As a public agency, you have a duty to be a good steward of taxpayers’ money when negotiating fees with engineering and architectural consultants. And if you have an in-house design staff, you need to be sure that they are performing at least as efficiently as private sector firms.

But how do you know what you should pay?   How can you compare the efficiency of your in-house design staff with that of private sector firms? By spending hours researching past projects in other towns and cities? That’s a lot of time—time you likely don’t have. Educated guessing? Imprecise. And with the volatile economy we’ve endured over the past few years, your best guess might just be way off…

Here’s a better way: order PSMJ’s 2011 Public Works Benchmark Survey, a survey designed just for public works agencies like you!

From our four A/E industry-leading benchmark surveys (Fees & Pricing, Management Compensation, Financial Performance, and Bonus & Benefits), we’ve compiled over 250 pages—including 175 charts and graphs—of highly critical and relevant data. These come from over 250 engineering, architectural and environmental firms that serve both public agencies and private sector owners.

Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll get in the 2011 Public Works Benchmark Survey:

-          Billing rates and markup: A complete breakdown on hourly billing rates, markups on outside consultants and reimbursable expenses, reimbursable billing categories, and travel billing policies

-          Government Pricing: Comprehensive details on audits and forward pricing, government profit levels being negotiated, comparisons between government and private sector pricing, billing/fee limitations

-          Project Cost Curves: Complete cost curve data on single family housing, extended care housing, nursing homes, apartments, dormitories, schools and classrooms, water treatment and wastewater facilities, water and sewer lines, roads, warehouses, distribution centers, office buildings (general, government, and medical), and hospitals (including VA hospitals).

-          Contract Forms and Terms: Detailed analysis on contract forms, methods of determining fee basis, contract retainers, finance charges, and limitation of liability

-          Bonus Plans: Common types of incentive-based compensation plans, use of cash and non-cash plans, number of different cash plans, types of non-cash plans

-          Cash Incentive Plan Costs and Payments: Total cash bonus payments as a percentage of total payroll salaries and net revenues, total cash bonus payments in dollars per total staff, and range of incentive payments as percentage of salary

-          Annual Performance Bonus Plans: Annual performance bonus payments as percentage of total payroll salaries, of net revenues, and in dollars per total staff

-          Staff Eligibility and Bonus Plan Factors: Listing of staff groups eligible for bonus plans, factors used to determine incentive payments, and the flat percentage-of-salary bonus plan

-          Management Compensation Survey Results: Compensation data sorted by position, base salary, bonuses, total direct compensation, total direct compensation – FAR basis, salary in relation to CEO, bonus in relation to CEO, total direct compensation in relation to CEO, 2010 salary increases

-          Historical Trends in Management Compensation: Historical trend breakdown on base salaries, bonuses, total direct compensation, management compensation, bonus as a percentage of salary, salary to bonus percentage, salaries in relations to CEO, using inflation indices, and government economic indices

-          Management Position Profiles and Compensation: Information on how to use position profiles and comprehensive position data on chairman of the board, chief executive officer, executive vice president, senior vice president, other principals, director of finance, controller, business manager, director of administration, director of operations, director of quality control, director of business development, director of human resources, director of computer operations, branch office manager, department head, senior project manager, and junior project manager

-          Projections for 2011: This year’s salary and bonus increases

-          Financial Performance: Full breakdown on direct labor costs per direct labor hour, direct labor costs per direct labor hour by state, overhead rates (FAR format), overhead rates (FAR format) by state, net direct labor multiplier, net profits (before taxes) as a percentage of gross revenues, and net profits (after taxes) as a percentage of gross revenues

Normally, you’d have get four separate surveys and pay over $1,000 for this data…PSMJ has skillfully extracted all the information relevant for public agencies from our four benchmark surveys, and put it into one designed especially for you…for only $467!

Order Now!