Setup step 8: phases & fee split

Step 8 of setup, Phases & fee split, in the Project standards section, defines your project lifecycle: the phases every project moves through, what each is called, the default share of the fee each phase earns, and a starting checklist of deliverables for each phase. Every project moves through these phases, and the fee split is the starting point for how a project's fee is shared between them.

Where to find it

Sidebar → Admin → Settings → Firm setup → Setup → 8. Phases & fee split. Above the title it shows Project standards · Step 8 of 13. The page has a Settings back link at the top that returns you to the Settings page.

Who can use it

Business Owners and Admins.

A tour of the page

Start from

Choose a preset. Changing it reloads the table with that preset's phases:

• AIA (United States): 00 Lead & pursuit, 01 Proposal & contract, 02 Programming, 03 Conceptual, 04 Schematic Design (15%), 05 Design Development (20%), 06 Construction Documents (40%), 07 Bidding & negotiation (5%), 08 Construction admin (20%), 09 Closeout, 10 Post-occupancy.
• RIBA Plan of Work 2020 (UK): Lead & pursuit, then stages 0 Strategic Definition, 1 Preparation & Briefing, 2 Concept Design, 3 Spatial Coordination, 4 Technical Design, 5 Manufacturing & Construction, 6 Handover and 7 Use (no default fee split).
• HOAI Leistungsphasen (Germany): Akquise, then LPH 1 to LPH 9 with the usual HOAI shares (2, 7, 15, 3, 25, 10, 4, 32 and 2%).
• Design-build: Lead & pursuit, Proposal & contract, Preconstruction, Design 30%, Design 60%, Design 90% / permit, Construction, Closeout (no default fee split).

Your country (step 4) picks the starting preset. If your firm already has projects, a note says Existing projects keep their current phase; new names apply everywhere.

The phase table

Under the table, Fee split: n% of 100% adds up the fee of all phases that are on. It turns red above 100%.

How to set up your phases

1. Choose the preset closest to how you work in Start from.
2. Untick phases you never use.
3. Rename phases and change codes to your firm's language, for example CA instead of Construction admin.
4. Enter your typical Fee % per phase so they add up to 100% (or less).
5. Open Deliverables checklist for each phase and edit the list: one item per line, up to 30 items of up to 200 characters each.
6. Click Save and continue.

Tips and good to know

• At least one phase must stay on, every phase needs a name, and the fees of the phases that are on can't add up to more than 100%.
• The fee split is a default. Each project's budget can still be adjusted on its own.
• The deliverables are copied into each project's own checklist for that phase, so a project's list can be tailored without changing the firm standard, and changing the standard later doesn't rewrite checklists projects already have.
• Switching to a different preset later doesn't break existing projects: they keep the phase they're in, and its name stays readable.

Troubleshooting

"The fee split adds up to n%. Bring it to 100% or less."

Lower one or more Fee % values, or switch off a phase you don't bill.

"…: enter the fee as a whole percentage from 0 to 100, or leave it blank."

Decimals and the % sign aren't accepted. Type 15, not 15.5 or 15%.

Using the recommended settings

If you never save this step, the preset for your country applies with its standard names and fee split. During a new firm's guided onboarding, Use recommended settings on the Project standards introduction marks this step done with those defaults (see Guided onboarding: your firm's first sign-in); you can change it here later.