[Earthink]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this site and very happy to have found it! I've spent a good part of my day reading over everyone's great advice and insights.
This past year my small business has expanded into taking on more commercial and bigger residential projects. I've hooked up with a design team that reno's house's and they have me do the exterior work....but now we have a job coming up with the Province and things need to be done on a much more formal scale.
Here's my situation: The Prime Consultant ( the interior design architect) had me do up some conceptual drawings earlier this year for a Horticultural Therapy Garden at a local hospital in their acute care ward for elderly patients. The area was very neglected and my heart went out to these people who live their last days in this environment. I put together a very well thought out concept and they loved all my ideas and suggestions.....phew!.....that was phase one.
Now they are requesting a proposal for my design services that would include drawings, sourcing out materials, recommendation of trades for tender and site visits to check on the work. Based on my conceptual drawings, (which have been paid for ), the Prime Consultant has figured the budget to go forward at $110k. Being that this is Province, they will bid out the construction and management portion for the project....I'll be invited to do so as well.....not interested.
So, I feel a little over my head here.....how do I set up a formal proposal on the above requested services? How would I bill for this? I've read over alot of this type of discussion in this forum already, I was just hoping that maybe one of you guru's would be able to direct me here. I'm seeking some mentoring at this point in my business.....it's exciting to see it grow but a little stressful when your not sure how to move forward.

[agla]

The first thing that I would do in your situation would be to talk to the other design professionals about contract writing. Most have an Appendix that does a lot to cover them legally. Most use a variation of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) example. You may be able to find something on that on line or in professional office practice books. That will give you a format that will make you much more comfortable.

How much to charge is very subjective. Protecting yourself from getting roped in to doing more than what you thought you were going to do is not.

[schleng]

Years back, I attained a copy of a contract used by a landscape architect I knew. It was very professional, and probably taken from a professional organization. I tweaked it, and then had it reviewed by an attorney.

You should have Errors and Omissions insurance. The company I use in the U.S. requires me to have a contract and for it to be reviewed by an attorney.

This the way it should be done when getting into this type of work for your protection and you will most likely feel more comfortable.

As far as fees.....I basically decide on my hourly rate. Then I create a detailed outline of all I will do on the project. I estimate how many hours each part will take me, multiply, and come up with a fee. Oh, by the way, I ALWAYS add on extra for the unexpected or for underestimating.

Susan

[desynerguy]

Hey earthling :-) I mean earthlink. I hope I can help you a bit. I do that kind of work for a living. If I may...I would put forward a proposal like this...Figure roughly what it would cost to do the basics, such as, a minimum and maximum for design time. Calculate your hourly worth. SO if you estimate the design time to be say 15 hours and your rate is $90.00 per hour then give them a min/max cost for your design. Anything over what they ask for is an extra. Example...they ask for certain details and you comply, then as you are almost done they ask for a lighting plan as well...that should clearly be spelled out as an extra. I always give my clients a min/max cost for design work. I charge extra for other outside costs such as prints, site visits and meetings. Your time is money but dont get greedy. Also, my design work has the client involved to a certain degree. I have them confirm the meeting we had via email, then do a preliminary and send it to them for review to make sure we are on the same page then complete the design. This way they cannot come back to you and say,,,that was not what we asked for. As for job costing, I offer that as a service as well and if I were you I would add that to your list of things to get real good at. I think (and anyone can correct me if I am wrong) that most contractors would like to make a profit of 30-40% so be prepared to have the numbers add up. If they have a budget you will have to figure out how to stick to it including your services. I hope this helps somewhat.
Cheers. Desynerguy
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