Field rate for cwi services in ny city

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I am a recently retired Professional Engineer and also an AWS Certified Welding Inspector. I do some part time work in retirement, both as a PE and as a CWI, but this has always been in upstate New York. Recently, I was asked if I'd provide Certified Welding Inspection services on a jobsite in NY City. The job itself is the installation of 6" sch 40 carbon steel pipe, open root butt welds run with SMAW, 100% radiography as well as a pressure test. There are also a number of smaller branch connections, made mostly with Thread O Lets.I have no problem performing the inspection work, and have been offered transportation from upstate down to the jobsite each day. I was asked to "think about" what my hourly & daily rate would be. I have never worked in NY City, but do know my way around it quite well. From some of the upstate heavy construction trades, I have heard it is a whole other world down in NYC as to how things are done.  I have no idea of what a fair rate for my services as a CWI would be in NY City, and while I do not want to undercharge, I do not want to seem greedy or gouge the shop who wants to retain me. I  am a one-man shop, no formal office, no other staff, am retired with full benefits, so it is not like I have a lot of overhead. I have a friend out in the Midwest who is a CWI. She told me the hourly rate for CWI's around Omaha, NE was about 50 dollars per hour.  I found a rate for CWI's in the Southeastern USA, working out of a testing lab, and their field rate was 75 an hour a couple of years back. I am also told by my prospective client that CWI's in New York City are in extremely short supply. This seems odd in a huge city with a lot of construction work always going on, unless they meant independent CWI's. I am sure the bigger shops have their own CWI's, as do the testing labs.  In any event, I'd appreciate hearing some ideas as to what a fair hourly & daily rate for CWI services in Manhattan would be. The actual job down in lower Manhattan, so it does not get much more congested or crazy than that in NYC.  Thanks for any information-               Joe Michaels
Reply:Welcome Joe, where abouts upstate NY? My house is upstate NY but i'm working in NYC as a welder, boilermakers local5. I run back and forth and rent a apartment here for work right now. Wish I had some money figures to throw at you, but i'm not really positive at the moment, but I will ask around tomorrow for you. I'm surprised it's short handed at the moment. Years ago I had a boss pushing me to go for that license so I went to a bunch of AWS meetings, and it just seemed so cutthroat that it wasn't worth the hassle for me. If and only if I had to guess and throw a figure at you I would probably say at least $80to85 an hour. I wouldn't guess lower and could be higher and I wouldn't doubt it if it was astronomically higher. I'll try and ask around tho. Not that many NY guys on here so just fig'd I would give a little input. I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Hey Mike:Thanks for the reply. I live in the Northern Catskills, about 30 miles west of Kingston, NY.Maybe that is not really "upstate", considering how big NYS is. I've been all over the state for work and for consulting engineering jobs, so am always amazed at the differences in the regions and the vastness. I did some work up at the NY Power Authority hydro plant on the St Lawrence River at Massena, NY, also at Niagara Falls, and our son went to college in the Finger Lakes. I did some engineering for the Arcade and Attica RR on their steam locomotive boiler, so was out to Arcade, NY a few times (partial firebox outer wrapper replacement, partial front flue sheet replacement, new staybolts, new flues).  I do some work on steam locomotive boilers as a Professional Engineer. It's interesting "old time" boilermaker work as it often involves forming and flanging boiler sheets for replacement parts, as well as some riveting combined with some welding.  What kind of boilermaker work are you doing in NYC ? Con Ed plants ? I appreciate the heads up as to the ideas for hourly rates.  I'll store the numbers in my memory bank and see where things go.  Thanks again !                         Joe Michaels