Building structural design fees

[M.Park]

Hi, Professionals
I am currently searching for building structural design fees and am focusing on practices in the United States. However, finding accurate and detailed information has been quite challenging. During my search, I came across the ENG-tips platform and noticed that it is a hub for active communication among engineering professionals. I would greatly appreciate your insights on this topic.

From my understanding, structural design fees in the U.S. are not standardized or regulated, and costs are generally determined through low-bid systems, shaped by market dynamics. However, I would like to better understand the typical fee levels. Could you kindly share any information or experiences regarding the following, particularly in relation to project size (construction cost, area, floors, design complexity etc)?

1. Structural Design Fees
   • Costs for calculations, analysis, etc.
   • ($ per sq ft?) or (% of construction cost?) or ($ per project?)
2. Structural Drawing Fees
   • Costs associated with preparing structural drawings.
   • ($ per sq ft?) or (% of construction cost?) or ($ per project?)
3. Structural Review and Stamping Fees
   • Fees for reviewing and stamping structural plans.
   • ($ per sq ft?) or (% of construction cost?) or ($ per project?)
4. (man-hours per sq ft) Estimation
   • Are there any commonly used methods for estimating the (man-hours per sq ft) required for these tasks?

Any approximate figures, common practices, or insights into industry standards would be incredibly helpful for my work.
Thank you in advance for your valuable input!
All the best in the new year!!

 

[Lomarandil]

From my understanding, structural design fees in the U.S. are not standardized or regulated, and costs are generally determined through low-bid systems, shaped by market dynamics.

This is absolutely true. Structural design fees in the US are highly variable, based on market segment, region, construction material, relationship to the rest of the design or construction team, etc. It's also somewhat proprietary information, as many of us are trying to avoid the race to the bottom by differentiating our services. So most engineers figure pricing out by experience along the way.

You'll find many discussions of this in the past on this forum, so I'd recommend searching (here or google with the prefix site:eng-tips.com) to gather some rule of thumb data.

If you'd like to start a new discussion, may I recommend that you provide more context on your specific type of structural design to narrow the range of possibilities?

 

[human909]

Any approximate figures, common practices, or insights into industry standards would be incredibly helpful for my work.

What exactly is your work?

This is your first post in these forums and it does seem a pertinent question.

 

[M.Park]

This is absolutely true. Structural design fees in the US are highly variable, based on market segment, region, construction material, relationship to the rest of the design or construction team, etc. It's also somewhat proprietary information, as many of us are trying to avoid the race to the bottom by differentiating our services. So most engineers figure pricing out by experience along the way.

You'll find many discussions of this in the past on this forum, so I'd recommend searching (here or google with the prefix site:eng-tips.com) to gather some rule of thumb data.

If you'd like to start a new discussion, may I recommend that you provide more context on your specific type of structural design to narrow the range of possibilities?

Thank you for your feedback.

I have reviewed all the past discussions on this forum, even the very old ones. However, I wanted to post this question to gather insights on the current fee trends. Additionally, most of the previous lengthy discussions were primarily from the perspective of individual practitioners (freelance structural engineers). I am also interested in learning about fees for projects that are too large to be handled by individuals and are typically designed by firms.

As you suggested, I will try to narrow down the scope and reframe my question accordingly.

Thank you again for your guidance.

 

[M.Park]

What exactly is your work?

This is your first post in these forums and it does seem a pertinent question.

It's a long story, but to put it briefly, the current position of structural engineers in Korea is not as strong as that of architects. Therefore, I aim to research global structural design fees and propose policies to ensure that structural engineers receive fair treatment.

To achieve this, I am looking into the fees for structural design, structural drawing preparation, and plan stamping in the United States.
Thank you for your interest in this matter.