FAQ
Design, build, transform.
Updated: September 2026
Straight answers to the questions people ask before entrusting a project to an architect. Real figures, official references, no promises we cannot keep.
OUR APPROACH
How does the first meeting work?
Free, with no obligation, on site.
We come to see your property or plot and take the time to understand your project, your way of life and your constraints. At a second meeting, we give you a clear, detailed and costed proposal for our services.
Why choose TRIBE Architects?
Few projects at a time, each one followed personally.
We deliberately limit the number of projects we take on at the same time. This is what makes real availability possible: a single point of contact, from the first sketch to the handover of the keys. No standard model, no imposed style: every project grows out of its site, its uses and the personality of its owner.
BUDGET AND FEES
How much does an architect cost in Luxembourg?
Generally between 7.5% and 15% of the construction cost, agreed in writing before the assignment begins.
In Luxembourg, architects' fees are not regulated: since 2024, the Order of Architects and Consulting Engineers (OAI) no longer publishes a fee scale. Fees depend on the nature of the project, its complexity and the scope of the assignment.
At TRIBE, fees are set in writing from the outset, stage by stage. You know what is included, what is not, and when each amount is due.
What do the fees include?
Everything your assignment covers, in black and white.
From the first sketch to the handover of the works: design, permit application, contractor tendering, coordination and site supervision. You can choose the full assignment or only certain stages.
What budget should I plan to renovate or build in Luxembourg?
€600,000 to €700,000 to fully renovate a house from the 1980s; from €2.3 million for an architect-designed house.
We have no minimum budget: our renovations generally start at around €250,000. These are the orders of magnitude we observe, in construction cost, excluding fees and VAT:
– Complete renovation of a 1980s house (loft conversion, dormers, insulation, window frames, façades, finishes): €600,000 to €700,000, almost every time.
– From one million euros, it often becomes possible to start again from scratch.
– An architect-designed house, entirely bespoke: from €2.3 million.
From the first meeting, we place your project within these ranges.
What costs should I plan for in addition to the fees?
A few specialists and a contingency of around 10%, listed from the first estimate.
– Surveyor (géomètre): site survey, setting out, boundary marking, vertical cadastre.
– Structural engineer: structure, load-bearing walls, slabs, underpinning.
– Building services engineer: heating, ventilation, plumbing, electrics.
– Approved energy adviser: energy performance certificate, grants.
– Soil survey: ground conditions, suitable foundations.
– Health and safety coordinator: mandatory as soon as several contractors are on site.
– Condition survey of neighbouring buildings: a record made before the works, which protects you if cracks appear.
– Utility connections and taxes: water, electricity, sewers, telecoms, municipal taxes.
– Insurance: contractor's all-risks, client's liability.
For renovations, we recommend a contingency of around 10% of the construction cost.
Can you cost the project before the permit?
Yes, item by item, from the preliminary design. This is what sets us apart.
You make the major decisions before the permit application and before contractors are consulted, not after discovering a budget gap.
Will your estimate still be accurate in a year?
Yes, we adjust it every year using the STATEC index.
We update our estimates every year in line with the construction price index published by STATEC, Luxembourg's national statistics institute. Between October 2024 and October 2025, it rose by 2.0%. Your budget follows the real market, not an assumption.
What financial support may apply?
The 3% housing VAT rate and the Klimabonus, built in from the design stage.
– 3% housing VAT instead of 17%, for your main residence, up to a ceiling per dwelling. For renovations, the dwelling generally has to be at least 10 years old, or the works carried out within 5 years of purchase.
– Klimabonus for the energy renovation of a dwelling more than 10 years old: insulation, windows, ventilation. An approved energy adviser is mandatory, and the advice itself is subsidised (up to €1,700 for a house). The application must be made before the works start.
BEFORE BUYING
Can you assess a property before I buy it?
Yes, within a few days. It is often the most cost-effective step.
We check what can really be done with the property: buildable area, permitted heights and volumes, scope for extension or division, planning and heritage constraints, visible condition of the structure. You buy knowing the property's potential and its limits.
How much should I really budget to renovate a house I have just bought?
Often more than half the purchase price, up to two thirds for a major renovation.
This is the question people often ask too late. Many buyers purchase a house for around one million euros, thinking that a refresh costing a few tens of thousands of euros will be enough. Others set a renovation budget of €250,000 to €350,000 without knowing whether it matches the property.
The reality is different: bringing an older house up to today's standards of comfort and regulation (insulation, windows, building services, finishes) often means investing more than half of its purchase price. For a major renovation, it approaches two thirds. These amounts exclude fees and VAT.
Too many projects start with a vague figure, and reality only emerges once the contracts are signed. At TRIBE, we do the opposite: a realistic order of magnitude from the first meeting, then a detailed estimate before the permit. Better an uncomfortable figure before signing than an unpleasant surprise afterwards.
Do you renovate existing houses?
Yes, including in protected areas.
Major renovations, restructuring, extensions, enhancing a family property: a renovation can profoundly transform a building while preserving what gives it its character.
PERMITS AND PREPARATION
How long does it take to obtain a building permit?
Two to three months for a complete application, in our experience.
What takes the most time is the preparation. An application that is incomplete or poorly aligned with the municipal planning rules (PAG, PAP) is sent back for additional information and can cost months.
Once issued, the permit is valid for 2 years: works must have genuinely started within that period. It must be displayed on site, and third parties have 3 months to challenge it.
Why is preparation so important?
The most expensive problems are the ones that could have been anticipated.
Surveys, planning analysis, technical studies, cost estimate: every hour spent here saves weeks of delay and contract variations on site. A well-prepared project leaves room for good decisions, not decisions made in a hurry.
What is a vertical cadastre (cadastre vertical) for?
It describes the units of a co-owned building; without it, an apartment cannot be sold.
It identifies each private unit (apartment, cellar, garage), the common parts and each owner's share, expressed in thousandths. It has been mandatory in Luxembourg since 1989 for every building in co-ownership.
It is essential to sell an apartment (the notary cannot record the sale of a unit without it), to divide a house into several dwellings or to allocate service charges. Drawn up by a surveyor, an architect or a consulting engineer, it is registered with the Land Registry and Topography Administration (ACT). We coordinate it for you.
CONSTRUCTION AND COST CONTROL
How do you avoid budget overruns?
An estimate before the permit, contractor quotes compared item by item, the budget reviewed at every site meeting.
Any change requested during the works is costed and approved in writing before it is carried out. Our commitment: to keep the final cost as close as possible to the announced budget.
Which craftsmen do you work with?
A network of master craftsmen we know personally.
Stonemasons, carpenters, joiners, metalworkers, plasterers: they are the ones who make the difference in the details you see and touch. We are also happy to work with the contractors you wish to keep.
Who is my point of contact during the works?
Always the same person: your architect.
Your architect coordinates the contractors, reports on progress and stays with you through to the handover of the works and the clearing of any defects.
What happens if cracks appear in a neighbour's property?
A condition survey before the works protects you.
Before sensitive works (demolition, foundations, underpinning, work on a boundary), we recommend a joint condition survey of neighbouring buildings by an expert or a bailiff. It records the existing condition and serves as a reference in the event of a claim.
BESPOKE ARCHITECTURE
What architectural style do you design in?
No imposed style.
Contemporary, classical, heritage or English-inspired: style is not a catalogue. It grows out of the site, the brief and the people who will live in the project. Our standards, however, do not change: architecture that is elegant, durable and able to stand the test of time.
How far does your bespoke design go?
From the building envelope to built-in furniture.
Interiors, joinery, details, built-in furniture, materials, lighting, outdoor spaces: we design a coherent whole, not a shell conceived independently of what it contains.
Do you only design single-family houses?
No, from multi-unit housing to hospitality.
TRIBE works mainly in residential architecture, both single-family and multi-unit, and also takes on hotel, commercial and restaurant projects when their nature and scale suit our approach.
TRIBE PROJECTS
Which projects have you completed?
Saving, taking over, adding value.
Pfaffenthal — saving a three-hundred-year-old house (around €600,000)
In the UNESCO buffer zone, the house brings together three periods: a first building from around 1700, a 19th-century extension and another from the mid-20th century. It suffered from damp and was close to being unfit for habitation. We completely rebuilt the basement and the façades. In place of the old veranda now stands a true orangery in hand-cut insulating masonry, assembled like dressed stone: no artifice, no insulation glued to the surface.
Gasperich — taking over a project and seeing it through (around €1.5 million)
Demolition of a single-family house and construction of a five-apartment building. TRIBE handled the amended permit and the project management: coordination of all parties, budget and schedule control.
Virton (Belgium) — transforming and adding value (around €250,000)
Dilapidated annexes made way for a carefully designed new annexe, and the building was restructured as shared housing. The result: returns tripled.
INVESTORS AND CONFIDENTIAL PROJECTS
Do you work with private investors and on confidential projects?
Yes, with the discretion agreed.
Heritage, residential or hotel projects: where discretion, coordination and control of the project are essential, we strictly respect the confidentiality requirements agreed with our clients.
Where do you work?
In Luxembourg, the Greater Region and Brussels.
Our office is in Bertrange. We work further afield when the project justifies it.
SHORT GLOSSARY
– Client (maître de l'ouvrage): you, the person who commissions and finances the project.
– PAG (plan d'aménagement général): the municipality's general development plan; it sets what can be built on each plot.
– PAP (plan d'aménagement particulier): a detailed plan that refines the PAG for a neighbourhood or housing development.
– Building permit (autorisation de bâtir): the permit issued by the mayor to build, convert or demolish.
– Preliminary design (avant-projet): the first drawn and costed version of the project.
– Ceiling height (HSP): the clear height between the finished floor and the ceiling.
– Underpinning (reprise en sous-œuvre): strengthening the foundations of an existing building.
– Variation (avenant): a change to a contractor's contract during the works.
– Handover (réception des travaux): the formal acceptance of the completed works, with or without reservations.
– Clearing of defects (levée des réserves): correcting the defects noted at handover.
USEFUL DOCUMENTS
These links lead to the official pages (in French), always up to date:
– Building permit (Guichet.lu)
– Vertical cadastre (Land Registry and Topography Administration)
– Klimabonus – energy renovation (Guichet.lu)
– 3% housing VAT (Luxembourg tax portal)
– Geoportal: cadastral maps and PAG of your municipality
WHAT GUIDES OUR WORK
Bespoke. Every project starts from the site, the brief and its owner.
Honest figures. A realistic budget from the first meeting, held through to handover.
Continuity. One point of contact, from the first sketch to the handover of the keys.
Craftsmanship. Craftsmen whose quality of execution is part of the architecture.
Durability. Architecture designed to last, in its materials as in its proportions.
Discretion. Every project is handled with the confidentiality private clients expect.
A QUESTION THAT ISN'T HERE?
Ask us at a first meeting, free and with no obligation.