Ok Todd, you got me on that. I was being a bit too general. We do have minimum fees just like everyone else. There are also special considerations and such for all of the things mentioned below. I should not have been so general :-) It is early on a Monday.
On 5/24/2010 8:24 AM, George Church wrote: > Guys, there may be other reasons why pricing varies, and you don't always > get more by paying more, or get less by paying less. > > A contract PM at my alma mater almost threw away our proposal when it was > half the others, but fortunately checked with us first, only to discover > there was a significant contribution in it for them and they weren't getting > half a system. > > With independent design, there are numerous factors that can come into play, > as well as with PEs. Todd is spot on with those "other factors" and we give > different prices to different GCs with different traits because there are > other costs (and attitudes) to account for in your bid. A year ago a roomful > of sprkr contractors I was in had a discussion on this topic and no one > argued for consistency vrs accounting for the dif between a guy who pays you > on time and a guy that strings you along, battles every COR, doesn't enforce > coordination agreements etc. The impact of those factors is VERY real. > > Value, not price is right, too, Cliff :) > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cliff > Whitfield > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 11:09 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: Salary > > I'm with you Todd. I couldn't not have said it better. It's no different > than the various pricing you see on a sprinkler job itself. There are many > sprinkler contractors that either don't have the experience, the overhead, > the abilities, etc. and their prices are much different than the guys that > have been in the business for years with great employee benefits and lots of > seasoned veterans on staff. > > It all has to do with value not price. > > Cliff Whitfield, SET > > Fire Design, Inc. > 3784 Holly Ridge Trail > Marianna, FL 32448 > > > www.fire-design.com-----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Todd Williams > Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 9:56 AM > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: Re: Salary > > Travis, next 4 head job I get, I'm thinking of you. > > I take the opposite approach. I keep my pricing formulas private. I > don't want my clients to know how I figure it. This way I have > control over it. There are some 200 head jobs in a 20000 sqft > building that require a lot more work than others and the price > should reflect that. Also, there are some problematic > architects/engineers/GCs that have a higher cost of doing business > with. I want to be able to factor that in as well. Plus there are > other intangibles that I may want to include (travel, etc) If anyone > wants a quote on a job, I am more than happy to oblige. > > > > At 10:44 AM 5/24/2010, you wrote: > >> It depends on what the design house is being hired for. I do much of my >> work out of state, or out of the country. For those, a site survey is >> impractical. For projects that use the BIM process, then we readily >> incorporate into that as I draw in Autosprink which is fully 3D. For >> local projects where a site survey is required, then we readily perform >> those as it is included in the pricing structure. >> >> I don't know that pricing per head is necessarily wrong. I offer a $X >> per head or $0.x / sq ft, whichever is less expensive to the client. My >> regular customers know my per head costs and the sq ft cost is based on >> a sliding scale that is done with an excel spreadsheet. My customers >> know my price before they bid the job. So far, it seems to have worked >> out well. Remember, just as in installation, the customer is paying for >> a level of service that they want and/or need. >> >> On 5/24/2010 7:26 AM, [email protected] wrote: >> >>> It has not been uncommon for some design houses to not even do >>> >> model coordination. They get the architectural plan and do their >> design based on that alone. All coordination with other trades is >> done in the field. These type places are all about production, >> they base fees on the number of heads on the drawing so systems are >> over designed. >> >>> What some companies fail to understand is that for the most part, >>> >> if you underpay someone or find someone who works cheap, it will >> probably cost you more in the long run. >> >>> >>> >>> Craig L. Prahl, CET >>> Fire Protection Specialist >>> Mechanical Department >>> CH2MHILL >>> Lockwood Greene >>> 1500 International Drive >>> Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 >>> Direct - 864.599.4102 >>> Fax - 864.599.8439 >>> [email protected] >>> http://www.ch2m.com >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: [email protected] >>> >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of tom poisal >> >>> Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 10:24 PM >>> To: sprinklerforum >>> Subject: Salary >>> >>> The salary results have been tabulated from the NICET web site, for >>> designers without formal training and nicet certification, vs those >>> > with, > >>> college degree's, and it seems that according to my Linkin frens plus >>> contractors, most companies want to recruit a CET, proficient in some >>> > sort > >>> of CAD program be it; AutoSPRINK or SprinkCad, and pay bottom dollar for >>> this person and want a capable design project manager, field survey >>> > person, > >>> design technician, etc. all for under 50K a year. What is the >>> >> "going" rate ? >> >>> On an aside I was just told by a major designer (free lance) >>> >> that they do >> >>> NOT site survey for ease of installation, it is coordinated via >>> >> AutoCad. Go >> >>> figure! >>> >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sprinklerforum mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum >> >> For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] >> >> To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] >> (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) >> > Todd G. Williams, PE > Fire Protection Design/Consulting > Stonington, CT > 860.535.2080 > www.fpdc.com > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
