Engineering Fee 1

[SteelPE]

I was just putting a proposal together today on a small project and trying to put some % of construction costs to the proposal. I seem to remember .5%-1.5% from my old college professor. RS means has 1%-2%. I basically use this to check my proposals and then adjust accordingly. I found this online:

http://www.fixr.com/costs/structural-engineer

I just find it funny that they referenced this website where this is a very touchy subject.

 

[dcarr82775]

8%...dare to dream

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

"If it's on the internet then it must be true." -Albert Einstein

Maine Professional and Structural Engineer.

http://www.fepc.us

 

[dcarr82775]

Spectacular Mighty, just spectacular

 

[Signious]

Just for shits and giggles, looking at one of my main clients residential jobs:

-500,000 mean house market value, liberally saying the house is 50% gross profit to the build
-250,000 external construction cost per house

General engineering package including Form A, Soil bearing & SO4, Lateral, Beams, Walls, and Redlining plans: 3,000 give or take

1.2% of construction costs for all the engineering the city will ask for (not counting general floor & roof design, but that is included in materials cost from the shop)

God I would love to make 20,000 from every house I sent out the door...

 

[TLHS]

Stuff in the 8-10% range isn't insane in large scale industrial work. There's a lot of process, reviews, meetings and back and forth involved. Also, no architects, so there's more layout type of work involved. I've seen the rare weird small retrofit project hit 20%. With residential work you'd get laughed out of the room if you tried to get that kind of percentage.

So, basically, it depends on what you're doing.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

On a serious note I can second TLHS that 5-8% isn't unheard of on industrial projects but those fees are usually justified by the extremely specialized nature of the work and the cost of failure should the design not perform and cause the plant to have to shut down for a period of time.

Maine Professional and Structural Engineer.

http://www.fepc.us

 

[Brad805]

At our annual insurance conference one presenter had a slide showing the profit margins for many different industries. I was very sad when he mentioned consulting engineers are only marginally more profitable than grocery stores. It was a North America wide survey by a large insurance company, so I tend to believe it to a degree.

 

[steellion]

0.8% is closer to the number for typical projects.

No one wants to comment that this website cites a starting structural engineer at $20,000-30,000 per year? That's not even minimum wage at some U.S. cities and states. Can I own the firm that gets 8% fees and pays $20k/year for engineers fresh out of college?

 

[Enhineyero]

We engineers like to think of ourselves as smart folks but as Signious posted - businessmen get 50% and we get 1.2%. Makes me contemplate everyday......

 

[IDS]

http://www.fixr.com/costs/structural-engineer

I just find it funny that they referenced this website where this is a very touchy subject.

I'm not going there.

We'd be trapped,
We'd be in Gibb's Paradox
We'd be in a self-defeating two-dimensional continuum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N0YW3t6wEQ

But seriously, fees are related to the extent of services provided, and the extent of opportunity for providing improved value in the end product. % fees can vary widely depending size and type of project, who else is involved, level of competition, etc.


Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

 

[darthsoilsguy2]

"Today, according to Eng-Tips.com, a consumer can expect to pay roughly 8% of a total construction project fee to the structural engineer. For example, a building is designed by an engineering consulting firm, and receives $237,000 for their work. It is reasonable to anticipate that the structural engineer would then receive roughly $18,960."

In What Sick World is this 8% of the Total Construction Project Fee?................... That $19k is 8% of the total design fee of $237k going to an engineering consulting firm.... it's probably a 3 Million dollar building. Come on people.... The Emperor is Butt Naked, don't you see it?

 

[medeek]

The contractor and the designer get paid substantially more than I do on any residential project. This is why I am open to getting more into the design of residential structures rather than just focusing solely on the engineering of them. My competition charges between $0.50 to $0.75 per sqft whereas the designers/architects charge about $1.50 per sqft for what they do.

A confused student is a good student.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, PE

http://www.medeek.com

 

[dcarr82775]

Worked with an interior designer once. Her fee was a % of the cost of the furnishings. She did quite well as strangely enough the furnishings cost a fortune.

 

[SteelPE]

AAAhhhh

You guys are missing the point. It's funny that this website was referenced for such a topic especially since nobody can agree on what is appropriate.

dcarr

My wife is an interior designer... the grass is not green on the other side of that fence. It's bad enough that during tough times everyone who owns a skill saw is a contractor..... could you imagine having to deal with your clients if everyone thought they were an expert because they picked out a paint color once.

 

[BUGGAR]

I used to consult with Construction Contractors that didn't follow the plans and were mandated by the owner (usually a municipality) to hire an Engineer to design a fix. I was that Engineer and the Contractor would throw money at me to fix his problem as fast as possible.

 

[SteelPE]

Buggar,

That sounds like a horrible way to earn a living. I hate fixing mistakes made by others.... especially if the ones fixing the mistakes are the people who made them in the first place.