Consultant Engineer Overcharging?

Woman Wonder

Thanks for that Offy.

With regard to the conclusions, we didn't really want a report just stating the road was impassable. We thought the report would give us some facts about the structural damage done to the road. My dad had a van which he got rid of as it couldn't go up the road anymore after the works so he bought a jeep. Impassable is relative I guess.

"I see no proof from any of the photographs that you e-mailed me that suggest the road is "impassable"". I fail to see how someone in the Water Services will be able to see the damage done to the road from these photographs/report either. I don't think it will be much help to go to them with this. I don't think I'm getting value for money here.

If you were preparing a report like this would you charge €3 per digital photo, which form the bulk of the report, on top of the report fee?

Offy

Woman Wonder wrote: »

Thanks for that Offy.

With regard to the conclusions, we didn't really want a report just stating the road was impassable. We thought the report would give us some facts about the structural damage done to the road. My dad had a van which he got rid of as it couldn't go up the road anymore after the works so he bought a jeep. Impassable is relative I guess.

"I see no proof from any of the photographs that you e-mailed me that suggest the road is "impassable"". I fail to see how someone in the Water Services will be able to see the damage done to the road from these photographs/report either. I don't think it will be much help to go to them with this. I don't think I'm getting value for money here.

If you were preparing a report like this would you charge €3 per digital photo, which form the bulk of the report, on top of the report fee?

If the photographs do not reflect the damage then perhaps you should take some yourself. Use a measuring tape in the photographs to show the size of potholes, etc. A photograph on its own with nothing to show scale can be misleading. As for value for money, on Thursday last I authorised payment of £150 (GBP) per hour ex vat for an engineer to conduct some consultancy work for the company I work for. That price is not out of the norm.
I personally think the cost of the photographs is on the expensive side but I dont think the overall cost is above normal. The bill works out at what I would expect to pay for such a service. In saying that some twenty odd years ago when I first started working in engineering I thought the company I worked for charged massive amounts of money. I was new to engineering then and I didnt realise thats what engineering companies charge. I also didnt realise the cost associated with running a business. Overheads like the cost of an office, electricity, rates, telephone, IT costs, transport costs, insurance, salaries, etc.

Hiring any service costs money. Example:
Planning Consultant
Based on a average 200 m2 4 bedroom house, with a reasonable specification, expect to pay from €2450 to €4900 for your Planning Consultant to submit your planning application. Prices are subject to VAT at 23%
Taken from http://www.irishselfbuilder.com/costs.html
Also from the same website:
Site Suitability Testing Engineer
Typically you will pay approximately €350 to €555 to have a Site Suitability Report to Epa Standards commissioned. Prices are subject to VAT at 21%
Prices vary and depend on a lot of factors.
Overall for app. five hours I dont think €1,000 is excessive for a consultant. Where did you hear about this engineer? Were they recommended by someone you know?

Woman Wonder

Yeah, he was recommended by someone. I know the fault ultimately lies in that we did not get a quote beforehand.

I had an architect submit a planning application for me about a year ago, it was considerably more money, the application was turned down but I felt he more than earned it. I don't feel this way about that report.

After €138, I would expect not to have to get a photo scale and take my own photos to submit.

I can't really see us taking that report to the Council - I wouldn't know how to qualify it.

Thanks for your input Offy, I appreciate your professional opinion.

I guess I can discuss this with the Engineer next week.