quoted per project | Floor plan ready after processing, usually minutes for buildings this size |
If the proposal keeps a $2,500 Supplemental Service line for the survey and you deliver it from a scan, that line goes from a pass-through to mostly margin. If you cut it to $1,000, the proposal drops by $1,500 against a competitor who outsources, and the line still covers your time at $150 per hour for the scan and model.
How to Write It Into the Proposal
A scan-based survey belongs in the contract as a described deliverable, not an informal favor. Four things to put in writing:
- Mark row 4.1.1.4 as Architect. Describe the deliverable: a 2D floor plan, a 3D model, a DXF, a point cloud, or all of them.
- State the accuracy. In our testing against a laser distometer, standard interior Polycam captures came within about ½ inch, with wider variation in spaces over 5,000 square feet. Write the tolerance into the deliverable so nobody expects a stamped survey.
- Keep Section 5.4 for what it's for. Property boundaries, legal limitations, and utility locations stay with a licensed land surveyor and remain the owner's responsibility.
- Price it under 11.2 as a stipulated sum. Hourly billing gives the savings to the client by default. A fixed fee lets you choose which of the three options above you're taking.
This is contract structure, not legal advice. Have your attorney review the agreement.
When to Keep the Outsourced Survey
A phone scan covers interior existing conditions for schematic design, renovation pricing, and space planning. Keep the survey firm in the proposal when the project needs a professional stamp, above-ceiling MEP or structural documentation, exterior elevations at height, or a building large or complex enough that scan variation matters. The middle path is to scan the interior yourself and commission a survey only for the part that needs one.
Drawings out of date?
FAQ
Is an existing-conditions survey part of an architect's basic services?
Not under AIA B101-2017. Section 5.4 makes site surveys the owner's responsibility, and Section 4.1.1 lists "Existing facilities surveys" and "Measured drawings" as Supplemental Services that the architect provides only if the table assigns them, with compensation under Section 11.2.
How much should I charge for an existing-conditions survey?
There's no published standard. The outsourced benchmark from firms that publish rates is about $2,500 to $4,000 for a 2,000 to 4,000 square foot house. If you capture it in-house, your cost is a $400 per year Polycam Business plan plus your time, and you decide how much of the difference to pass on.
Does in-house capture lower the design fee?
It lowers your cost. Whether the fee comes down is a pricing choice. Firms using Polycam report 50 to 90 percent less time modeling existing conditions, which you can pass on as a lower Supplemental Services line, keep as margin at the outsourced rate, or split.
Can a phone scan replace a licensed survey?
For interior existing conditions, yes, within the stated tolerance. For property boundaries, legal limitations, utility locations, stamped drawings, or above-ceiling documentation, no. Those stay with a licensed surveyor or a survey firm, and Section 5.4 keeps them with the owner.
