Fee for Structural engineering buildings

[rittz]

I would like opinions on an appropriate fee to propose for a project I’ve been asked to do. I’ve read posts here where 1% of the total job cost often works. I agree with that in cases where an architect is the prime and gets say 6% of the total cost and the engineer may typically claim 20% of that which would be 1% of the total job cost.

The project I’m dealing with is 3 identical wood frame structures 64’ x 200’ x 18 ft clgs …. No interior walls.. no architectural work… just grade beam, cast in place friction piles , metal cladding walls and roof. A percentage-of-cost-of-work fee (even a very low percentage) appears quite exorbitant … given also the fact the buildings are all the same.

I do recognize clearly that the liability exposure is a component of the fee for the additional like buildings even though the extra effort t for design production is minimal. Maybe it boils down to … what is the breakdown of a percentage fee between experience required, effort required, overhead and liability exposure. But how? The second building would have a different configuration of breakdown than the second or third.

 

[rowingengineer]

Sometimes you do get to make a profit, I generally would work up the first building then reduce my fee by 50% for repeats.

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