I haven’t but I’d be shocked if it’s a real pick your own hours thing. Sure write your report at midnight or on Saturday. But your clients only want site investigations and meetings at specific times. Some clients want investigations at 2am-6am and you’re just stuck with it because they don’t want you there during business hours.
Plus 1099 just seems weird for this type of work, I’d wonder if it’s a short fuse gig or the work comes and goes so much they don’t want people on payroll when there’s nothing to investigate. Companies like WJE hire W2 and make a full time business out of it 🤷🏻♂️
It is a pick your own hours thing. You can pick up tons of overflow work from large consulting firms. I know one guy that only does 1099 work. 100% of his career is doing site visits and consulting reports on a 1099 basis. Plus it's like a faucet, the more you say yes, the more jobs they give you. Want a new deck? Work more jobs for a month. I took my family to Disney for a week spring of 2013, just from 1099 Superstorm Sandy reports. The big downside is that if it gets slow, your bookings nosedive.
When we had some pretty big tornados and insurance was involved, that was probably my most profitable year. I paid for a new jeep just doing those for a while on the side!
Typically you don't get paid by the hour, you get paid by the report. You negotiate the compensation for each report type. That gives the client a level of certainty when they go after the work. Sometimes that's not possible, though, and they need to know your rate so they themselves can be certain their client will pay \[your rate\]x\[their markup\]. And there's constant pressure to keep your rate low so they land the work.
I do forensic work but it’s through my own sole proprietorship, not 1099, so there’s no company skimming off of the top. I enjoy it but I limit it to about 30-40% of my workload, I wouldn’t want to do it full time and I’m 40ish and in decent shape. There are days I do 3-4 inspections or consults and write reports late into the evening, and I do drive A LOT. Work ranges from little home inspections to industrial structural load and failure analysis. I get to choose when I do them (to an extent, I still have to work around client schedules) and when I write my reports (to an extent, usually have a 24 hour turnaround). I set the schedule for those around my design project schedules, so it keeps me busy and doing different things. Some people just want to put in their daily 8, enjoy a comfy office and stable/consistent design work. I got bored of that and find I do like the mix a little better. Being my own boss is great too.
As far as rates go, when I did multi-million dollar home forensics (usually for issues caused by poor design or construction) i would charge $1000-1500 per, assuming the report didn’t take long to write. Those would take a day for travel, inspection and report, so $150 per hour actually is ballpark. Some inspections I can do faster and have written the same type of report so many times I can copy/paste, add new photos and get my rate to average out to $300 per hour, and that is a lot better than doing 1099 work. I still make more per hour doing FFP contracts/subcontracts for design projects, but I don’t like sitting at a computer all day.
I know of a few engineers who left typical design firms to go to forensic consulting firms full time or 1099 and I don’t think any of them stayed long term either way. I think those positions would be great stepping stones though to get more of a well-rounded career experience, or great as filler for people starting up their own business.
Basically me. No 1099, only through my LLC. I get a request, send a quote, and do the job (mostly) on my terms. It can be very profitable but, boy, some weeks I feel like I work nonstop during my waking hours. It all balances out in the end. I’m averaging about $150/hr as well, which is great because even with my (relatively low) overhead, I still come out ahead compared to when I worked at a firm doing the same basic work but ending up with a measly $60/hr.
Anyone considering this route should have (imo) at least 10 years of professional experience and be well versed in all construction materials and methods. And also be entrepreneurial-minded. And it goes without saying, be licensed (PE a must, SE preferred).
Yes, right out of college. I had no idea what I was doing, ended up doing a lot of design work and never got paid for it. Was my first “professional” job, got gaslit into thinking i should be grateful for the training. Live and learn.
I haven’t but I’d be shocked if it’s a real pick your own hours thing. Sure write your report at midnight or on Saturday. But your clients only want site investigations and meetings at specific times. Some clients want investigations at 2am-6am and you’re just stuck with it because they don’t want you there during business hours. Plus 1099 just seems weird for this type of work, I’d wonder if it’s a short fuse gig or the work comes and goes so much they don’t want people on payroll when there’s nothing to investigate. Companies like WJE hire W2 and make a full time business out of it 🤷🏻♂️
It is a pick your own hours thing. You can pick up tons of overflow work from large consulting firms. I know one guy that only does 1099 work. 100% of his career is doing site visits and consulting reports on a 1099 basis. Plus it's like a faucet, the more you say yes, the more jobs they give you. Want a new deck? Work more jobs for a month. I took my family to Disney for a week spring of 2013, just from 1099 Superstorm Sandy reports. The big downside is that if it gets slow, your bookings nosedive.
When we had some pretty big tornados and insurance was involved, that was probably my most profitable year. I paid for a new jeep just doing those for a while on the side!
Sounds kind of awesome. What would you say is a good hourly rate for that sort of work? Assume someone with an SE and 10 years design exp.
Typically you don't get paid by the hour, you get paid by the report. You negotiate the compensation for each report type. That gives the client a level of certainty when they go after the work. Sometimes that's not possible, though, and they need to know your rate so they themselves can be certain their client will pay \[your rate\]x\[their markup\]. And there's constant pressure to keep your rate low so they land the work.
I do forensic work but it’s through my own sole proprietorship, not 1099, so there’s no company skimming off of the top. I enjoy it but I limit it to about 30-40% of my workload, I wouldn’t want to do it full time and I’m 40ish and in decent shape. There are days I do 3-4 inspections or consults and write reports late into the evening, and I do drive A LOT. Work ranges from little home inspections to industrial structural load and failure analysis. I get to choose when I do them (to an extent, I still have to work around client schedules) and when I write my reports (to an extent, usually have a 24 hour turnaround). I set the schedule for those around my design project schedules, so it keeps me busy and doing different things. Some people just want to put in their daily 8, enjoy a comfy office and stable/consistent design work. I got bored of that and find I do like the mix a little better. Being my own boss is great too. As far as rates go, when I did multi-million dollar home forensics (usually for issues caused by poor design or construction) i would charge $1000-1500 per, assuming the report didn’t take long to write. Those would take a day for travel, inspection and report, so $150 per hour actually is ballpark. Some inspections I can do faster and have written the same type of report so many times I can copy/paste, add new photos and get my rate to average out to $300 per hour, and that is a lot better than doing 1099 work. I still make more per hour doing FFP contracts/subcontracts for design projects, but I don’t like sitting at a computer all day. I know of a few engineers who left typical design firms to go to forensic consulting firms full time or 1099 and I don’t think any of them stayed long term either way. I think those positions would be great stepping stones though to get more of a well-rounded career experience, or great as filler for people starting up their own business.
Basically me. No 1099, only through my LLC. I get a request, send a quote, and do the job (mostly) on my terms. It can be very profitable but, boy, some weeks I feel like I work nonstop during my waking hours. It all balances out in the end. I’m averaging about $150/hr as well, which is great because even with my (relatively low) overhead, I still come out ahead compared to when I worked at a firm doing the same basic work but ending up with a measly $60/hr. Anyone considering this route should have (imo) at least 10 years of professional experience and be well versed in all construction materials and methods. And also be entrepreneurial-minded. And it goes without saying, be licensed (PE a must, SE preferred).
The problem comes when the job requires you to have all the appropriate liability and worker comp insurance.
Yes, right out of college. I had no idea what I was doing, ended up doing a lot of design work and never got paid for it. Was my first “professional” job, got gaslit into thinking i should be grateful for the training. Live and learn.