Structural engineering fees

[FANTM58]

Hey guys, I Just met with a structural engineer for my new house build and shop. I'm having to do this because the guy who is supposed to be doing it,,,isn't .its been 3 months and a lot of broken promises later I'm at this Point.
I do not know how much he was going to charge , because we work with him at work a lot and it's usually really cheap. And he's really good as well. But enough is enough. So I just met with someone else, he seemed really compident.
He is asking $75. A sq foot. It seems reasonable, but what are others paying ?
That puts the house at $3000. And he'll do the shop floor 2400 sq foot
For $1200. How do these fees sound to you ?

 

[LXCam]

Hey guys, I Just met with a structural engineer for my new house build and shop. I'm having to do this because the guy who is supposed to be doing it,,,isn't .its been 3 months and a lot of broken promises later I'm at this Point.
I do not know how much he was going to charge , because we work with him at work a lot and it's usually really cheap. And he's really good as well. But enough is enough. So I just met with someone else, he seemed really compident.
He is asking $75. A sq foot. It seems reasonable, but what are others paying ?
That puts the house at $3000. And he'll do the shop floor 2400 sq foot
For $1200. How do these fees sound to you ?

I think the math is a bit off. That means your house is 40sqft?.

If he's charging $.75 a foot hey that's very fair, which based off the garage price seems right at $.50ft

Is the house going to be 4,000sqft?.

BTW, I work with design professionals all the time, but not resi work. And package deals normally run around $10-$20sqft for the type of I work I oversee these days which start at 100,000sgft+.

 

[brownbagg]

I have never seen one charge by the sq ft, Its always by the hour, like $200 a hour.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'm a consulting engineer (electrical, not structural) and I've never heard of an engineer charging by the square foot either, only based on their hourly rate. Without knowing where you're located I can't say what would be a typical hourly rate in your area.

 

[Chris705]

You're having a structural engineer draw your plans? Don't get me wrong he can probably do it but will the plans have to be reviewed and meet Rescheck software for energy code? Has he drawn up other plan sets for houses?

 

[Hornman]

What exactly is this structural engineer going to contribute to your project?

 

[No Noise Dude]

I'm a consulting engineer (aeroacoustics - the combine science of aerodynamics and acoustics) and we charge an hourly rate. First time I've heard of a consulting engineer charging by square footage.

 

[FANTM58]

Ok the house is a 4000 sq. foot ranch,, so it's $ 0.75 cents a foot
And I have all the drawings , I purchased the plans online then
Customized the inner portion to fit my needs. So the engineer needs
To go over the structure, and foundations and make notes and stamp them
I bought the plans in Auto Cad form so I can modify them.
And he can work with them. The shop is a 40'x60' metal building, so it comes with
A stamp for the area it is going to be built.
I supplied him with the soils report ETC..
And I have a manual J report ( energy report )

 

[LXCam]

Sorry OP.

I'm interested in knowing if these guys who have never heard of this work in the construction industry. Let me ask you guys something. How does it work for you, someone just walks in the door with a FRP or a set of plans and give you guys an open check book?

Let me sum this up a bit better. I use historical data from completed projects at all levels. Those are then broken out into a square footage costs associated with any given aspect whether it be design or construction. Those historical values are used when setting up the initial budget for consideration of a project. If there is interest I'll either author or co author the RFP. Backing up some many times I can call project managers with architectural firms or engineering firms to confirm a rough number based upon sqft. It's funny I work with companies like HOK and Jacobs and they have no issue providing some guidelines.

No moving down the road and going back to the aforementioned RFP. Once that goes out for bid, we'll then interview the bidders and decide who will get the award. And once again, it's a firm price, not an open ended one. But as with all design professionals and so unlike the construction trade when they make a mistake, guess what, we pay them more money to redesign.

But regardless there is always sufficient data to use as a square footage price for reference.

 

[Chris705]

Does he engineer the foundation for the metal building? Is that a bent frame building? I guess I can see the $1200 charge for that being about there for the amount of work that might be involved...not so sure about what exactly $3000 gets you? Yes he is altering the plans and it sound like there might be some involvement in reviewing for code compliance for your area, he may need to confirm beam, joist, rafters or trusses for your areas snow loading etc. Be sure you know how many stamped sets need to be given to the municipality and what else exactly they need, and have the engineer agree to provide it all. Sounds like you might already know for your area that a manual J heat loss calc will sufice for the energy code compliance statement. What you describe is what I would call a "code review" of a purchased set of plans....Depending on how much is being altered the price is within reason...high in my mind if the alterations are minimal.

 

[Trey T]

It doesn't matter how he priced it, either way make sense to me. The important part is the approval guaranteed from your local building authority. If the city or county ask you to revise it and get PE sealed, he needs to get it done.

I would get him more involved though, pay more if you have to get him to ensure material take-off is accurate. That way when it comes to inspection, it can be signed off easily. These are just suggestions, I don't know all the detail.

I'm not in the business to say if $1200 is fair or not. Ask him how long it takes for the review process

 

[DougWil]

Lots of structural engineers give a price for SIMPLE residential structures based on sq ft and a minimum charge.

You should get all the calcs, drawings, details etc to get the building approved by the local officials. But he is a structural engineer, he isn't responsible for plumbing, mechanical, zoning or energy requirements, or that your wife will like the color.

 

[FANTM58]

He said it's about a 2-1/2 week turn around
And he knows I'm expecting him to supply me with a set of stamped drawings
I can take to the city for a permit. Hes worked for a few of the cities around here as
There head engineer. He's designed and built custom homes to warehouses and factories.
I'm in capable hands, I have a good feeling with this guy !!!

 

[Jon_E]

As a PE myself (civil, not structural) I have no issue with a square foot cost for building plan review. I've done it that way myself back when I was freelancing CAD work (20+) years ago). If you're comfortable with the guy, that doesn't seem like a bad price.

 

[Homerr]

Given that it's the middle of summer, this is someone else structure internal changes for him to check, and you probably want it in a reasonable timeframe then the price seems okay.

 

[rlitman]

I'm a consulting engineer (electrical, not structural) and I've never heard of an engineer charging by the square foot either, only based on their hourly rate...

I'm a consulting engineer (aeroacoustics - the combine science of aerodynamics and acoustics) and we charge an hourly rate. First time I've heard of a consulting engineer charging by square footage.

I highly doubt you could find a chemical engineer who charges by the square foot either. But I'm missing the relevance.

I don't see a problem with an engineer charging by the square foot for a fairly typical structure. It's not any different than looking at it at "book rate". It's just a different way of estimating costs.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I highly doubt you could find a chemical engineer who charges by the square foot either. But I'm missing the relevance.

I don't see a problem with an engineer charging by the square foot for a fairly typical structure. It's not any different than looking at it at "book rate". It's just a different way of estimating costs.

I've worked in construction for 35 years, so I'm familiar with how projects are done. I was just agreeing with a previous post that charging by the square foot seems unusual - all engineers I know either charge time and materials, or work up a fee based on their hourly rate.

 

[Trey T]

as a project manager (also PE), I learn that contractual service is more of an art than science. You can price however you like as long as your customer understand it.

 

[NC4AB]

Just curious on why you would need a second engineer for the garage if the plans have been sealed and signed by some one with a PE license in your state.

Andy - Also a PE (Mechanical)

 

[DougWil]

Many metal buildings, the building is designed but not the footing which is done by a local engineer.

 

[Trey T]

Just curious on why you would need a second engineer for the garage if the plans have been sealed and signed by some one with a PE license in your state.

Andy - Also a PE (Mechanical)

he bought the CAD-format plan ... I hope the online seller didn't include the electronic seal in the CAD file ... that would be a big freakin' oops.

 

[LXCam]

he bought the CAD-format plan ... I hope the online seller didn't include the electronic seal in the CAD file ... that would be a big freakin' oops.

A friend of mine is a construction deficiency attorney for a major insurance carrier. He just told me a story of a major resi builder here in SoCal whose structural engineer resigned a few years back and they continued to use and modify his electronic stamp for plans. Over the course of a recent class action case of all things concrete slab and foundation cracking on expansive soil conditions this was discovered. Oop's, time to get out your checkbook mister builder.