Rate card and estimate
Price design into your bid in about a minute
Enter your zones and the calculator returns the same itemized figure we would invoice — no phone call, no quote request, no waiting. The card the calculator works from is published below it.
Instant estimate
Enter a square footage for each zone to see an estimate.
Estimate
Enter a square footage for each zone and the estimate appears here. Nothing is priced at zero.
Minimum project fee $1,750.00. Most small projects land at exactly that figure.
The rate card
Design rate schedule
Shop drawings and hydraulic calculations
| Hazard class | Up to 15,000 SF | 15,001 – 50,000 SF | 50,001 – 150,000 SF | Above 150,000 SF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light hazardOffices, schools, churches, most healthcare and assembly space. | $0.14 /SF | $0.11 /SF | $0.09 /SF | $0.07 /SF |
| Ordinary hazard, Group 1 and Group 2Retail, light manufacturing, parking structures, mercantile. | $0.18 /SF | $0.14 /SF | $0.11 /SF | $0.09 /SF |
| Extra hazardSpray finishing, plastics processing, combustible hydraulic operations. | $0.24 /SF | $0.19 /SF | $0.15 /SF | $0.12 /SF |
| Storage, ceiling-only protectionPalletized or shelf storage protected from the ceiling, no in-rack heads. | $0.20 /SF | $0.15 /SF | $0.11 /SF | $0.08 /SF |
| In-rack and high-piled storageRack-mounted heads, high-piled combustible storage, ESFR arrangements. | Custom quote |
Not to exceed
The fee for a project is the lower of its bracket rate and the entry price of the next bracket. A larger project never prices below a smaller one.
The bracket is selected from the total square footage of the project, and every zone is then priced at its own hazard rate in that column. Splitting a building into zones cannot reach a cheaper column.
Minimum project fee
$1,750.00
Floors the design fee after modifiers. Add-ons sit on top of it, not inside it.
Percentage modifiers
- Dry or pre-action system+22%
- Retrofit or tenant improvement+40%
- Rush turnaround+25%
Applied to the design fee, and they compound.
Flat add-ons
- PE-stamped documents$1,200.00
- Fire pump (each)$1,500.00
- Standpipe riser (each)$750.00
PE stamping is available in select states. See coverage.
Turnaround, in business days from scope confirmation
| Total project SF | Standard | Rush |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 15,000 SF | 5 | 3 |
| Up to 50,000 SF | 8 | 5 |
| Up to 150,000 SF | 12 | 8 |
| Above 150,000 SF | Scheduled at scope confirmation | Scheduled at scope confirmation |
Scope is confirmed within 4 business hours of receiving plans, and the turnaround clock starts there. 2 revision rounds are included.
Worked example
Ordinary hazard · wet · new construction- Total project area
- 50,000SF
- Bracket rate (15,001 – 50,000 sf)
- 50,000SF × $0.14 = $7,000.00
- Not-to-exceed cap (50,001 – 150,000 SF entry price)
- $5,500.00
- Design fee
- $5,500.00
The card’s column reads $7,000.00, and the cap brings the fee to $5,500.00, an effective 0.110 per SF. Multiplying the column rate by total area near the top of a bracket over-quotes; the calculator above gives the number we invoice.
Why we publish this
Everybody in this trade quotes design case by case, after a call, after reading the plans. That is defensible for the firm doing the quoting and expensive for the estimator waiting on it. A bid does not wait.
So we published the card. It costs us the ability to read your job and charge more for it, and it means a rate we set badly is a rate we have to live with in public. We take that trade because being the firm you can price against is worth more than the margin we give up.
The card is the price. The calculator computes it. The scope confirmation locks it. There is no third number that appears later.
What a conforming project is
Rate-card pricing applies to conforming projects. A project conforms when the plans show what we need to design from:
- An architectural background we can work over.
- A stated hazard classification, or enough information to determine one.
- A known water supply, or a flow test we can design against.
- Hazard classes that appear on the rate card.
We confirm that within 4 business hours of receiving plans. If a project does not conform, we say exactly what is missing before any design work starts, and no fee is committed.
Hazard classification follows the plans as submitted. If the authority having jurisdiction reclassifies an area, the affected zone reprices at the corrected class.
Ready to send a set?
Share a link to the plans and you get a scope confirmation within 4 business hours. Minimum project fee $1,750.00. Questions first.
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