MEP design fees too low?
The Polish market is simply very tough. Design fees are low, and within that price we are often expected to include X changes, X additional scopes, waiting for payment, payment dependency on the client’s settlements, and, at the end, retention deposits held for 5 years.
Owners of design offices know exactly what this means.
Running a quality-focused design office is extremely demanding. Where is the time and money for development? Training? New technologies?
And yet, this competitive, and sometimes even aggressive, environment forces us to make an effort and to develop. We can increase design fees, but we can also improve work efficiency and organisational efficiency.
That is why at MC2 we have started a cycle of internal LEAN training sessions focused on the seven wastes — to better understand where we lose time, energy, and resources, and how to design our processes more consciously.
This has a double effect. On one hand, it is a response to low margins and helps maintain profitability. On the other hand, it builds such quality for the client that, ultimately, they want to work with us and are willing to pay more for peace of mind, commitment, and organisation.
And this creates room to increase fees. When, over time, we combine this with a more efficient organisation, we get the right formula for difficult times.
Effort and education always deliver added value.
