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How
Much Does an Engineer Charge for Their Services?
An
engineer's fee is likely the smallest of all of those involved
throughout the course of your project.
According
to HSH Associates,
your lender will charge anywhere from 4% - 14%
of your loan amount to fund your project (based
on historical data). The architect will require nearly the
same, 4.5% - 16% (includes engineering)
of your construction cost (according to the 1996 Means
Construction Cost Index, or MCCI ), to provide you with
a design concept. Depending on whether your project is a remodel
or new construction, your contractor will mark up their costs
(including profit margin) by 20% - 52% or more. This translates
into about 16% - 35% of your construction
cost (source: designbuildbusiness.com).
If
you decide to sell prior to building or buying, the services
of a realtor will set you back around 5% - 7%
(source: realtor.com)
of the sales price of the structure and parcel
(or possibly more, depending on the market).
So
how much can you expect to pay an engineer for their services?
It's probably a lot less than you think. Again, according
to the 1996 MCCI , an engineer may charge as much
as 1.0% - 2.5% of your construction
cost, depending on the type of project and on their scope
of work. Very small projects may have a higher fee than this.
What
do all of these numbers tell us?
Your time may be better
spent shopping for a less expensive contractor than a less expensive
engineer. If an engineer reduces their fee by 10%, you could
be saving as little as one-tenth of one percent of your total
cost of construction. If a contractor reduces their fee by 10%,
you'd be saving anywhere from 1.6% - 3.5% of your construction
cost (16 to 35 times as much as the engineer). With the potential
for savings like this, you may be better off to hire a more
expensive engineer that can provide an efficient design and
more complete plan set that is easier and less expensive for
the contractor to build.
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