Engineering fees reflect calculation effort, risk, site difficulty, and the number of drawing sheets — not vanity square footage alone.
Typical structures
Lump-sum by scope is common for defined packages (e.g., beam and column design for an addition). Hourly appears on investigations and open-ended forensic work.
What drives structural fees
- Number of unique conditions
- Seismic or high-wind design
- Poor soils and special foundations
- Remodel complexity vs new build clarity
Civil fee drivers
Acreage, stormwater rules, utility distance, and agency review cycles often dominate more than building size.
MEP fee drivers
System complexity, energy targets, and coordination density (labs, restaurants, multifamily) raise effort quickly.
Bundling vs separate contracts
Architect-as-prime keeps one throat to choke; direct hire can save markup but adds owner coordination. Either can work with clear scopes.