Question for Structural Guys

[abusementpark]

From what I have been told, the most common way firms are paid for structural services on mid to large projects is to agree to a certain percentage of the construction bid. I guess this is preferred to lump sum in case the scope of work changes significantly.

I was just wondering what that percentage usually is? And is it the total construction fee or just the structural portion??

Thanks.

 

[Lion06]

I have been around when some conversations have taken place and I believe we typically get around 1% of total construction costs. That really doesn't seem like much. Even on a $25M project it's only $250K. Well, maybe that is a decent amount. If it utilizes 2 engineers for a 3-5 month period for design, I guess the principals are making out alright!!

 

[msquared48]

Even with that fee, I would still charge an extra hourly based fee for changes in design requiring repeat or additional structural engineering. Remember the name of the boat posted in a picture in the forum a few months back that was the contractor's tender? There's a lot of $$$ to the contractor for changes.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering