Thread: Fee for Hotel Inspection

I am inspecting a 65 room hotel, pool, spa and 1000 sqft office. Not sure of the sqft of each room, I will only inspected 7-10 rooms. I have no idea what to charge for this inspection.

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Me being here, and you being there; it's hard to say. You make it sound like you are inspecting little more than 7-10 rooms. Take a few things into consideration.

How much is the entire sq ft? Kitchens? How many kitchens? How many floors? Sq ft of roof? Laundry? Grounds? Building envelope? All hallways? Basement? Electrical? Plumbing? Common areas? How long will it take you for inspection/report? Swimming pool? Sprinkler system? Fire extinguishers? Storage areas? HVAC? Water heating? What else is there? Etc.

What would you like to charge? What is the least you will do it for?

Unless you know what you're doing, refer it out and tag along for the experience.

The Hotel may have 3 phase electric, do you have the skills to inspect a polyphase system? If not, bring in a Licensed Sparky (although you're still assumming responsibility for the inspection).

I wouldn't want to inspect a pool or spa for a Hotel at all, with or without industry recognized training and certifications. The liability is huge if you miss something.
Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act Requirements for Public Pools and Spas

But in the end, charge enough to cover your liability.

Dom.

As Steve and Paul said, you need to know what you are inspecting and doing.
Pools, kitchens, laundry, boilers(hot water supply) are just a few of the oddities you will come across.

Find out exactly what the client wants you to look at. Spell it out in the in the quote you provide. You will inspect X number of rooms; pool; electrical service; kitchen; etc, etc.....

I would base my fee on my hourly rate. Room will only take 10 minutes each, figure an hour for the exterior and roof; another hour for the misc. office areas; etc.... Hire an electrician and if it has a elevator you need to hire an elevator contractor(many will do it for free in hopes of getting the repairs).
I would figure about 4-5 hours of my time on site. Then whatever the fee the specialist will charge me. I would then figure about 2 hours for the report.

I would estimate the fee to be around $1300 to $1600

With many hotels you have to be careful of the exterior cladding. If it has EIFS then it most likely has water seeping in. !0-15 year old 5-10 floor Hampton Inn design hotels are the worst....... You need to figure an EIFS inspection as well in this case... Upwards of $5,000 and you need a boom lift and operator.

This really depends on the age of the property and its general condition; I would suggest you have a look before you decide on how much to quote. I do that with all commercial inspections. Also ask if they need any specific areas checked by a pro; roofer, electrical, HVAC etc. As far as the fee figure out how long it will take, consider the selling price and square footage and go from there. Sounds like a good project good luck with it.

For a new client I suggest you specifically spell out what areas of the property you will be inspecting and what the components are. For an established commercial client its a little easier. You know what they want and they know what they can expect from you.
As others have mentioned, consider hiring specialists for the 'other' items, elevator, Sparky, etc. I have licensed guys I bring along just for those things. They are established Pro's. I know them, trust what they tell me.
As far as your situation.
- Think of the general areas in terms of how long they will take and how that relates to a somewhat standard HI. They might help you gauge pricing.
- For the rooms and conference areas or whatever. Think about how long it takes you to do everything in a bedroom, large rec room or family room.
- Something I have done in the past you could consider if you have time. Go to a similar style hotel, walk around a bit with HI eyes, get some info, have lunch etc. and evaluate the situation objectively. The getting lunch part is meant to give you a purpose there so you don't just look like a creepazoid lurking around.
- Add in extra time for the, 'oh by the way can you look at this too'
- Add in time for the post inspection conversations and phone calls
- With any of these types of things, I've found the it is important to establish what the client: needs out of a report, the purpose of the report (insurance, bank, capitol improvement considerations,etc) particular concerns the client has, etc. You can do the best report on the planet, but it will be garbage if it does not meet the clients' needs.
Price, somewhere between +/-2000 at least. Depending on the construction size etc. I would be looking at possibly 2 days. I day exterior and misc; 1 day interior, 1-2 days on report. It all depends on what amount of detail they want.
Either way be diligent and provide more than they expect. Hope that helps.

$.10 per square foot as a rough order of magnitude (square footage of entire project), this would include the representative # of rooms (6-7). Age may increase the fee if for instance the client wanted to have the sewer line scanned, produce a DVD, etc. I also will do an ADA (American's with Disabilities) inspection as an up-sell ($1K - $1.5K). You could also do the pool/spa inspections as an up-sell ($500 - $1K).

If you get the deal than find some partners to assist on anything you do not feel confident about and pay them separably.