Our rates are even higher. ;-p We do discount on occasion down to this mark for very long standing clients for construction control particularly.
But we have a lot of automation - so whilst headline rates are higher, time spent estimates will differ.
There are a lot of one-man-bands in and around the $100-per-hour mark - but they probably don't realise they are marking a "loss" once their equipment, admin, all other costs etc are factored in. At the end of the day, they would be better off working for an employer who will pay them more, plus pay them while on holidays, pay them super etc.
Surveying is a somewhat mis-understood game. Four year degree, another 4+ years to get registered, and you get paid $90k+'ish (more in mining)? Doesn't make any sense especially given supply and demand. Takes about 5 years to be any good.
The body of knowledge is surprisingly large if you want to be efficient. We looked at our training documentation recently - the guys are expected to be proficient on about 40+ pieces of hardware and software all the time. GPS, total stations, scanners, under ground service locators, gpr .. the software to drive that .. Magnet, Civil3D, Cyclone, Infinity, Captivate, Revit .. plus web sites like Aconex, Nearmap and getting the best out of those, open source data .. plus all the legislative and drafting requirements in the cadastral work. It is a lot.
The last time I heard, there are about 4,000 registered surveyors in the country - and the industry is very top heavy with not a lot of young blood coming through. We struggle to employ quality (any?) staff. The wages have to go up - the charge out rates have to be able to sustain the wages and charging $95 or $100 or even $150 an hour is doing no one any favours..
Yet people think doing a days field work for $1,000 is a good thing - after they (or their business) has invested in $120k+ worth of gear and car to even turn up.
And people think nothing of paying a lawyer $600 an hour .. a barrister gets $3500 to $15000 a day ..
VRS Price at posting:
3.2¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
