Greetings Forumer's,
I wanted to get some feedback on what is 'fair and reasonable' regarding distribution of a fee for a Prime Consultant and Sub-Consultants for a typical building project.
Some background information ...
We use a publication from the Alberta Association of Architects/ Association of Professional Engineers, Geoligists and Geophysicists of Alberta entiltled:
'Recommended Conditions of Engagement and Schedule of Professional Fees for Building Projects'
This publication assigns a Category to a particular building type and a range of fee precentages for a range of total project costs.
Similarly, we also look at RS Means Building Construction Cost Data, Reference Section, Reference Number R011 Overhead and Miscellaneous Data, R01107-010 Architectural Fees and R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) as a guideline.
My question is:
How does the total Consultant fee get distributed amongst sub-consultants? Example:
Using the AIA method:
Multi Purpose, Multi User Building Complex located in Northern Alberta. Construction Budget is $2,300,000. No unusual project variables.
Building is Category 5, Community Multi Use Centre. Percentage fee calculation:
On the first $1,200,000 ---> 10.43% or $125,160
On the next $1,100,000 ---> 10.15% or $111,650
Total Basic Fee: $236,810
How is this distributed amongst Prime Consultant, and sub-consultants? I am interested in the structural proportions mostly.
One of the Architects whom I work with assigns a value of 8% of fee for structural subconsultant. Therefore, the structural subconsult fee would be 0.08*$236,810 = $18,950 ( round figures)
When I check the RS Means reference ( R01107-010) ... this seems quite low. For the same project as noted above, the RS Means calculation would run as follows:
Building Type: Apartments/Banks/Schools/Libraries/Offices/ Municipal Buildings: Use 7.5% of Total Project Cost( interpolated) yields : $172,500.
This is not too far off the estimate established from AIA/APEGGA.
Then, using R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) , the Type of Construction would fall into Hotels/Apartments/Offices/Dorms/Hospitals/Public Buildings/Food Stores (in my opinion) from which the table indicates 1.70% for a project size ranging from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. This table notes these percentages are included in Architectural Fees.
Using this method, I would calculate Structural Engineering Fees as :
0.017*$2,300,000 = $39,100
In summary, using AIA/APEGGA method, the Architect calculates the value of Structural engineering work as $18,950 while working thru the RS Means method yields the structural engineering fee to be $39,100.
I realize both methods rely upon indices of one form or another. Can anyone else provide me with their experience in this matter?
I wanted to get some feedback on what is 'fair and reasonable' regarding distribution of a fee for a Prime Consultant and Sub-Consultants for a typical building project.
Some background information ...
We use a publication from the Alberta Association of Architects/ Association of Professional Engineers, Geoligists and Geophysicists of Alberta entiltled:
'Recommended Conditions of Engagement and Schedule of Professional Fees for Building Projects'
This publication assigns a Category to a particular building type and a range of fee precentages for a range of total project costs.
Similarly, we also look at RS Means Building Construction Cost Data, Reference Section, Reference Number R011 Overhead and Miscellaneous Data, R01107-010 Architectural Fees and R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) as a guideline.
My question is:
How does the total Consultant fee get distributed amongst sub-consultants? Example:
Using the AIA method:
Multi Purpose, Multi User Building Complex located in Northern Alberta. Construction Budget is $2,300,000. No unusual project variables.
Building is Category 5, Community Multi Use Centre. Percentage fee calculation:
On the first $1,200,000 ---> 10.43% or $125,160
On the next $1,100,000 ---> 10.15% or $111,650
Total Basic Fee: $236,810
How is this distributed amongst Prime Consultant, and sub-consultants? I am interested in the structural proportions mostly.
One of the Architects whom I work with assigns a value of 8% of fee for structural subconsultant. Therefore, the structural subconsult fee would be 0.08*$236,810 = $18,950 ( round figures)
When I check the RS Means reference ( R01107-010) ... this seems quite low. For the same project as noted above, the RS Means calculation would run as follows:
Building Type: Apartments/Banks/Schools/Libraries/Offices/ Municipal Buildings: Use 7.5% of Total Project Cost( interpolated) yields : $172,500.
This is not too far off the estimate established from AIA/APEGGA.
Then, using R01107-030 Engineering Fees ( Structural Engineering Fees) , the Type of Construction would fall into Hotels/Apartments/Offices/Dorms/Hospitals/Public Buildings/Food Stores (in my opinion) from which the table indicates 1.70% for a project size ranging from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. This table notes these percentages are included in Architectural Fees.
Using this method, I would calculate Structural Engineering Fees as :
0.017*$2,300,000 = $39,100
In summary, using AIA/APEGGA method, the Architect calculates the value of Structural engineering work as $18,950 while working thru the RS Means method yields the structural engineering fee to be $39,100.
I realize both methods rely upon indices of one form or another. Can anyone else provide me with their experience in this matter?
