Hi CEng5,
What is the value of the construction? How complex will the design be? If the project is of average complexity and the value of the construction is $2,000,000, I would expect the consulting fee to be around 4.5%. With greater complexity, the fee will of course be greater. Having an idea of what the risks are, is also helpfull in setting the fee.

A basic rough number is multiply how many sheets that takes to do by $2,000. Adjust depending on how many actual sheets are design and how many are boiler plate notes. That's a ballpark figure. To go more into detail figure what else needs to be worked out like SWPPP.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com | http://bwstructuralengineer.com | http://bwcivilengineer.com

I would do a task be task (quantity # of sheets per task) estimate by manhours and ballpark check that against a % fee of construction as Wansell mentioned. I like using generic billing categories for engineer and tech for drafting as my two basic rates and then breakdown by actual rates on my second pass. Check the local permitting agency to see what they require for submittals also, use their checklist for your proposal tasks.

More to ask: Who is doing the goetech? Who is doing or did the survey? Do you get the base drawings in CAD, what format, ...? How many meetings do you have to attend. Arch as the lead? Be prepared for layout changes. Maybe express a preliminary, pre-final and final submittal. Are you permitting the site, has it gone through zoning, site plan review board, ...

Wow this is a great question. On the surface it seem simple but these things vary widely. As a principal Civil Engineer for a large national company performing civil/structural/ mechanical/ electrical/ and process engineering we used 100 man hours per drawing for estimating purposes. Got lots of huge jobs at those types of rates, many jobs in excess of 500MM. However small consulting firms are much different...You must never bid work..but preliminary cost estimates for small consulting firm engineering should be $1500 to $4000 per sheet depending on the complexity of the design work. I would also note that most jobs require additional hours beyond the hours required to make drawings and calculation. You should estimate the potential meetings time, site visit time and or coordination with the owners/ governmental agencies and contractors separately as well as any third party cost such as Geotechnical work or other specialty design work outside your area of expertise. Billable rates vary widely from designers to principals say $65/ hr to $175 or with a good average of $100/ hour.

I appreciate everyone's input! We ended up right around $4,000 per sheet when it was all said and done. The Architect is discussing the numbers with the Owner, so we're still in it at this point. Good news!