I’m starting back down the road of getting a new building constructed on a piece of commercial land I’ve got.
I got a proposal back from a contractor that seems reasonable (at least for the times we’re in), so to move forward, he requested I get a topo survey done (which I’ve ordered), and this morning he sent me a proposal for engineering costs, and to me they seem out of line.
I’ve got a 1 acre relatively flat piece of commercial land.
Plan is to build generic 40x60x14’ steel building. Only ‘special’ things on building is I’ve spec’d my own door locations (2 - 12x12’ doors, 2 man doors), and I’ve spec’d an expandable end wall (basically just changes the end wall supports to a center span beam, so structure exists already when expanding building).
Inside the building, all that’s spec’d is a 12x16’ office in one corner, with a 6x6’ bathroom next to it. Plumbing consists just of necessary plumbing (municipal water, municipal sewer) for the one bathroom. Electrical consists of 3 phase service with just lights and the bare minimum circuits for code sign off.
Outside consists of a 40x60’ concrete parking slab next to building, and a gravel drive connecting said slab to existing culvert at street. No curbs, no storm drains, nothing. Truly just the bare minimum to be able to get my machines inside and able to make parts.
That’s it. No HVAC planned (well, not as it pertains to initial construction plans). No gas.
I’ve got a quote for $24,500 for design and drawings, with another $500-1200 for final ‘As Built’ plans. To be clear, this does NOT include topo survey or soil samples - the quote provides recommendations for who to call for those services.
The proposed project cost is around $225 - $250k. Do drawings typically cost 10% or more of the entire construction costs? My understanding is the building manufacturers typically provide engineered drawings for the building, and some for the slab as well, so I’m not having trouble seeing how the remainder of the design work costs so much.