"Cos you live in a fantasy land if you think the survey industry...

"Cos you live in a fantasy land if you think the survey industry sustains double digit bottom line profit margins... "

We do .. easily, when I have fully trained staff. Frankly that is half the battle - having people who know their craft. And that is harder said than done. Takes 3 or 4 years on the job with us to get up to speed.

We don't go for jobs at crap rates just to have fancy pictures in the annual reports. We hear of rates like $85 an hour which is plainly absurd.

I do wonder what rates the deal with John Holland was at for example. No doubt a tight margin deal.

We also don't spend stupid money on gear .. the latest Leica mobile laser scanner is north of a $1 million and then it sits in the "cupboard" half the year competing on government jobs like all the other high priced mobile laser scanners. Gear needs to out every day earning its keep.

It will be intersting though - there are no surveyors coming through uni etc. Queensland registered 15 new surveyors last year .. more would have probably died in the same period. Cadastral endorsed surveyors in Queensland - count is about 450 left - one third of which are set to retire in the next two to three years.

Wages are going to skyrocket. If fees don't match them, there are going to be a lot of firms in trouble.

Trucks are the other one - if you can get a 4WD. Software is also hideously expensive.

And yes - you hear about work at $140 an hour .. with crews turning up in an $80k truck with $200k of gear paying a guy $120k a year.

The industry needs to give itself and uppercut and get more commercial and not be shy about putting rates up.