huangyhg

fees
i do some foundation design for pre-engineered metal buildings. i am wondering what type of fee others are getting for this type of work. usually, my hourly rate for this type of work dosen't generate enough money to cover the libility that i'm exposed to. i have heard of others using a per sq. ft. price. is anyone else doing this and what rate are you using?
a lot of engineers use a percent of the construction cost of the portion they design or are responsible for.
so for your foundation design, you'd try to figure out the cost of the earthwork, foundation excavation, foundation, anchor bolts, backfill, slab-on-grade floor, etc. and get a cost for that.
then you can determine a cost of the building frame itself. now you probably aren't designing the frame, but in most cases, the engineer who does the footing is the engineer of record and thus responsible for the whole structural system. so you should be paid for that responsibility. you can take this cost and apply perhaps a bit smaller percentage -
many engineers use between 0.75% and 2% of the construction cost...usually toward the lower end of that range.
so perhaps you charge 1% to 1.5% for the foundation and 0.75% for the frame above to get a total fee. this is simply one way of many, but you are correct: they liability is on you so you should be compensated for it. even if they say "oh, you're just doing the footing and not the eor" - if the building fell down, they'd come after you in a heartbeat.
four common methods are:
1. percentage of construction cost
2. number of sheets times cost per sheet
3. square feet of structure times design cost per square ft
4. number of hours times direct expense cost times a markup
i typically perform all four, then make a judgment. additional factor to consider (if you have competitors, consider what they may charge and determine your own fee accordingly).
i am totally against lowest bidder concept but you may not get the job...
this topic has been discussed in previous threads. do a search on design fee. there was a link that was helpful for me in one of these posts:
for work in general, i usually get 10% of the architect's fee. if he gets 10% of construction cost, then that makes me at 1% of construction cost.
zweig-white indicates that structural should be about 17% to 21% of the architectural fee.

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