Architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms are charging more for their employees’ time than ever before, a new report shows. Data in ZweigWhite’s 2007 Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms show that across the 29 employee positions reviewed for the report, hourly billing rates increased an average of 6 percent during the past year and 26 percent since 2003.

Data in the new edition of the annual report, published every year since 1998, were compared to data from the 2006 edition, revealing that median hourly billing rates increased the most for senior interior designers (32 percent), structural engineers (21 percent), senior structural engineers (17 percent), senior electrical engineers (13 percent), and interior designers (10 percent). Billing rates for designers, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers, architects, and planners all increased by approximately 6 percent each during the same time period.

The report defines senior staff as those with at least five years of experience, with some project management responsibilities; non-senior staff have fewer than five years of experience and are not typically in project manager roles.

According to the survey, 75 percent of firms update billing rates annually, while another 14 percent do so every two years. Additional survey data show current project design fees as related to construction costs for a range of architecture and engineering services in a series of major market sectors.

The 2007 Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms is available from the publisher for $395, plus $8 shipping and handling. To order, contact Zweig White Information Services, One Apple Hill Drive, Suite 2, Natick, MA 01760; 508-651-1559; fax: 508-653-6522; e-mail: info@zweigwhite.com; or online at www.zweigwhite.com.