Commissioned Plan Prices?

[Hal Forsen]

How much do boat designers charge for their service?
You have an idea and like their work but you want a specific size or type ........
What kinds of rates are we talking about?
I'm talking about the realm of skiffs not schooners, BTW :D

[paladin]

Depending on the size and complexity, sail or power...and depends on the designer, his experience and bona fides......
But....the norm seems to average about $75 an hour as a median.....sometimes as low as $45 an hour for a good designer lesser known and it goes up from there.
As a small example...a small 18 foot or so skiff, normal beam, plywood construction will take about 100 hours of time to do the lines, calculations, construction drawings and a very minimal interior, mostly consisting of how much can go where and still perform as expected.
The drawings and documents may consist of as little as 4 sheets and as many as eight.
If the designer thinks he can sell the plans as stock plans, he may charge less. But the world is full of small craft, and it's very difficult to sell someone else's idea of a perfect boat. There are always "changes" and changes take time and time is money required to support the designer. Most of the folks I know are trying to feed families and the design business is not known for making one rich. Famous to some degree, but not necessarily rich.

[mmd]

As you probably know, I cannot discuss the specifics of my fees due to Forum restrictions, but maybe I can lead this horse to water...

A knowlegable draftsman will be worth around $25 per hour (does what you tell him). A design draftsman will be worth around $35 - $50 per hour (draws and makes decisions for you, too). A naval architect with an office to maintain will be worth anywhere from $100 per hour and up (the "full meal deal"). To design a small, open boat up to, say, twenty feet LOA and rigged with a simple jib-headed sloop rig will take about 40 - 150 hours (depending on complexity, details, extent of required build instructions, etc.) for lines, sailplan, construction plan & details drawings and a builder's instructions booklet. Start getting into electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems, and interiors, stability calcs, etc. and the hours skyrocket.

Does this help?

[paladin]

along with what Michael has said....Electrical.....
a small 20 foot sailboat may take as little as 5 to possibly 10 hours to draw...and research the off the shelf materials etc.....to do a 41 foot sailboat or power yacht could take as much time as the initial hull/deck design.
Plumbing...50-75% of the time as electrical...
Fuel management...about the same as plumbing...

Deck hardware/layout etc 20-30 hours if you want a really good job.

If you want a plumbing drawing for a 20 foot boat it could be as simple as weighing the bucket orporta potti and including it in the initial weights and balances...

Spars and sails is another intersting problem...especially if the customer has non standard ideas about rigging.

and then there's the compliance with applicable rules and safety standards (I gotta re-read the new stuff one of these days)

[Hal Forsen]

Does this help?
Yup.
Thanks.

[john welsford]

In very simple terms, "Not enough" and " too much".

Not enough to make a living off the extensive and expensive training that it takes to produce a qualified and experienced small craft designer, and too much for a customer to feel comfortable with a design fee that will seem to be out of kilter with what would be a small and simple boat.

The best way to make it work from the designers point of view is to only accept comissions that have a chance of selling more sets of plans so there is an ongoing income which will eventually cover the costs of the design .

Just to add to this, I'm doing a set of drawings at the moment, and will have used around $250 worth of coated polyester drafting film by the time that design is complete. Add time, rent, other materials, computer software, maintenance of a technical library, downtime advising other customers and on and on, and $50 an hour does not really cover it.

But I'm not complaining, its a wonderful vocation and I've some great freinds among my customers.

A custom design for a small boat? Best search for a stock design.

John Welsford.




How much do boat designers charge for their service?
You have an idea and like their work but you want a specific size or type ........
What kinds of rates are we talking about?
I'm talking about the realm of skiffs not schooners, BTW :D

[JimD]

I think I'll let Paladin design my boats for me. :D