Ok, I'll admit, I'm not the best guy to be harping on lowballers. But even this one got my attention. A survey for a government agency. It's a topo of a 0.79 ac lot with 1-foot contours, all utilities and structures must be located. The survey has to be on a 24x36 sheet and the deliverables include 3 mylar and 4 bond prints. The survey has to be on State Plane.
The results.
$650
$679
$838
$1200
$1358
$2200
I'm not sure that $650 will cover it if you threw out the field work. I was $2200. What am I missing here?
A job that is going to put some surveyor even further into debt.
If it was bald a$$ open, I could do it for a grand, that is with no improvements.
Add improvements, add money.
There were a few trees and a house.
If it was close to home with existing monuments at the corners I would have probably gone with $1200. Still would not have got the job, though.
>
> The results.
>
> $650
> $679
> $838
> $1200
> $1358
> $2200
>
-----------------
Total = $6,925.00
My first nod is in the $1,800 area because of the topo and the request for mylar. Both requests are extras and tend to imply that a design will be made from my survey, indicating more liability to be involved.
Other factors to think about is location because of adjoining lands and utility services that would affect what is needed.
If you're efficient,should be able to do this in a day or less in the field and a day in the office, assuming you are a solo operator and have robotics, good surveying software, your own plotter (all paid for) and working out of your house.;-)
My number would be $1,500 assuming 50 miles or less from my office.
WELL TOMMY WITH LUCK
If certain folks have their way you won't have to worry about how to compete with unrealistic bids on government jobs.... There won't be any governmental agency work...
You are not missing a thing BTW. We had that very same price spreads BEFORE the recession.
$2200 sound like a more than reasonable fee. 650 is just a joke....
Well, it is like golfing. My only wonder is we don't have to pay the client for the privilege yet. After all, equipments paid for, working (playing) out of the house, etc., etc..
Sounds like 1300 bucks to me.
Yep, did a lot more work for a lot less this past summer, could've done with a couple of $330 gross receipts days in a row.
Just ordered 500 bucks worth of ink for the plotter, next week will be two rolls of stock and I'll be ready for 2011.
That's the free market.
That $650 range of bids is pretty damn sad, though. Somebody just looking to make it through to the next day.
Is there boundary involved here? or is it only topo?
Was the bidding limited to licensees? In Maine topo surveys don't require a license (though as a practical matter everyone who orders one has a licensee do it).
$1400 to $1800 range.
1200 would be tight, but very doable. I mean we are only talking about 5 hours field time and 3-4 hours mapping. The 2,200 bidder needs to get real. This isn't the mid-2007s where people couldn't even get surveyors to call back on a missed call. Now, there are probably 10 surveyors out there for every 3 jobs available.
When times were good people here use to talk about charging for services as a percentage of the value of the project. Now the value of real-estate in most places is down 40 percent of what it was. It is only logical that what we can get for our services is going to take a hit.
Don't get me wrong, we should charge whatever the market will bear and we always need to test the market when we have an opportunity to do so.
Boundary was to be included.
You can't do it with 3 or 4 hours mapping. It would take that long to get all the deeds, coordinate the utility locations and print without any drawing time.