Frequently when I price a survey project I multiply how many hours of each labor type is required to get the job done by an hourly rate. Sometimes on small jobs with a high pucker factor (liability potential) that price seems too low. For example: I have a client that needs a slab (4 corners) of a commercial building staked out in a dense urban area. The building will be built within a couple feet of property line. It wont take much time but the proposed building is probably worth $500,000 or more. They will also want a certified exhibit showing the forms tied in related to the boundary before pouring the slab. How do you charge for projects like this? Hourly rate or what?
straight multiplier? i think the x hours estimate is fine, but i always add 20% to the end of that, for the fact that about every third job is gonna cost you 50% more time than you planned on, for whatever reason.
as for the nature of work... what you describe doesn't sound particularly gut wrenching to me personally. so i wouldn't put any "adjustment" in there.
otherwise when it's busy (whether you are or not i don't know) the only jobs that get done for a fee smaller than a day's labor is if it's a reliable client who isn't fishing for a one-time deal.
add in some time to check again, and again.
It takes more time for critical things
Peter Ehlert, post: 410568, member: 60 wrote: add in some time to check again, and again.
It takes more time for critical things
Amen...
When it's high liability, make sure that check is done independently and by someone who is competent (other than you).
If you're a solo guy, this is the time to hire your competitionÛ? or someone from this site that you trust.
If your client is reluctant to pay for this after you explain how this is good practice and in their best interest then it's time to upgrade clients.
JKinAK, post: 410569, member: 7219 wrote: If you're a solo guy, this is the time to hire your competition
In my opinion, if a surveyor doesn't feel capable of designing and implementing quality control measures to ensure that this kind of staking is done correctly, he may be in the wrong line of work. Telling a client that he has to pay to have it surveyed twice would be a hard sell in my area, and it's something I consider unnecessary. YMMV.
Everybody has to decide for themselves at what point it's wise to have external review. The higher the dollar amount at stake, the lower the tolerance for error is, and the more complex it is - the more I want someone else to review my work. It's the cheapest insurance I can buy and it ensures a good nights sleep. If it's low dollar or very straight-forward or has lot's of room for error - I won't spend my client's time or money thinking about it.
RPLS#, post: 410562, member: 12280 wrote: ...a slab (4 corners) of a commercial building staked out in a dense urban area. The building will be built within a couple feet of property line....
for this, another surveyor is not needed, but strapping in the diagonals (or some other cross checks) and running the grades again would be warranted... evaluate the boundary more thoroughly also. the simple jobs bite the hardest
How would that liability transfer?
Client hires surveyor X.
Surveyor X hires surveyor Y to check the work.
Surveyor X makes a mistake.
Surveyor Y makes the same mistake.
voidintheabyss, post: 410591, member: 11972 wrote: How would that liability transfer?
I'm sure it would be a mess - one for the insurance companies and attorneys to sort out. I'm personally not looking for liability transfer: I'm looking for Quality Assurance - someone to make sure that I didn't overlook something or make a blunder.
I agree that it's highly unlikely that a person would bring in an external check for the sample building staking (4 corners, $500k) - the biggest risk there is making sure that the property line is in the right place and that there are no easements or setbacks that were missed - if you are only doing the construction staking - that's most likely not in your scope of work.
Checking your own work should minimize the chance of error. I usually radial line the corners, then check between points set. Also set a couple of points on the property line to check line and offsets. You should charge for the extra time it takes and have a minimum charge. You should charge for the value of your work not the value of an improvement.
Lump sum is my preferred method. How you get to your sum is up to you. I certainly wouldn't be determining my sum for a project like that based strictly on a 3.5+ multiplier.
I charge a fee basis according to what is being surveyed and what it takes to "get r done".
I take in to consideration the location, urgency, purpose, property value, use of my product, travel, research needed and some factors unique to each project.