Free AIA Design Phases Project Template
The AIA phases already come with a fee split most owners recognise: 15 percent schematic design, 20 design development, 40 construction documents, 5 bidding, 20 construction administration. What practices lose is the link between that split and the hours, when a design-development change is drawn into the construction documents without an additional-services request. This template lays the five phases out, with an owner approval closing each of the three design phases, so the approval, the fee share and the hours are one record.
No credit card. Opens as a real project on the Free plan.
The spreadsheet is a 17-task plan with phases, durations and milestones, ready for Excel or Google Sheets. It carries no dates, so set your own start, or paste it into the Gantt chart generator to have the schedule built for you. Want to compare the plans side by side first? Every one of them is on the project plan template page, with the rows shown before you download.
The Microsoft Project file (.xml) is the same plan with its dates worked out: every task is scheduled from Monday 4 January 2027. Open it in Microsoft Project, or open it free in Onplana Schedule, the desktop app that edits Project files without Microsoft Project.
What’s inside
All 17 tasks are below, across the five phases. The owner approvals are short tasks by design; the work is in the documents they approve, and the approval is the moment the phase's fee share is earned.
17
Scheduled tasks
5
Phases
6
Milestones
~57
Weeks end to end
Where the fee split meets the timesheet
The B101 fee split is a promise about proportion, not about hours. A 40 percent construction documents phase is a statement that the drawings are the bulk of the work; it says nothing about how many hours the practice will actually spend if the owner changes the finishes after design development is approved. The gap between the two is where an architecture practice's margin goes, and it is invisible in a timesheet tool that does not know which phase an hour belongs to.
In this template each phase is an epic and each hour lands on a task inside one, so every hour is recorded against the phase it was spent on, and each task carries the estimate it is measured against. Onplana does not yet total hours, cost or progress per phase, so setting a phase's hours beside its fee share is a comparison you make from its tasks today; the margin report itself reads by client, project and person.
The owner approvals are milestones because they are the moments a design phase's fee share becomes invoiceable and its scope stops moving for free. Quote the phases as milestone lines on the deal, each against one of the template's milestones: the three owner approvals, then contract award and the two completions. A share is recognised when its linked milestone completes. The invoice itself, and the ledger posting, still happen in your accounting system; this template does not pretend otherwise.
The plan, phase by phase
Schematic Design4 tasks
Confirm the program, budget and site constraints
The owner's program, budget and schedule confirmed; zoning, code and site conditions reviewed before anything is drawn.
Prepare the schematic design alternatives
Site plan, floor plans, massing and building sections for two or three alternatives, with a recommended scheme.
Prepare the preliminary cost estimate
The estimate against the budget, and the schedule re-baselined on the scheme.
Owner approval of schematic design
The SD set approved in writing. The SD fee, customarily 15%, is invoiced at approval.
Design Development4 tasks
Develop the design and coordinate the engineering
Refined plans, sections and elevations; structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems selected and coordinated.
Select materials, finishes and major equipment
Outline specifications, finish schedules, and the equipment that drives the MEP design.
Update the cost estimate and reconcile it to the budget
The DD estimate reconciled, with value-engineering decisions recorded before construction documents begin.
Owner approval of design development
The DD set approved; customarily 20% of the fee.
Construction Documents3 tasks
Produce the construction documents
Drawings and specifications in the detail a contractor needs to price and build, coordinated across every discipline.
Complete the code review and permit submission
The building department submission, reviewer comments answered, the permit obtained.
Owner approval of construction documents
The CD set approved; customarily 40% of the fee.
Bidding and Negotiation2 tasks
Issue the bid documents and run the bid period
The bid set issued, the pre-bid meeting held, questions answered by addendum.
Evaluate the bids and recommend the award
Bid tabulation, qualifications reviewed, the owner-contractor agreement prepared. Customarily 5% of the fee.
Construction Administration4 tasks
Administer the construction contract
Site visits, pay application review and certification, change orders, RFIs and submittals. Customarily 20% of the fee.
Review submittals and respond to RFIs
Turnaround tracked; a response that changes scope is routed as a change order, never absorbed.
Conduct the substantial completion inspection and punch list
The inspection, the punch list issued and closed, the certificate of substantial completion.
Close out the project and reconcile the fee
Final completion, record documents, the final pay application, and the fee reconciled against the phase schedule.
Milestones
Six milestones: three owner approvals, the contract award, substantial completion and final completion. On the Gantt chart the distance from contract award to substantial completion is the 20 percent construction administration share, and it is the phase whose hours the practice controls least.
Schematic design approved
Day 45 of the plan
Design development approved
Day 115 of the plan
Construction documents approved
Day 235 of the plan
Contract awarded
Day 270 of the plan
Substantial completion
Day 393 of the plan
Final completion
Day 400 of the plan
Frequently asked
Is the 15/20/40/5/20 split a rule?
No. It is the split most owners and practices recognise from the AIA B101 tradition, and it is a starting point. Change the shares to match your agreement; the template names the phases and the approvals, and the fee lines on the deal carry whatever split you agree.
How do I bill a phase?
Quote the phases as milestone lines on the deal, one per phase with its share of the fee, each linked to one of the template's milestones: the owner approvals for schematic design, design development and construction documents, contract award for bidding, and substantial or final completion for construction administration. Send the quote for the owner to accept. Each share is recognised in Onplana when its linked milestone completes, so the phase's fee reaches the margin report in the period its milestone is completed, beside the project's approved hours and cost. The invoice itself is raised in your accounting system.
Where do pre-design and additional services go?
Pre-design is not one of the five basic-services phases, so add it as a sixth epic if the engagement includes it. Additional services are the point of the template's change tasks: an owner change after an approval is priced as a new line rather than drawn into the next phase for free.
How is progress on a phase measured?
Per task, not per phase yet. Each task carries its own progress and estimate, and hours are logged against the task, so everything a phase needs is on its tasks. Onplana does not yet roll that up into one progress figure for the phase. A phase measure is planned, and every task in the template carries an estimate so it will have something to measure against.
We use the RIBA stages. Is there a version for that?
Yes, the RIBA Plan of Work template lays out Stages 0 to 7 the same way, with a client sign-off closing each of Stages 1 to 4.
Related guides
Onplana for architects and engineers
This template and the RIBA one, the fee per phase recognised at each approval, and what Onplana does not do.
Onplana for professional services
Timesheets, rate cards and utilization for firms that bill by the hour or by the phase.
Onplana Services
The commercial layer: clients, pipeline, quotes accepted on a private link, margin per client.
Start with the plan already built
Open the AIA Design Phases (Architecture, US) template free and your phases, tasks, and milestones are scheduled before the kickoff meeting. No credit card, no time limit.