Our Approach to the Design Process; Fee Structure

Here's some info to hopefully give you a good starting point on how we conduct our business, and what you can expect in terms of potential costs and timelines:

Initial Steps
When a potential client contacts us, the first thing we do is obtain information from them and the local health jurisdiction about any history of soil or site evaluations or sewage system installations on the property. We often consider the histories of neighboring properties as well. Once we’ve done this background research (typically for no charge), we contact the owner, potential buyer, or representative, discuss possible site evaluation or design options, and if we come to a mutual initial agreement, arrange for a retainer of $300-1,000, depending on the anticipated size of the job ($300 minimum for a feasibility study, $500 for a residential design, and $1,000 for a non-residential design are typical.) For subdivision development applications (short plats & long plats), $500-1,000 retainers are typical.

Timeframes
After the initial soil & site evaluation, you can expect the design to be ready for submittal to the Health Department within a couple of weeks for smaller projects early in the building season, or 1-3 months later in the season, barring unusual circumstances. Feasibility studies that don't include a full design are usually ready in 1-2 weeks at the most.

Fees
For single-family residential systems, the typical fee for a simple conventional gravity system design will be $1,250, or up to $2,500 for an alternative treatment system. In some situations due to especially difficult site or design challenges, remote sites (islands or extreme access), or change orders by the client, fees could be higher. Non-residential or commercial designs are typically more, but not always. Contact us to discuss the specifics of your situation. Feasibility studies without full designs are usually $300-500. These are strongly recommended when you're looking at buying property and need to know whether it will support a septic system. You can then use our report and supporting sketches and other documentation as a negotiating tool should you decide to pursue a purchase.

The process for short plat and long plat applications can be highly variable, so please contact us to discuss the specifics of your proposed subdivision so we can then better estimate our fee.

Fees typically include our travel and time spent doing the background research with the local or State jurisdictions (Health, Planning & Development Services [PDS], Assessor, etc.), one or two site visits for the soil and site evaluation, the actual design process (drawings, calculations, narrative text), and a draft copy for your review before we submit the final design to the health department. Any additional site visits or design revisions required due to any errors or omissions on our part would of course be covered by us. A site visit to do an inspection of the installed system and "as-built" drawing would typically be $300. We can negotiate any additional site visits or consultations required as a result of "change orders" by you, or unusual requests by the health department. In any case, our intent is to maintain close contact with our clients, keeping them fully informed of how their project is progressing.

The initial retainer may be applied to the total design fee. (In the event the client decides against proceeding with a design, the retainer is non-refundable assuming we've done the requisite work needed for the client to come to such a decision--otherwise a partial refund may be negotiated.) When it comes time to submit the actual permit application, we'll need the balance of the design fee and any additional charges we've negotiated beforehand, as well as the appropriate sewage system permit application fee made out to the local health jurisdiction ($950 in Whatcom County as of 1/1/2009). We are also finding, at least in Whatcom County, there may be a Land Disturbance Permit required by the Planning & Development Services office as part of the sewage system design review process. This permit fee is usually $400-500, depending on the amount of earth to be moved. If the project is small enough, there may be no fee at all, but PDS will still want to review an application with the proposed plans.

The Site Visit
For sites that are thick with brush, we can arrange the services of a trackhoe (easier on the land than wheeled backhoes) to clear enough out to shoot elevations and get a good idea of the lay of the land. If you'd prefer to do this yourself or hire someone else to do the clearing, that's certainly an option. However, please rest assured that we are very careful and conscientious about making sure we hire only the most careful machine operators, and we're not by any means the slash-and-burn types. The largest trees we'd be taking out, if any, would be saplings.

We'll need to dig at least 3 or 4 holes to establish the soil types and depths, preferably by trackhoe, sometimes by hand, and then we'll be spending the rest of the time evaluating the site and sewage treatment options. Depending on site conditions, including slope complexity, brush that needs clearing out, distances to adjacent surface water, neighboring septic systems, curtain drains, wells, water lines, easements, etc., the initial site evaluation and staking out of the drainfield (if we're able to at that point) can take 2-8 hours.

AND NOW FOR THE SORTA-SMALL PRINT…

Accounts not paid within 15 days of the date of invoices are subject to a 1.5% monthly finance charge.
Design & permit application fees are due prior to submission of designs to government jurisdiction.

Additional charges may apply for work beyond initial design completion & submittal performed by designer as agreed to by client, including travel, site work, revisions, redesigns, meetings, reports, appeals (informal or formal, written or verbal), or permit or other fees charged by others (unless due to errors or omissions by designer). Payment of fees to HDW or to a government jurisdiction does not guarantee that a permit will be issued by said jurisdiction. Payments to Huddleston DesignWorks is for services rendered.

VALUES STATEMENT:
We believe passionately in what we do, and we stand behind our work. Our clients can be sure we place great value on looking out for their best interests, but sometimes those interests can be in conflict with our higher calling, which “holds paramount the protection of the health, safety, environment, property, and welfare of the public.” (See http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=196-33-200 for the Washington State Code of Conduct for Wastewater Treatment System Designers.) In other words, as a wise sage once said, you can’t always get what you want--but we’ll do our best to see that you do, given your particular site conditions, the regulatory framework, and our negotiation skills with the various permitting agencies (we think we're pretty good at that).

HDW is also a business member of Sustainable Connections (www.sustainableconnections.org), a community of local, independently owned businesses committed to strong community, a healthy environment, meaningful employment, and buying local first. So thanks for your support.


Additional Thoughts
With Mark's many years of experience as a regulator, as an environmental health specialist working for local health jurisdictions, and for State government and in waste management consulting before that, he has a special appreciation for attention to detail, and for knowing what the regulatory authorities want and need to see in a design. This means that you, the client, can rest assured that your design will have a high likelihood of being accepted without numerous revisions and delays due to errors and omissions by the designer.

So thanks again for considering Huddleston DesignWorks, and feel free to contact Mark (huddworks1@gmail.com or 360/441-9081) any time if you have any questions.