Ask them what the last lawyer, electrian, plumber, body shop, engineer, artichoke,etc etc etc charged per hour.
This is a full stop lesson time for people, especially developers, realty people, planners, etc need a true awakening and come to Jesus or your flying spaghetti monster moments.
There is no package deal, no just a simple job, no by the square foot(although in hyper expensive HKong?ÿ or Manhattan etc that might be an advantage...).
It's a discussion on a project that has a time-line,?ÿ a budget, a contract, etc..
People need to be aware of the importance of survey, not just some idea that it's necessary evil, or an interuption to the slick title company methods that have eroded what this profession is actually about .
?ÿ
(Mic layed upon a blue velvet pillow for Bill)
Hey, consulting engineer, we have need to build a new bridge on one of our county roads.?ÿ We're not sure which road and which bridge just yet.?ÿ We will need more bridges over the next three years.?ÿ Give us a unit cost to build one foot of a bridge so we can determine the difference between a 30-foot span and a 300-foot span.
??? ??? ??? ??? ????ÿ
Snark reply:
Unit costs
Forward stride: $6 per stride (discounted from $3.50 per step, that is 1 stride = two steps.)
Backward steps: $5 (each backward step necessitates a forward step which will be billed at forward stride rate.)
Non-striding time is considered standby time and will be billed at $350.00/hour.
Mobilization fee as a base for every and then $xxx per acre for clear and open $xxxx per acre for briar covered swamp acreage $xxxx per acre for subdivision work $xxxx for the side of a mountain, etc...
Add 15% for contingencies.
But, I wouldn't do it. I got to look under the hood before I tell you how much it'll cost to fix your car.
Many decades ago when I was a neophyte I remember overhearing my boss on the phone with a potential client who was haggling over the proposed fee. After some discussion my clearly irritated boss told him something akin to "We will calculate our fee on a logarithmic basis based on the linear footage of our traverse, minus the square root of the linear distance of the boundary." Seriously... I don't recall whether they hired us or not.
Hey, consulting engineer, we have need to build a new bridge on one of our county roads.?ÿ We're not sure which road and which bridge just yet.?ÿ We will need more bridges over the next three years.?ÿ Give us a unit cost to build one foot of a bridge so we can determine the difference between a 30-foot span and a 300-foot span.
??? ??? ??? ??? ????ÿ
Lol, I like this one, puts it in perspective to what these Engineers do and charge, when most of their design can be obtained from a spreadsheet or CAD command, see what I did there?
Thank you all for your replies. This was from a phone call and I honestly didn't have a good enough answer on the spot as to why a cost per acre is not valid/enough for a day by day operation.
Oh, by the way, one of the bridges we might decide to replace is on a curve and seems to be higher on one side than the other for some reason.?ÿ Would that have any impact on the fee?
And another thing, one of our bridges is a timber bridge that was funded via some "straight out of D.C." magic money about 30 years ago.?ÿ We would prefer to replace it with a new timber bridge instead of concrete or steel beams.?ÿ Does that matter?
One more question.?ÿ One of our bridges has one end sitting on the high side of a river about 40 feet above where the water normally is.?ÿ Can you do it for the same price per foot?
Give them your T&M rate and say there's your unit cost.
@holy-cow BINGO. If you want unit pricing sell widgets. Professional services don't work that way.
FWIW I only do fixed prices based on value. If I can't make money on that it's a hevily loaded and multiplied t and m. Never a not to exceed.
Go to the doctor for a checkup. When he finds cancer tell him you're only paying the $200 for the physical as he quoted. Your next stop will be the undertaker...
