Architects Sole practice · partnerships3–25 staff RIBA Chartered−4.5 hrs Change-order admin per project+12% Fee realisation, year one
The architecture practices stack
Six instruments, calibrated.
RIBA stages, drawings, change orders, fee proposals — one stack from feasibility to handover. Practice-friendly, regulator-friendly.
01 · Stage tracking
Where every project sits, RIBA Stage 0 to 7.
Live board across active projects, by stage, by lead. Where work is pooling, where it's parked — visible without an interrogation.
RIBA stage board
Per-project lead view
Stage-gate sign-offs
Monograph, ArchiOffice, custom
02 · Drawings & versions
One source, version-aware, sent to client and contractor.
Drawings live in one place, versions tracked, who-saw-what logged. The contractor gets the right rev; the client signs the latest.
Version-controlled drawings
Issue log per project
Client + contractor delivery
Bluebeam, custom + Drive
03 · Fee proposals
Templated, scope-tracked, change-aware.
Proposals built from rate cards and scope catalogues, signed off in writing, tracked against actuals. Fee creep is visible, not retrospective.
Proposal templates
Scope catalogue
Actual vs estimated tracking
Custom, BTC
04 · Change orders
Approvals before they hit the model.
Client asks for a tweak — captured, scoped, costed, approved in writing, and only then drawn. The change-order conversation that doesn't happen at handover.
Change-order intake
Cost + time impact
Client e-sign approval
Custom workflow, DocuSign
05 · Compliance
RIBA + ARB record-keeping, CDM, building control.
Records the regulator wants — on-going CPD, CDM duties, building-control submissions — kept as you work, not at audit.
CPD log per architect
CDM duty checklist
Building control submissions
Custom, Builda
06 · BrainBase
Drawings, specs, supplier rates — searchable across projects.
The practice's design brain, indexed. Past details, supplier rates, specification clauses — retrievable in seconds, owned by the firm.
Drawing detail library
Spec clause archive
Supplier rate card
AI-assisted retrieval
Sample engagement
The practice that cut change-order admin to ninety minutes.
Eleven staff. Twenty-six active projects. Change orders in email threads, signed at the end.
A residential practice ran projects in Monograph but tracked change orders in Word docs and email. Three-week build: change-order intake form, cost-and-time impact calculator, e-sign on the iPad before drawing changes. Six months in: change-order admin cut from six hours per project to one and a half, fee realisation up twelve percent, fewer disputes at handover.
How we measure: Change-order admin measured as cumulative time logged against change-order activities per project across 26 active projects; fee realisation = billed / proposed fee, weighted by project value.
−4.5 hrschange-order admin per project
+12%fee realisation, year one
0 disputesat handover, year one
Builds for professional services
Use cases that fit.
Each is a tightly-scoped build, fixed price, owned by you.