Side Hustle

Anyone used their PE license to contract any work on the side. I'm talking within your state boards ethics and code parameters of coarse. I know a few guys who have done some rural septic system design on the side (our firm does not offer these services and it requires a one day sanitarian class I think). Just wondering of other opportunities like this that might be out their.

Jbone27 said:

Anyone used their PE license to contract any work on the side. I'm talking within your state boards ethics and code parameters of coarse. I know a few guys who have done some rural septic system design on the side (our firm does not offer these services and it requires a one day sanitarian class I think). Just wondering of other opportunities like this that might be out their.

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LadyFox is an enviro engineer and works for a consulting firm. I have contracted with them on occassion on the side to review and develop certain designs from an electrical aspect since they do not have that support in-house. It actually works out pretty nice as some additional income.

That would be ideal. Probably a little tougher to find as a water resources guy but might be worth it to put some feelers out. I've heard of some PE's doing home inspections also. I think might enjoy that. Anyways just seeing what all oppurtunities this new fancy stamp affords me. 

I do.

I have helped contribute to PE review material with several prep companies you guys probably know including being a beta tester for the state board.  I wouldn't have been able to do so without my license though I don't directly use my license so maybe that doesn't count as answering the question. 

I had a boss who had a sweet gig doing the final review and giving his stamp/sig to patio cover plans. 

I do

Audi driver said:

I do.

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willsee said:

I do

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Soooo, are you two like hitched now?

I may have gotten a lead on doing a little side work at, of all places, softball.

There's a guy I know down at the ball fields, we play on different teams, but we've both been playing down there at the same place for years.  I know he owns a blacktopping company from idle chit chat over the years.  Last week he got a hit and ended up on 1st base which I was covering.  Through the course of a little more chit chat we started talking about work.  He asked what kind of Engineer I was and when I told him Civil he asked if I could do drainage/storm calculations.  Now, even though we all know that stormwater is the most difficult of all the Engineering disciplines, I told him sure.

Turns out, his company might be getting some work downtown tearing out old parking lots and vacant buildings for parking lots so they'd need someone to do the stormwater calculations.  As it just so happens, I used to be the guy that reviewed the stormwater calculations for MSD several years ago so that'd be right in my wheelhouse.

I was just contacted about doing some side work, and honestly I would like to do it, but being a new PE, I have some questions.

How do you guys go about establishing a price...do you work hourly? Or just agree on an amount up front?  How much do you charge per hour (want to make sure I don't short change myself).

Also, assuming you have a full time job, how does your employer feel about this?  Do they know?  I'm sure that they would not approve if it became a conflict of interest in some way.

pete3589 said:

How do you guys go about establishing a price...do you work hourly? Or just agree on an amount up front?  How much do you charge per hour (want to make sure I don't short change myself).

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Hourly. For 2017, my going EE consulting rate is $55/hr. This rate is reflected in my contractual agreement up front with the client as is the total number of not-to-exceed hours for the project.

pete3589 said:

Also, assuming you have a full time job, how does your employer feel about this?  Do they know?  I'm sure that they would not approve if it became a conflict of interest in some way.

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Yes. I provided full disclosure to my direct report manager and indicated that this in no way would conflict with my full time job responsibilities nor would I be using any employer resources for my consulting work. And obviously I would not accept any work that would be in conflict of interest with my present employer. But since my company is a very large controls/automation manufacturer, it's really never an issue (plus I often get to drum up some sales for the company in some of my designs).

pete3589 said:

I was just contacted about doing some side work, and honestly I would like to do it, but being a new PE, I have some questions.

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Also, as a side note. Don't feel compelled to just accept any work simply for the reason of extra income. If you're going to be applying your seal to a design, it's paramount that you are completely comfortable with all aspects of the engineered design that you are providing consultation on.

pete3589 said:

I was just contacted about doing some side work, and honestly I would like to do it, but being a new PE, I have some questions.

How do you guys go about establishing a price...do you work hourly? Or just agree on an amount up front?  How much do you charge per hour (want to make sure I don't short change myself).

Also, assuming you have a full time job, how does your employer feel about this?  Do they know?  I'm sure that they would not approve if it became a conflict of interest in some way.

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Rather than looking at it from a "I don't want to be short changed" perspective, I think you need to consider a few things 1) what is the work worth to you 2) what rate can you charge and have happy/return customers 3) what sort of overhead do you have (software licenses, computer equipment, office supplies, etc.)  For certain patent work, I charge ridiculously low for a couple reasons a) to piss off the attorneys near me.  b) I find the work fun c) I have really low overhead.