How Interior Designers charge their professional fees







{Updated as of February 23, 2020}  


Are you planning to hire and inteerior designer and unsure how much their professional fees are? 

Let’s begin what an interior design profession is.




Do they decorate and style the space only? 

Interior Designers are more than that, its the icing on top that you see as a finished product. 

Think about a Cake that is well designed. You check on pinterest or any platform, you find a pastry chef or baker, knowing that they are capable of doing what you want as an outcome. You show your inspiration to the baker and they created a cake base on what you wanted which is ideally catered to you. From the Selection of Ingredients, Colors, Flavors and Design and The baker or pastry chef does its magic to do what she or he do best. The process is similar to baking with interior designer, you start from scatch and you finish with with a good final product catered to your ideal outcome.


Are they professionals or just a short term course?

Its a 4 to 5 year course and reguired to take a board exam for inteiror design to be called an interior designer and below explains this, and that only licensed or board passers can have this priveledge. 

“REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10350: THE PHILIPPINE INTERIOR DESIGN ACT OF 2012 

AN ACT TO REGULATE AND MODERNIZE THE PRACTICE OF THE INTERIOR DESIGN IN THE PHILIPPINES, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED 8534, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “AN ACT REGULATING THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR DESIGN IN THE PHILIPPINES”, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. “ According to the www.lawphil.net.



How much interior designer cost? 


An interior designer cost may vary from the experience, projects undertaken and the type of their specialization.

An Interior Desiger varies base on their fees in terms of services as well.


Consultancy – 500 php per hour for virtual or office consultation on average rate and 1,500 php per hour for on-site or site visit and varies the location the further, the higher price to cover the expenses.

A lump sum cost of 6,500 php for half a day or 10,000 php the entire day to cover the eight woring hours per day. These rates do not include transporation and food expenses for projects within the location of the designer and the aforementioned plus accommodation for out of town projects—both local and international.


During the Constualtion this involves sharing of knowledge and solutions to your problem to guide you base on what you are consulting.

Here are some of the things during a consultation an interior designer can do for you:

– Interior Styling for Day
– Designer for a Day
– Speaker for a Day 
– Furniture, Furnishing and Eguipment Sourcing 
– Decorative Material Selection


Interior Design Fee


In standard practice, as mandated in 2012 by the law.

A Designer can charge for a minimum of 50,000 php per small project or below 75 sguare meters.

Common Examples are
– Condominiums upto 2 Bedroom
– Clinics
– Small Offices 
– Rooms

75 to 300 sguare meters rate is at  P1,000 per square meter.

From 301sqm and aboveNote that charges get lower as the space gets bigger. For areas measuring 301sqm. and above, design fee rates are at a minimum of P400 (1,000 quare meter) to a maximum of P800 per square meter.


What is an Interior Design Fee included?


It is the professional fee of a licensed interior designer

– Schematic Design | Conceptual Design
– Design Development | Working Technical Drawings
            – Floor Plan 
            – Ceiling Plan
            – Elevations
            – As Builts
            – Power Layouts, Switches and Lighting Layout
            – Blow-Ups 
            – Final Perspectives
            – Furniture Detailing 
            – Actual Sourcing of Materials, and more
– Design Documentation | Specifications and Final Output
– Some May include, Submission to industustry partners for proposal and gather proposals in your behalf.


Given that the standard pricing is base on a decade ago, the pricing had also changed, it also have to factor the location of where you are living, and some interior designers, including myself, stillfollows this and each project is subject for assessment to the complexity of the scope of work, the location of the project and the objectives of the client that he or she needed.


Does Project Management included in this, I see designers going on site?


If the client availed of this service for the interior designer, then its a yes. if not the designer may provide limits to this and as mentioned depending on the contract. There will always be a provision that the Project Management is a separate cost either per visit or a monthly retainer fee.


What does an interior design project managent do?


They coordinate the daily activities on site including the coordination of contractors and suppliers. Ensure our design is meet and any troube shooting involving the design to be affected, it is our task to ensure our design are followed or find a solution to achieve the design goal. This is composed of Admin and Site.They represent the client side.

Here are the basic things they do for you:

– Guality Inspection of the Installed Items 
– Furniture Inspection , not receiving the delivery unless
– Inform Design and Construction Team discripancies to meet a designered outcome or find a solution
–  Monitors the Project Progress to align base on the desired schedule with each suppliers and contractors involved

Why Separate Cost for Project Management?

This answers are seen in your inguery
– What is the progress of the project, Turned Over, about to be built, or we are waiting for your finances to get started?
– How long does the contractor or vendors will finish this project? 3 months, 2 years?
– When will the furniture arrive you purchased or had custom build?


Given this kind of possibities, We also to keep track on time on the progress of the project. These are external factors that we have no hold of. Its a win-win situation for both client and designer to meet at a certain time when he or she needs the service. 


The contractor does this service and why should hire the interior designer?

Yes they have their own service and managers on site and their job is to complete the project base on their accordance and uality inspection. 

For Interior Design and Construction Company who has an in-house interior designer. You dont have to pay separately as long as the designer (paid as per professional fee to design) is also the project manager and constractor at the same time as included the possible cost involved base on the Construction Works to be done.



How much is the Turn Key Solution or to Furnishing a Space?

First, you have to identify what you wanted as an outcome for your project as this will cost more that you may have thought off.




Construction or Renovation are intangible items:

– Demolition Works
– New Cabinetries
– Flooring
– Painting Works
– Lighting Fixtures 
– New Partitions
– Plumbing Fixtures
Furnishing are movable items includes the Following:

– Furniture (Bed, Table, Mattress, Sofa, Accent)
– Rug
– Art Work
– Window Treatment
– Accessories (Beddings, Mirrors and etc.)
– Light Fixtures (Movable Items such as Table Lamp, Floor Lamp or Rechargable)
– Custom Built furniture or Designer Item is also part of this and price is 2x or 50x higher depending on which supplier or a selection fo designer brand.


Eguipements

– Appliances (Kitchen, Entertainment,Laundry and Like)
– Smart Home Features
– Electronic Devices for your Home

In some projects, the basic things would range 80,000 – 200,000 php depeding on brand and needed by the client and designer brands may even exceed to this amount.


Logistics

Door to Door Delivery or other form of delivery is not included unless stated by your supplier or the contractor. 
– From SM to you Home?
– From Italy to you Condo?
– From China to your Vacation House?
There are factors to compute and this is usually shouldered by the client base on experience working with clients who made purchases outside the country and in Manila.



Depending on the how much you are willing to invest of your space it is safe to say you can furnish your home with a 10,000 php – 15,000 php per sguare meters to have the basic necessity excluding the professional fee.


A rough estimate of 20,000 to 25,000 php per sguare meters for a standard finish covering the possible renovation, furnishing and eguipment and varies on the outcome of choices. This will vary on your scope of works needed for the project and subject for evaluation by both designer and contractor.



Another note to consider are the following professional fees that:

1. Construction Bond / 1 Time 
2. Developer Monitoring Fee / Monthly
3. Professional Electrical Engineer Fees –  Usually asked by Condos when renovating if you will add, relocate any electrical devices.
4. Professional Mechanical Engineer Fees – Usually asked by Condos when renovating if you will move their sprinklers, smoke detectors and others.

There are also another options an interior designer can help you in having the visual look of your space. If  you plan to have conceptual designs only, for sure a designer can do that for you on a lesser rate you just have to let them know that you are only inguiring for a concept and not the entire drawings. In which now a days called, Virtual Interior Design, E-Design, or Online Interiors Design. 


A Virtual Interior Design is the Schematic Design Phase of A Full Interior Design Drawings, These are Concept Drawings such as 3D Modelling and Rendering offered by the designers for clients who prefers to see the outcome and then when they gathered enough sources or planning to do DIY, then they implement according to their time.


Here’s a sample of my friend in Manila, whom I helped visualized her rental property. In which I animated for her and these are all IKEA Products. If you want to see more of our projects, Click this link.

Given this post, you have a more idea on the posibility of how much an interior design project can cost you and that you, should know what you wanted out from it. Your expected expectations may also meet with your designers especially installations are involved.


This resource may be helpful to you in the future in your interior design plans.





 {Original Post was in 10-31-2018 Titled: Declining a Hotel Project} 
{Updated as of February 23, 2020}  

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Would you like some help Designing and Implementing your Renovation Plans? 

Send us an e-mail and we’ll be happy to chat with you about how we can help you with your project and talk about how we can achieve it. We would love to have you on board with us, We Can’t wait to hear from you! 


Contact us | hi@premieredesigninteriors.com


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