Alright guys so I’ve been contacted by a client to do a general assessment of a new build (2022) multi family complex. (FYI I have been doing Inspections for 17 years with over 4600 home and phase Inspections under my belt). This complex has 120 units and 10,000 sq ft club house and I am trying to price it accordingly. The client does not want a Full, detailed inspection of each unit, only a general assessment of 6 units in each of the 4 buildings plus Roof, common areas, foundation (visual inspection only), parking lot and the grounds of the complex. BTW I’m in TX.
My Question: Can anyone give me an Idea of how to price this thing?
Start with the basics, define a scope of inspection.
If you’ve done multiplex/condo style inspections before, then adapt that model.
Each building has 30 units, and they only want 6 units per building, plus the actual buildings (exteriors, roof, etc) on all 4 ?
What’s a “visual inspection only” of those common areas mean?
I think whatever number you come up with will be too small, this will take much more on-site time, and back-end production time, than you’d think.
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EDITED: (Building count):
I agree.
Without knowing any specific details of the property, my FEE would be based on TIME (aka. Man Hours).
Example: Assuming all building are roughly the same (Club House excepted) I charge a Flat Fee for each building plus a flat fee for each unit, such as:
(2 hrs @ $250/hr x 4 bldgs) + (6 units x $50 per 15 mins x 4 bldgs) + (3 hrs @ $250/hr Club) + (1.5 hrs @ $250/hr Grnds/PL) = Estimated Total Onsite Inspection Hours = 21.5 Man Hours
Estimated Off-site Report/Admin Hours = (2 hrs x $100/hr) x 4 Bldgs + (2 hrs x $100/hr Club w/Grnds & PL) = Estimated Total Offsite Report/Admin Hours = 10 Man Hours
Totals:
Hours: 31.5 Man Hours
Fee: $5,325.00
This number would be my Target Fee.
With larger Commercial projects, I quote a fee range that the Final fee would fall into… such as for this project:
Minimum Fee: $4,793.00
TARGET FEE: $5,325.00
Maximum Fee: $5,858.00
This helps to set the clients expectations that the inspection is time relevent, and impossible to accurately estimate without being on-site. Also, when your Final Fee is calculated at the end of the inspection, it shows your integrity for fair pricing.
Remember, this was just an example with ficticious numbers. Only you know what to charge for your hourly fee, what your expected times are, additional man power, etc.
Hope that helps.
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Whatever that means! It’s difficult for us to help without an understanding of the scope of work.
(i.e. Are you running plumbing? Cost estimates? Attics? Mechanicals? etc. etc.)
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Or specifics of the property beyond a general description, first being… How many stories are each building? Foundation type? Any below-grade units? Commercial Kitchen in Club House? Etc…
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Considering the limited information, that’s pretty damn good 
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That is a good estimate JJ, based on the limited information.
In the end, it is all about time.
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This is excellent! Thank you. I really appreciate the detail you went through. This confirms my “ballpark” estimate.
Thanks again!
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Thanks everyone for your input. It is really nice to be able to have educated input from others who are doing this as well. I was pretty much on point with what I was going to charge but I did add more time and $$ for the project in the end. Having the client define the scope of the project made it easier to price as well.
Thanks again for the great feedback!
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For future reference. I have written hundreds of proposals over my career… When faced with a request for price quote with an ambiguous scope-of-work (making it difficult to price), the most immediate recourse is to redefine the scope yourself within your response. In this case, I might have considered what represents a decent sampling of the various systems and components (considering that the units were all built around the same time, likely by the same contractors). What they suggested is inspect 6 units in each of 4 buildings, equaling 24 units, which seems excessive. I would suggest we inspect each of the 4 building roofs and exteriors, plus clubhouse, of course. But, do we really need to inspect 24 electrical panels? How about 24 bathrooms? I would propose that we inspect a random X bathrooms, X electrical panels, and so forth, within those 24 units. That would define the scope more narrowly and lower the price for the client (i.e. perhaps win you the job).
So, with YOUR proposal… what would your Fee Quote be??
Did you READ the Clients requested SCOPE that the OP posted?
Note: Posting this reply… I noticed a mistake I made in my above post. I calculated as 6 Apartment buildings, when in fact the OP stated there were only 4 buildings. I will go back and make corrections where needed.
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Anything any of us does is a SWAG given the loose scope, so not going there. What is a “general assessment” and how does that fit with our SOP? I was trying to think of a way that I could define the scope that could fit within our standard contract language, operating procedures, and insurance requirements. For example, if we open and fully-inspect 10 electrical panels as being representative of the 120 panels (not counting the clubhouse), then I am not responsible (liable) for any defects later discovered in the 110 panels that I did not open or inspect.
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Good points made there.
Sometimes, when a client speaks in general terms and we need specifics, it’s best to go ahead and put the proposal together reflecting industry norms (based on experience) with adjustments based on the initial interview, and will protect the client from omitting information they do not even know they need. The initial interview should have several qualifying questions of course but be careful not to get bogged down.
During those initial questions, you will quickly learn how detailed or knowledgeable a client is. In this case, I put my best foot forward and let the client react to the proposal. Or, you can offer two proposals for them to react to.
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Yeah… I could have gone wild with going into the Scope details, but the OP listed what was important to him, and was looking for a reply based upon his provided info.
So, going a touch further…
Whenever I send a proposal for this scale of work, I generally approach it the same as if I was inspecting a large Hotel. When I speak with the potential client directly, we go over the Scope in it’s entirety. I would say in 90% of the cases, the only changes the client makes to my proposed Scope is to the number count of the rooms inspected, (usually wanting the barest of minimums). I strongly suggest 20% of total rooms/units, with a minimum of 10%. Also a minumum of 3 rooms on each floor/level. Usually we agree to somewhere between the 10-20%, most often around 14% (3 rooms per level). Again, there is a lot more info that goes into these suggested numbers that vary from property to property.
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Yeah, I recommended 10% but the client wanted 20%, so 24 units total. I priced it accordingly and should end up earning a good paycheck…aaaaannnd learning a LOT:)
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