Full Design Team Fee10.0 – 14.2%€487 500 – €692 250
3Their Stage 1 Offer — Reality Check
Their Offer for Stage 1
€
What it should cost
Normal Stage 1 fee (midpoint, 1.05%)
€51 188
Basis used
1 625 m² @ 3 000 €/m²
What their offer really means
Implied construction cost
€2 380 952
Implied rate per m²
1 465 €/m²
49%
of the normal Stage 1 fee — lowball territory
0%60%85%110%150%
Standard rate
3 000 €/m²
Implied by offer
1 465 €/m²
To justify an offer of €25 000, the design team would have to be pricing this building as if it cost
1 465 €/m² to build — not the 3 000 €/m² you've actually budgeted.
That's a project priced as if it were roughly half the building it actually is.
4Claw-back Proposal
Delta (normal fee − their offer)€26 188
Claw-back share of delta, if bid is won
%
Now — Stage 1 submission
You bid at their offer
€25 000
If the bid succeeds
Claw-back amount
€13 094
Effective total Stage 1 fee
€38 094
Pitch: take the €25 000 offer through to bid submission. If the bid succeeds, claw back 50% of the €26 188 delta — €13 094 — bringing the effective Stage 1 fee to €38 094, or 74% of the normal rate.