Field notes for studios
Written for the working week
Fees, drawings, sharing, copyright and the arguments that come with them. Practical guides for architecture practices in India, with the figures checked and the sources named.
Every guide
Payments setupRazorpay for a studio: test mode, test cards, and going liveOpening the account, what test mode does and does not prove, the documented test cards and UPI IDs, what the standard plan costs, a go-live checklist, and the one question worth asking any platform that sits between you and your fee.18 August 2026 · 9 min readPaymentsRunning the studioSite & procurementWhat to order next: materials by construction stageThe four stages of an Indian residential build and what each one consumes, planning quantities for cement, steel, sand, aggregate and brick, lead times that decide the order date, and where a stage-wise list stops and a bill of quantities begins.15 August 2026 · 9 min readRunning the studioDrawings & documentsProportion & designThe golden ratio in architecture: φ, and what it is actually forHow to calculate φ and use it: the arithmetic, the compass construction, the Fibonacci shortcut, and how to build a golden scale for a real elevation. Including what the ratio must give way to, and which historical claims for it do not hold up.13 August 2026 · 11 min readDesign & proportionPractice & lawFees & pricingWhat should an architect charge in India?Percentage, per square foot or lump sum, the CoA minimum scale, the ranges Indian studios actually quote, and the documentation charge and GST that sit on top of every number. Plus how to price a project type you have never done.11 August 2026 · 12 min readPaymentsPractice & lawTools & setupDrive, WhatsApp, or a client portal: what your studio runs onAn honest comparison of the four ways studios run client work, what each costs in hours, the size at which each one breaks, and a checklist for evaluating anything that asks to sit between you and your fee.1 July 2026 · 8 min readRunning the studioPractice & lawRunning the studioScope creep and the endless revision: price it, log it, stop itUnpriced revisions are what cost you, and they arrive one reasonable request at a time. How to state what is included before it is tested, keep a variation log that turns an argument into arithmetic, and raise a fee without souring the relationship.10 June 2026 · 8 min readRunning the studioPractice & lawPractice & lawWho owns the drawings? Copyright and licence in Indian practiceUnder the Copyright Act, 1957, the drawings are yours unless you have signed them away. What the client actually buys, why a licence beats an assignment, what moral rights do and do not reach, and the clauses worth putting in your appointment letter.20 May 2026 · 8 min readPractice & lawDrawings & documentsSharing & handoverSending drawings without losing control of themA sharing protocol organised by who is receiving. What a client, a consultant, a contractor and a municipal office should each get, why the Drive-link-and-WhatsApp default keeps failing, and why expiry and revocation beat watermarking.29 April 2026 · 7 min readDrawings & documentsSecurityDocument controlThe drawing issue register: prove what you sent, and whenA transmittal is a covering note; a register is the record that survives the project. The columns to keep, a revision and status convention that holds as a job grows, and how to stop a contractor building off a superseded sheet.8 April 2026 · 8 min readDrawings & documentsRunning the studioFees & paymentGetting paid on time: a stage-wise fee schedule that actually holdsThe Council of Architecture schedule of payment, written out in full, and how to turn it into milestones a client cannot quietly ignore. Includes minimum fee percentages, the documentation charge, GST, and what to do when a client stalls.11 March 2026 · 10 min readPaymentsPractice & law