How much to charge - seismic restraint

[atrizzy]

Hi all,

I'm hoping I could get a straw poll of how much I should charge for a seismic restraint project.
(I don't do many of these but have the opportunity to gain a new client by taking this on)

It involves 4 pieces of electrical equipment being anchored to a slab on grade. I was thinking $600 per piece of equipment, plus $200 for the letter of assurance.
I'm located in British Columbia. Project is in a rural location. Mounting instructions would be markups of the vendor drawings.

Does that seem about right?

 

[DETstru]

I'd probably just estimate my hours and multiply by a very high rate then tack on a few hundred more.

 

[dik]

Does the equipment supplier provide seismic anchor loads? Is the SOG sufficiently strong to accept the loading? If so, and you want to attract a new client, I'd figgure 4 hours for a letter, plus 8 hours total if a sketch is required and the supplier can supply you with the loading. I'd include for one site visit to review the work at whatever per diem rates you have.

Dik

 

[NorthCivil]

Wow- not sure if the companies ive worked for have been severely undercharging for this service, or you are way out to lunch.

Our rates were the standard site visit rate (1 required), plus an hour to give the GC the general idea (strap the damn thing down so it ain't going anywhere, and pin it all to concrete with epoxy anchors), plus an hour to write up the letters (taking care to clearly define only what it is you're taking liability for)

Typically the entire bill would run about 600-800 bucks, more if there is an exceptional quantity of items that justifies a liability multiplier.

 

[dik]

NorthCivil:
That's what the 4 hours for the letter is... about $600-$800... it's only if it gets more complicated that the fee goes up... If the supplier provides the loading... liability is minimal and the project can be considered as a 'loss leader' for other work.

Dik

 

[atrizzy]

Dik/NorthCivil,

Anchor loads are not provided, so there is some calculation required.
SOG seems strong enough.

The equipment itself probably ran about $200k so my feeling was that 2000 bucks +/- was not entirely out to lunch.
Could be wrong though! I definitely don't know what the going rates are...

 

[NorthCivil]

Without seeing how large these pieces of equipment are, hard to comment further.

If short & squat, relatively light, I'll stick to my number.

If large & requiring some engineering design, rather than just some "common sense engineering" (is it all that common?) Then a couple grand might be more appropriate.

 

[atrizzy]

These things are over 6' tall and weigh as much as 4000 lbs.

I'm starting to get some confidence in my number. Thanks, all, for the input.