An architecture practice writes as much as it draws. Programming documents translate what a client wants into rooms and adjacencies. A code analysis works through occupancy, egress and fire separation. The specification book describes every material and how it is installed. During construction, the office answers RFIs, reviews submittals and issues ASIs and bulletins when the design has to change. Design narratives explain the idea to clients, boards and planning commissions.
That written layer sits beside the Revit model and the drawing set, and it is where the reasoning lives. Broker ads have started naming architecture firms: Return My Time lists spec guides for A&E firms, and Nyne advertises to engineering firms about CAD files. Troveo's engineering guide names specifications and design reports, and lists designs clients own among what stays out.
This page is for architecture practices with ten or more staff, from residential studios to firms doing healthcare, education and commercial work. It covers a week of practice records, which buyers fit, why client rights in designs and licensed spec content matter, and the questions to raise before licensing anything.
Worth
What a practice's data may be worth
Set for a typical practice, 25 staff and 15 years of records. Move the sliders to match yours. Our estimate, not an offer.
Buyers
Which buyers want this data
Buyers whose own published rules fit architecture firms. We can introduce you to the ones we work with.
Featured partners
micro1
Names professional services and asks for templates and knowledge bases, which covers office standards, detail libraries and spec templates.12,13
- $100K to $2M+, micro1 says9
Watch out for: Says it removes personal details only "when relevant", so ask exactly how.14
Polyshares
Buys design files, Drive and email, and excludes data held on behalf of clients, the line a practice has to draw for project work.15,16
- $100K to $2M+, Polyshares says10
- None, Polyshares says17
- An offer in 1 to 2 weeks, then paid in 30 to 60 days18
Watch out for: Exclusive by default, and every deal it lists is exclusive with no end date.19,20
Everyone else we reviewed
By score, with full reviews. We have no referral agreement with these companies, so we do not link out to them.
Nyne AI
Has run ads to engineering firms about CAD files, and takes firms with 20+ US W-2 staff and 3+ years.21,22
- $100K or more, Nyne says23
Watch out for: Pays only after the dataset is accepted, and publishes no timeline.24
Troveo
Its engineering firm guide names specifications, design reports, change requests and revision history, which an architecture office produces too.25
- Six figures and up for a whole company, Troveo says26
- A share of the revenue; the percentage is not published27
Watch out for: You are paid from a revenue share, so ask what percentage you keep.27
Who wants this
Do buyers want architecture firms?
No buyer publishes prices by industry, but their own intake forms show which industries they rate higher.
- Troveo puts engineering or architecture in its top of four demand tiers: "Buyers pay a premium for data from your industry."28
- Polyshares takes engineering and architecture, without marking it premium.29
- VMS, a broker, gives engineering or architecture standard weight when it estimates value.30
Which buyers take a practice your size
Shown for 25 staff, a typical practice. Ask whether contractors and part-time staff count.
micro1
Polyshares
No headcount rule; the length and texture of the record matter more32
Mode
20+ full-time US office staff (accounting firms 10+, law firms 6+)33
Pewter
20+ staff and 3+ years; by industry, from 10+ (healthcare) to 50+ (manufacturing, finance)34,35,36
Grepped
No headcount minimum stated37
Ventra
30+ US employees and 3+ years of records38
Mercor
None stated39
Troveo
No minimum stated; its estimator starts at 2040
Nyne
20+ US W-2 employees and 3+ years22
Endless
Roughly 30+ employees41
Supersoniq
50+ employees and 5+ years42
What buyers value
What in a practice's records buyers value
What buyers look for in your records, and what to talk through with your buyer before anything leaves your systems.
| Data | Where it lives | Why a buyer values it | Raise with the buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code analyses and life safety plans | Word, Revit sheets, PDFs | Building code applied to a specific design, step by step, with the reasoning written out. | Project addresses and client names. |
| Project specifications | Spec writing software, Word | Materials and methods described precisely, revised project to project. | Master spec content licensed from a publisher, which Troveo says must come out. |
| RFI responses, ASIs and submittal reviews | Bluebeam, Procore, email | The architect answering the field, with reasons and drawing references. | Nothing specific |
| Programming documents and design narratives | InDesign, Word | Client needs turned into a building concept and explained to non-architects. | Client programme details under confidentiality. |
| Office standards and detail libraries | Revit templates, shared drive | The practice's own way of drawing and detailing, reused across projects. | Nothing specific |
A week of records
A week of data at a practice
- Monday: a code analysis for a school addition, with egress widths and separation ratings worked out.
- Tuesday: eight RFIs answered on a medical office building, two needing a sketch.
- Wednesday: the specification book updated for a substitution request, with a written evaluation.
- Thursday: a design narrative drafted for a planning commission hearing.
- Friday: a quality review of a permit set against the office checklist, with 30 comments.
Process
How it works with each buyer
In each buyer's own words. Where a buyer publishes nothing, we say so.
micro1
- Internal docs, SOPs and playbooks, knowledge bases, project management workflows, internal comms, templates, CRM and workflow metadata, task histories13
- 30 to 200 employees31
- $100K-$2M+ per data package; over $1M for unique data9
- PII removed "when relevant"14
- The company keeps ownership of its data and reviews samples before release43
- Not published
Polyshares
Nyne AI
Selling or closing
Selling or closing your practice? License its data first
When founding principals retire, an architecture practice faces succession, and the archive of projects can outlast the partnership. Troveo says firms in its engineering guide often start with completed projects. Before a merger, sale or closure, ask each licensing company whether office standards, templates and completed projects can be licensed separately, and what clients' rights in each project mean for inclusion.3,4
FAQ
Architecture firms: questions, answered
Troveo lists designs clients own, standards and code text licensed from a publisher, export-controlled data and anything received under a confidentiality agreement. In our reading, master spec content is the item a practice most often overlooks.4
Those are the clearest candidates. micro1 lists templates and knowledge bases among what it wants, and a detail library is something the practice drew for itself rather than for any one client.13
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Questions to talk through with your buyer
Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.
Questions for this kind of business
- Which owner agreements give clients rights in drawings, models and specifications?
- How is licensed master specification content identified and removed?
- How are client names, addresses and confidential programmes removed?
- Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
- Do customer, vendor or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?
- Do professional rules apply (AICPA, IRC 7216, HIPAA, ABA Model Rule 1.17, insurance agency contracts, adviser rules, state boards)?
Questions for any buyer
- Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
- Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
- Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
- How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
- What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
- Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
- Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?