For artists
How much should an artist charge for a public art commission?
There is no single right number, but there is a right method. This guide sets out how public art budgets actually break down, what the artist fee should cover, the reference figures worth knowing in the UK, and the terms that decide whether a commission pays properly or quietly loses you money.
By Lucy Clarke, Nonesuch Works. Published .
How a public art budget breaks down
Every public commission budget, whatever its size, contains the same parts: the artist fee, design development, fabrication and materials, site preparation and installation, transport, insurance and permits, project management, and contingency. Problems start when these parts are not named separately, because whatever is unnamed comes out of the artist fee.
As a working shape, the artist fee commonly sits around 10 to 20 per cent of the total project budget. On a £50,000 commission that suggests a fee in the region of £5,000 to £10,000, with the remainder covering production, installation and contingency. Smaller budgets push the percentage higher, because the design thinking, meetings and approvals do not shrink with the project.
The artist fee pays for the idea and the expertise. Production pays for making it exist. Never let the two share one line.
Artist fee versus production costs
The single most protective decision in pricing a public commission is separating the artist fee from the production budget. The fee covers concept, design development, your time across the project and the value of your practice. Production covers fabrication, materials, engineering, transport and installation, ideally paid directly by the commissioner or held in a separate pot.
When the two are merged, every overrun in fabrication or ground works comes out of your income. When they are separate, a steel price rise is a project problem to solve together, not a personal loss.
Typical figures in the UK
Treat the following as reference points, not quotes. Every project carries its own scope, risk and context, and these figures were checked in mid 2026 against published rates and observed commissions.
- Artists’ Union England recommended minimum rates of pay (2025): roughly £217 per day for a new graduate, rising to roughly £387 per day for a lead artist. These are floors, not market rates.
- Commercial day rates observed in practice: in the region of £250 per day for emerging artists, £400 for established artists, and £750 and upwards for senior artists leading significant projects.
- Contingency: 10 to 30 per cent of production costs, scaling with complexity, duration and site risk.
- Whole-project scale: small community commissions can complete in the low thousands, while large permanent public works routinely run from £50,000 into the hundreds of thousands, and landmark projects beyond £1 million.
A worked illustration: a senior artist on a complex installation might carry 25 days of project time, a fee reflecting that time and the work’s value, production and materials on top, and 30 per cent contingency. Priced properly, a project of that shape lands in the region of £50,000 to £60,000. The same project priced from a merged single figure with no contingency frequently ends up delivered at a loss.
Free tool: set your fee and the commission pricing calculator builds the full quote around it, including complexity, usage and contingency, then shows the minimum you need to cover your time.
What to include in a quote
A public commission quote should name each of the following as its own line, even where the answer is an estimate.
- Artist fee, stated separately from everything else
- Design development, including revisions, and what happens beyond the included rounds
- Fabrication and materials, with fresh supplier quotes rather than figures from a previous project
- Site preparation, installation and any engineering sign-off
- Transport, storage and insurance up to handover
- Travel, accommodation and time for site visits and stakeholder meetings
- Contingency, stated as a percentage of production costs
Just as important is what the quote should exclude, in writing: ongoing maintenance beyond an agreed defects period, costs arising from site conditions the commissioner did not disclose, and additional usage of your work beyond the agreed purpose.
What to structure early
Public commissions often involve multiple stakeholders, strict timelines and delivery expectations that go beyond the creative concept. They add constraints that are easy to underestimate, and good structure protects the work and your time. Settle these before the project is underway:
- Scope and deliverables
- Site constraints and permissions
- Timeline, approvals and sign-off
- Payment schedule and milestones
- Responsibilities for fabrication and install
- Insurance and risk responsibilities
- Documentation and credit
The points worth negotiating
The fee is only one of the levers. On public commissions these terms often matter as much as the headline number.
- Payment schedule: staged payments tied to milestones, with a meaningful payment on signing. Never fully on completion.
- Copyright and reproduction: you normally keep copyright and license specific uses. Images of the work for the commissioner’s marketing are usually fine; merchandising is a separate conversation.
- Maintenance and decommissioning: who cares for the work, for how long, and what happens if it is removed or relocated.
- Scope change: a written mechanism for pricing changes after approval, so a moved site boundary or a new stakeholder requirement is a costed variation, not a favour.
- Kill fee: what you are paid if the project is cancelled at each stage, protecting design work already done.
Common pricing mistakes on public commissions
- Quoting one merged figure, so production overruns silently consume the fee
- Pricing without contingency on a project type where surprises are normal
- Leaving out the invisible time: stakeholder meetings, planning input, approvals, community engagement
- Reusing old fabrication quotes when material prices have moved
- Accepting payment fully on completion for a project running many months
- Signing away copyright or open-ended maintenance obligations without pricing them
- Treating the published budget as fixed rather than opening the cost conversation
When the numbers deserve a second pair of eyes
Public commissions concentrate a lot of risk into one signature: budgets, engineering, councils, contracts and timelines, all at once. If you are pricing your first significant public work, or the contract in front of you covers unfamiliar territory, working through the numbers with someone who has delivered these projects changes what you ask for and what you protect.
A £250 strategy session is built for exactly this: 90 minutes on your specific commission, fee and contract, with written follow-up notes. For commissions that need hands-on support through delivery, from structuring the agreement to overseeing production, talk to us about the project.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of a public art budget should the artist fee be?
A common working range is 10 to 20 per cent of the total project budget, with smaller projects sitting at the higher end because the fixed work of design and approvals does not shrink with the budget. The fee should never be the leftover after production costs. Agree it as its own line first, then build the production budget around it.
Should the artist fee be separate from production costs?
Yes, always. The artist fee pays for your idea, design development, time and expertise. Production costs cover fabrication, materials, transport, installation and insurance. If the two are merged into one figure, every production overrun quietly eats your fee. Separate lines protect both you and the commissioner.
How much contingency should a public art commission include?
Between 10 and 30 per cent of production costs, scaling with complexity and duration. Ground works, weather, engineering surprises and material price changes are normal on public projects, not exceptions. A commission priced without contingency is priced to lose money.
Is there a minimum day rate for artists in the UK?
Artists’ Union England publishes recommended minimum rates of pay, which in its 2025 schedule start at around £217 per day for a new graduate and rise to around £387 per day for a lead artist. These are minimums, not market rates. Commercial and public commissions for experienced artists routinely sit well above them.
Who pays for maintenance of a permanent public artwork?
That must be agreed in the contract before you sign, not assumed. For permanent works, the commissioner normally takes on maintenance after a defined defects period, with the artist consulted on method. If a contract leaves maintenance obligations with the artist indefinitely, that is a term to negotiate.
What should an artist do if the offered budget is too low?
Cost the project honestly first, so you know the real gap. Then respond with options rather than a flat yes or no, such as a reduced scope at the offered budget, or the full ambition at the real cost. Commissioners respect a clear cost breakdown, and it moves the conversation from haggling to problem solving.
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