Crazy cantilevered steel deck 7

[DoubleStud]

I found this video on youtube. What do you think of this deck? The guy went to the end of the deck and jumped a little bit, you can clearly see the deck moves up and down. At minute 3:55 he shows the structural detail.

 

[Brian Malone]

Hopefully, that balcony rig-up is an AI image. Crazy, if it is not!

 

[Enhineyero]

Obviously this is going to be hugely dependent on the job but here is a ballpark:

- Say 500+GST per inspection on average (travel time, mileage, inspection time, memo time, maybe a phone call or two)
- If we are doing a full house then there will be an excavation inspection (subgrade - by us or geotech), foundation pre pour, a preline inspection and maybe a pre-stop to check bracing. So min 4 inspects say $2k + GST, allow for inevitable phone calls etc through the project, maybe $2.5k+GST against a design fee of perhaps double that (5k+GST)

However, that's for a relatively low complexity engineered house (not a basic house, but not a fully architectural monstrosity)
Our involvement is dependent on the builder's sequencing - if the builder needs to stage their foundation pours, we will be coming back multiple times
Houses on hills need a lot of inspections as you end up with excavation + foundation pre pour + block pre pour for every stage of the site works - which could be 5+ stages sometimes!

I've just completed a mid complexity architectural house on the hill (maybe a 7/10 complexity) and the design fee was ~20k+GST and construction fees were ~7k+GST

I completed a very complex house (9+/10 complexity) on the hill last year with 30 inspection records
Not every one was a site visit (some times it's just documenting a design change etc) but I think we had 22-24 site visits on that job at a lot more than $500+GST each

Rarely would this be fixed fee: it's dependent on too many factors outside of our control (build sequencing, contractor quality, weather, design changes, human factors e.g. builder forgets something)

You guys have it good if the residential market pays this much. Not the same can be said in Australia. I've seen fee proposals for full structural documentation as low as $1K (+gst) for a single dwelling, 3 bedroom house.

 

[human909]

You guys have it good if the residential market pays this much. Not the same can be said in Australia. I've seen fee proposals for full structural documentation as low as $1K (+gst) for a single dwelling, 3 bedroom house.

That is what I was thinking! In general Australian wages are higher than those in NZ, but they look like lucrative rates. Though to be fair, the NZ engineering requirements clearly require more time and responsibility.

You guys have it good if the residential market pays this much. Not the same can be said in Australia. I've seen fee proposals for full structural documentation as low as $1K (+gst) for a single dwelling, 3 bedroom house.

And from my LIMITTED experience such fee proposals are either coming from engineers with an "auto stamp", or those who have burnt their other clients and are desperate for work.

I'm relatively new as a sole practitioner. And I charge significantly more (approximately double those rates). I have a ~95% acceptance rate on my quotes (probably a 80% acceptance on residential.)

 

[phamENG]

I have a ~95% acceptance rate on my quotes (probably a 80% acceptance on residential.)

That's crazy high. If you're feeling the least bit overworked, you need to push those fees up more. Let the invisible hands do their work!

 

[Ron247]

Hopefully, that balcony rig-up is an AI image. Crazy, if it is not!

I really do hope it is AI, but if it is, it is a good one. I feel sorry for the Landlord if something happens, they will literally get blamed for not posting a sign or having it in the lease that you cannot build a pool on the balcony.

 

[Greenalleycat]

You guys have it good if the residential market pays this much. Not the same can be said in Australia. I've seen fee proposals for full structural documentation as low as $1K (+gst) for a single dwelling, 3 bedroom house.

It's no utopia and there are certainly plenty of people willing to undercut!
However, the seismic design requirements adds a lot to our engineering requirements so our fees are higher generally