Fees

[Jim Dull]

What additional fees are you charging for thermography? I posted this on the wrong thread before and did not receive any replies. Any input is appreciated.

[John Arnold]

Jim - I've gotten whacked for saying this before, but I think there are potential legal problems with discussing fees, which might be the reason you didn't get a reply previously. I think it comes under the heading of "price fixing" or some such thing.

[Jim Dull]

ok. Thanks John. At least that's better than no replies at all.

[John Arnold]

Jim- Here is the beginning of a post by Brian on May 19, 2004. If you go to the archive and search on "price fixing" you will find quite a few threads.

"Hi everyone,

I have been working very hard and for a very long time on a program to figure out the cost of doing business for home inspectors. It is now finished! (but I'm sure I will continue to update and improve it) .

Because of the very strict federal laws regarding price fixing it is illegal to discuss what to charge between yourselves. "

[Richard Stanley]

It is not illegal to discuss fees. It is illegal to agree to 'fix' fees. 'Competitive pricing' is legal - is that really any different? As the world turns.

[Nick Ostrowski]

This subject has been gone over many times on this board and Brian has been pretty clear about it: no discussions about actual fees on the board. If you want to call or discuss pricing via e-mail with somebody, have at it. Brian just can't have those discussions on his board.

[Ezra Malernee]

Jim,

Without discussing fees, you could figure out what you should charge for taking that camera out to a jobsite. How much is a hour or your time worth? How many hours does it take to scan a house and write and deliver the report? How much did the camera and training cost you and how man hours will it take to pay back that investment? Don't forget to throw in Insurance.

{Hourly rate X (Time on job +Report writing time)} + Investment and Insurance + Profit and Overhead = Fee

May have missed something here but that should give you a rough idea of where your fee should be.

Ezra Malernee
Canton, Ohio