] [Thread] [Date] [Author]

[Mark Codispoti <coldspot(--nospam--at)accessone.com>]

Lynn Howard wrote:

> Tom-
> Well, we all know Civil and Soils Engineers are whiners!!

Whiners? I dare say.  They just happened to attend the "Lawyers School
of Billing", and more power to them.

I do believe this comes down to a question of scope.  On larger
projects with plenty of  hours, including anticipated plan check time
is completely reasonable and will have nominal impact on the total
fee.
If the project is a two day effort and you spend a half day's work
educating your local building official, the percentage time spent for
plan check can quickly erode job profitability.

I've had no problem getting clients to agree to my "pay for plan
check" provision once I explain that is for the out of control plan
checker.  Of the couple dozen times I have had this in my agreement, I
have charged less than a handful, having allowed a couple hours "free"
for reasonable response.

It is not an automatic surcharge, simply a means of fee protection on
the small job.

Mark