M&E fees survey

Consultants’ Fees

Engineers’ fees are on the up. A new report by
the Fees Bureau has found that fees have increased by almost 20% since 2000. M&E Services Engineers Fees said: “Over the last six years the average charge-out rates [for engineers] has increased by 18%. Average rates charged by principals and partners has increased from £65 per hour in 2000 to £80 per hour in 2006; sole principals’ rates are up from £60 to £70 per hour; while chartered engineers have seen average charge-out rates rise from £40 to £47 per hour.”

According to the report’s authors, the rates charged by all engineers are broadly similar. “There is very little difference between the hourly rates recorded by M&E services engineers compared with all consulting engineers.” For example, the report cites the average rate charged for a chartered M&E engineer as £46 per hour, while the average for all consulting engineers was £1 higher at £47 per hour.

The charge-out rate varied considerably, depending on the size of the firm. Chartered engineers working for firms with between two and five staff were charged at an average of £38 per hour, while chartered engineers working for firms with 100-plus staff were charged out at the much higher average of £56 per hour.

Location was also a significant factor. The report says that a chartered engineer in London would on average be charged out at £65 per hour, whereas those working in Scotland, the north of England or the Midlands would be charged out at a more modest £45 per hour. Surprisingly, given the amount of work in the region, engineers in the South East were charged out at the lowest average rate of just £40 per hour.

The survey found that the percentage of fees charged by engineers varied depending on the difficulty of the project and the type of service offered. The size of the project, too, was important in establishing the level of fees, with engineers’ fees decreasing as a percentage of the M&E cost as the value of the project’s M&E elements increased. It cites the estimated average percentage fee charged for a £1m new-build job as 4.5%, which is nearly twice the average fee of 2.8% charged for a £5m job.

Fees were also higher for refurbishment work than for new-build work. However, there was a large variation in the range of fees charged. Variations in fees were also found between different industry sectors. For new-build jobs the highest average fees were recorded for industrial, education and leisure work, with fees charged in housing and offices lower. For refurbishment, the opposite appears to be true. Housing and offices have the highest average fees.

The Fees Bureau is the publishing arm of research firm Mirza & Nacey.

For further information, go to www.feesbureau.co.uk

Legal

Business should expect to pay £249m to implement changes to their work practices over the next year as a result of new age discrimination laws, says the DTI. It also expects the cost of training employees to enforce the new rules to hit £370m. Changes to recruitment practices could add a further £8.8m. The increase in employment tribunals is expected to cost employers a further £30m.

Martin Edwards, head of employment at law firm Mace & Jones, said similar legislation introduced in Ireland seven years ago has led to 40% of claims in the labour courts now being related to age laws. “Employers should be aware that employment tribunals are gearing up to take on more than 8000 age discrimination cases,” he warned.

New business

Britain’s small businesses are losing out to competitors because they are not networking well. The warning follows research from Lloyds TSB Business and the Small Enterprise Research Team at the Open University, which found that 38% of small firms do not believe that networking can boost their growth and success.

The report found that for businesses that network, 71% have won new customers over the past year as a result of networking while 42% have found new suppliers. A similar number have also found new marketing or product ideas, while a quarter had recruited new staff recommended to them by networking contacts.

Networking opportunities included attending an exhibition, conference or seminar.

Office

Is it time to throw out the tweed jacket and loafers? Research by industry body British Council of Offices has found that most office workers form an impression of people based on what they wear.

Unfortunately, the research does not make clear what employees should wear to make a good impression. However, the BCO has found that only 13% of workers actually wear a suit every day – a third of those canvassed said they never wear a suit.

The survey also found that many people worked through their lunch hour, with only 12% of workers taking a full lunch break. And what do they eat? The survey found that the sandwich is still the favoured lunchtime snack with 74% of respondents.