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as-built drawings

silverlake

anyone know the going rate (cost per square foot) for doing as-built drawings in LA?

 
Apr 21, 05 7:50 pm
R.A. Rudolph

$25-50/hr

Apr 21, 05 8:11 pm  · 
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silverlake

thanks r.a. rudolph, but i was hoping to get a sound cost/sf number....

Apr 21, 05 8:30 pm  · 
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Archi-F

It can depend on a lot of differnet variables - that's probably the reason for the big range.

Apr 21, 05 8:37 pm  · 
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silverlake

its just taking measurements of an existing house and inputting the data into autocad. i've done this many a times but just never as an exclusive service.

Apr 21, 05 8:44 pm  · 
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R.A. Rudolph

Yeah, we've never done it as a sf charge because it's usually related to our own projects and the amount of detail required can vary tremendously. Do they want elevations as well as plans? Reflected ceiling plans? Interior elevations? I guess you could figure out how long it will take based on what they want, multiply it by your hourly rate, divide it by the square footage and hope you estimated well.
I wouldn't think it would be worth it to do it for a low sf cost though. My husband and I have both done it once and aren't looking to repeat the experience...

Apr 21, 05 10:02 pm  · 
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David Cuthbert

RA Rudolph is a chick? Whoa

Apr 21, 05 11:30 pm  · 
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Bula

....classic jam-arch..

Silverlake- In case your unaware, make sure you cover your butt and limit your liability by avoiding the use of the term "as-built". Per AIA, the "courts have interpreted that term literally as certification of the accuracy of the information. When damages have resulted from later use of inaccurate data, courts have held the liability to rest with the preparer of the document - When the Architect prepared such documents, he was held liable".

Apr 22, 05 12:12 am  · 
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VIF


WTF necro thread

Dec 16, 18 9:43 am  · 
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o+

1-2$ / s.f. is about what the as-built professionals charge.
have had several done around the LA area, mostly residential/1500sf+/- remodels, always between 2-3000$....

Apr 22, 05 12:30 am  · 
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pia555

Personally, I call them surveys. Anyway I did a 3000 sf residence and charged $600 fairly detailed survey took about 10 hours to complete. Then I did a 200 sf pool house a charged $500 because the guy wanted it yesterday. So figuring it by the cost/sf for me is not great way to determine the cost Next tueday I going to do a survey. If the ask they how much and in this case I doubt they will. I'll say something like 15 to 20 hours at 60.00 per hour. It may take me 25 hours but that just how it works. Sometimes depending who they are I'll hit them up for the extra time. Surveys are great work because you can easily satisfy they expectations. Unlike designing when revisions can go on and on and because they may seem unhappy your reluctant to charge for the extra time

Apr 22, 05 6:28 am  · 
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silverlake

thanks people, this is helpful..

bula- thanks for the heads up. on an unrelated project, i was getting some cad drawings from another firm who had done as-builts. they had about three pages in legal waivers that i had to sign just to get a bloody autocad file. now i know why!

Apr 22, 05 11:59 am  · 
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R.A. Rudolph

What's with the surprise, jam-arch? or is that sarcastic :-)
I second the $1-$2/sf.

Apr 22, 05 3:42 pm  · 
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vado retro

these prices and the amount of time to measure and draw up a 3000 sq foot house seem high to me. to people should be able to measure a house that size in a few hours and to draw it up should nt take much more than that.

Apr 22, 05 7:18 pm  · 
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NWDraftingServices

I'm the owner of NW Drafting Services, llc, located in Portland, Oregon.  I just bid a commercial project to prepare as-built drawings. There are 3 commercial buildings located on 2.11 acres.  These buildings total 22,430 s.f. and my quote was based on $2/sf.  The package will include a site plan, floor plans and elevations.  In my 6 years of business, this will be the largest contract I have ever bid.  I also teamed with a local surveyor to provide the site plan info which will be similar to and ALTA survey.  Wish me luck!

Dec 15, 18 4:12 pm  · 
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poop876

Hopefully it takes you 6 months to do this!

Dec 16, 18 8:58 am  · 
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Non Sequitur

$2 a sq.ft seems very low.

Dec 16, 18 1:37 pm  · 
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randomised

Less than 50k for that kind of project, hope for you it's really just drafting, gonna be an eyesore nonetheless...my condolences to the local community.

Dec 16, 18 2:35 pm  · 
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poop876

I don't see how this can take that long at all to charge a client 40k even if you pay for the ALTA survey 10k.

Dec 16, 18 7:27 pm  · 
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NWDraftingServices

The owner responded and it looks like my bid is slightly off.  Here is their response:   

"Thank you for getting the quote over to me. I reviewed the proposal briefly and it appears that the scope that you are providing may be a bit more detailed than what we ultimately need for this particular project. What we need are the dimensions of the floor plan, calculated SF of each building, elevation drawings of at least the facades of each building. In the past, this will usually run about $4-6k. However, we do have some projects in the pipeline that will require drawings at the scale in which you are proposing for this particular project. I will keep you posted after Q1 on when those services will be required."

Should we move on or negotiate?

Dec 19, 18 6:52 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

Move on. I won’t even do a 1000sqft commercial unit demo permit set for that.

Dec 19, 18 7:10 pm  · 
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I would hardly call 10% of you bid 'slightly off'. Watch out for the bait and switch - take this job for peanuts because there is more work coming.

Dec 19, 18 7:31 pm  · 
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poop876

Yup, the potential client is correct. There is no way the scope of measuring these buildings and drawing it up should take as long as you think. A week max! We do this frequently for our repeat clients.

Dec 20, 18 10:44 am  · 
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