Proposing Domestic Structural Design Fee Standards Based on Global Practices

Architectural structural design plays a vital role in ensuring safety and minimizing property damage, requiring a high level of expertise and technical skill. However, Korea currently lacks a standardized system for structural design fees. This study highlights the need to establish official fee standards and aims to develop a framework suitable for domestic use by examining international practices. A comparative analysis was conducted across eight countries: Korea, the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, focusing on how structural design fees are calculated, whether official standards exist, and the specific components included in fee structures. The study reviewed various methods, such as hourly or unit-area rates, percentages based on total construction costs, and ratios relative to Architect-Engineer (AE) or Architect (A) fees. Drawing on current engineering service fee standards in Korea, two calculation methods were proposed: the actual cost-plus fixed fee method and the construction cost rate method. These approaches consider factors such as building complexity and structural system. The proposed methods were evaluated for validity and fairness through comparisons with global fee levels and supporting statistical data.