Greetings Forumer's,
This post was placed in another forum ... please forgive me for any duplication ...
I wanted to get some feedback on what is 'fair and reasonable' regarding distribution of a fee for a Prime Consultant and Sub-Consultants for a typical building project.
Some background information ...
We use a publication from the Alberta Association of Architects/ Association of Professional Engineers, Geoligists and Geophysicists of Alberta entiltled:
'Recommended Conditions of Engagement and Schedule of Professional Fees for Building Projects'
This publication assigns a Category to a particular building type and a range of fee precentages for a range of total project costs.
Similarly, we also look at RS Means Building Construction Cost Data, Reference Section, Reference Number R011 Overhead and Miscellaneous Data, R01107-010 Architectural Fees and R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) as a guideline.
My question is:
How does the total Consultant fee get distributed amongst sub-consultants? Example:
Using the AIA method:
Multi Purpose, Multi User Building Complex located in Northern Alberta. Construction Budget is $2,300,000. No unusual project variables.
Building is Category 5, Community Multi Use Centre. Percentage fee calculation:
On the first $1,200,000 ---> 10.43% or $125,160
On the next $1,100,000 ---> 10.15% or $111,650
Total Basic Fee: $236,810
How is this distributed amongst Prime Consultant, and sub-consultants? I am interested in the structural proportions mostly.
One of the Architects whom I work with assigns a value of 8% of fee for structural subconsultant. Therefore, the structural subconsult fee would be 0.08*$236,810 = $18,950 ( round figures)
When I check the RS Means reference ( R01107-010) ... this seems quite low. For the same project as noted above, the RS Means calculation would run as follows:
Building Type: Apartments/Banks/Schools/Libraries/Offices/ Municipal Buildings: Use 7.5% of Total Project Cost( interpolated) yields : $172,500.
This is not too far off the estimate established from AIA/APEGGA.
Then, using R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) , the Type of Construction would fall into Hotels/Apartments/Offices/Dorms/Hospitals/Public Buildings/Food Stores (in my opinion) from which the table indicates 1.70% for a project size ranging from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. This table notes these percentages are included in Architectural Fees.
Using this method, I would calculate Structural Engineering Fees as :
0.017*$2,300,000 = $39,100
In summary, using AIA/APEGGA method, the Architect calculates the value of Structural engineering work as $18,950 while working thru the RS Means method yields the structural engineering fee to be $39,100.
I realize both methods rely upon indices of one form or another. Can anyone else provide me with their experience in this matter?
This post was placed in another forum ... please forgive me for any duplication ...
I wanted to get some feedback on what is 'fair and reasonable' regarding distribution of a fee for a Prime Consultant and Sub-Consultants for a typical building project.
Some background information ...
We use a publication from the Alberta Association of Architects/ Association of Professional Engineers, Geoligists and Geophysicists of Alberta entiltled:
'Recommended Conditions of Engagement and Schedule of Professional Fees for Building Projects'
This publication assigns a Category to a particular building type and a range of fee precentages for a range of total project costs.
Similarly, we also look at RS Means Building Construction Cost Data, Reference Section, Reference Number R011 Overhead and Miscellaneous Data, R01107-010 Architectural Fees and R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) as a guideline.
My question is:
How does the total Consultant fee get distributed amongst sub-consultants? Example:
Using the AIA method:
Multi Purpose, Multi User Building Complex located in Northern Alberta. Construction Budget is $2,300,000. No unusual project variables.
Building is Category 5, Community Multi Use Centre. Percentage fee calculation:
On the first $1,200,000 ---> 10.43% or $125,160
On the next $1,100,000 ---> 10.15% or $111,650
Total Basic Fee: $236,810
How is this distributed amongst Prime Consultant, and sub-consultants? I am interested in the structural proportions mostly.
One of the Architects whom I work with assigns a value of 8% of fee for structural subconsultant. Therefore, the structural subconsult fee would be 0.08*$236,810 = $18,950 ( round figures)
When I check the RS Means reference ( R01107-010) ... this seems quite low. For the same project as noted above, the RS Means calculation would run as follows:
Building Type: Apartments/Banks/Schools/Libraries/Offices/ Municipal Buildings: Use 7.5% of Total Project Cost( interpolated) yields : $172,500.
This is not too far off the estimate established from AIA/APEGGA.
Then, using R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) , the Type of Construction would fall into Hotels/Apartments/Offices/Dorms/Hospitals/Public Buildings/Food Stores (in my opinion) from which the table indicates 1.70% for a project size ranging from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. This table notes these percentages are included in Architectural Fees.
Using this method, I would calculate Structural Engineering Fees as :
0.017*$2,300,000 = $39,100
In summary, using AIA/APEGGA method, the Architect calculates the value of Structural engineering work as $18,950 while working thru the RS Means method yields the structural engineering fee to be $39,100.
I realize both methods rely upon indices of one form or another. Can anyone else provide me with their experience in this matter?
