Billing rates are increasing faster for senior personnel in design and environmental consulting firms than they are for technical-level employees. This is one of the many findings of the newly released 2001 Fee & Billing Survey of AIEIP & Environmental Consulting Firms from ZweigWhite. According to the survey, median billing rates for planners and scientists with less than five years of experience have each increased less than 10% since 1998, while rates for senior associates and principals of all disciplines have each increased more than 15% in the same period. In 1998, the median hourly rate for a planner's time was $65 and has since only increased to $70. Similarly, the rate for a scientist's time has increased from $60 per hour in 1998 to $65 per hour in 2001. At the other end of the scale, hourly billing rates for senior associates increased from a median of $100 in 1998 to $120 this year, and principals from $115 in 1998 to $135 in 2001. Ray Kogan, a principal at ZweigWhite, says one reason for the uneven increases in billing rates is that there is greater demand for senior managers' time. "Because clients, no matter whether private or public sector have so much on the line when they develop projects (lots of their money, lots of other people's money, reputations, careers, etc.), they seek out the best talent they can find to give them the comfort that their projects won't have major problems," says Kogan. Ultimately, senior personnel are more likely to give clients that warm and fuzzy feeling, and clients are willing to pay for it. ZweigWhite's Fee & Billing Survey of AIEIP & Environmental Consulting Firms has data for 10 of the largest markets in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry. The survey reports fees both as a percentage of discipline construction costs and as a percentage of total construction costs, so firms can compare between markets. It also breaks down billing rates for 29 different levels of employees in the design and environmental consulting industry.

The 2001 Fee & Billing Survey of AIEIP & Environmental Consulting Firms is available from the publisher for $275, plus $4 shipping and handling. Contact ZweigWhite, P.O. Box 8325, One Apple Hill Drive, Natick, MA 01760, tel: 508-651-1559, fax: 508-653-6522, email mailto:info@zweigwhite.com or visit our web site at www.zweigwhite.com/store/svfbi.