Fred Moore Consulting, Pricing page

Pricing Schedule effective 1/1/06

Pre-Purchase Survey

This is the most comprehensive type of inspection, and it is strongly recommended, and required by most Financial Instutions and Insurance companies when purchasing a used vessel.
This type of inspection requires a very close examination of the entire vessel and its systems. A sea trial and an out of water inspection of the underwater portions of the hull are usually part of the inspection.

Insurance / Condition & Valuation Survey

This inspection is performed for the insurance underwriter to determine if the vessel is an acceptable risk. An Insurance Survey is in itself a detailed inspection, but its primary focus are items which could lead to the vessel sinking, cause a fire, or endanger the crew and/or passengers. Some insurance companies require a bottom inspection of the vessel. Check with your agent before the survey in order to determine if this is required. This type of inspections also involves the assessment of the vessel's fair market value.

Damage Survey

This inspection is performed to assess the extent of damage, recommend repairs, and if required, probable cause. Many times this is done during a dispute with the insurance company. Other times it is done in order to determine the extent of repairs required when purchasing a damaged vessel.

Appraisal

This type of inspection is performed to gather enough information to determine the fair market value of the vessel. It is usually performed for estate settlements, donations, and legal matters. Market research is carried out, and the vessel is inspected to help ascertain its correct value. Factors such as the vessels age, condition, and where the vessel is lying are considered.

Pre-Offer

Lets face it pictures on the Internet make a boat look good. Many times it is not worth the travel expense or survey expense. A pre-offer inspections will give you a verbal report of the condition of the vessel and major systems before you spend lots of money. Most times a portion of the pre-offer inspection price can be credited to an actual survey cost.

How we charge

There is a basic charge for the inspection (see table below) Additionally if you are outside our NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE area you must add travel time. The full price will always be quoted before any work starts.

SURVEY RATE TABLE
Vessel LOA	Out of Water	In Water	Sea Trial	Appraisal	Pre-Offer
Up to 30 FT	$ 11.00/FT	$ 8.50/FT	$ +1.50/FT	$ 6.50/FT	$ 125.00
31 to 40 FT	$ 12.00/FT	$ 10.00/FT	+ $ 1.50/FT	$ 7.00/FT	$ 150.00
40 to 49 FT	$ 15.00/FT	$ 12.00/FT	+ $ 1.50/FT	$ 8.00/FT	$ 200.00
50 to 55 FT	$ 18.00/FT	$ 15.00/FT	+ $ 1.50/FT	$ 9.00/FT	$ 225.00
56 to 60 FT	$ 25.00/FT	$ 20.00/FT	+ $ 1.50/FT	$ 10.00/FT	$ 275.00
61 to 90 FT	$ 30.00/FT	$ 25.00/FT	+ $ 1.50/FT	$ 15.00/FT	$ 500.00
"Out of Water", Time is spent on vessel haulout and bottom inspection. "In Water", vessel is not haulout during the inspection Vessels over 90 FT call for Rate All surveys are subject to a minimum of $250.00. Appraisals subject to a minimum of $125.00 Rates based on actual published length.
FLUID ANALYSIS
ENGINE OIL	TRANSMISSION GEAR CASE	COOLANT OUT DRIVE
$45.00/Sample	$55.00/Sample	$35.00/Sample
OTHER SERVICES
Ultrasounding Hull (Steel/Aluminum)			Add $ 20.00/FT to survey cost
Florida antique vessel certification			$30.00
HIN hull tracing			$ 25.00
Consulting			$ 50.00 / hour
Project Oversight			Quoted on individual basis
Osmosis Analysis			$ 6.00/FT

There will be no additional charges for travel when survey is completed in our normal service area which is east/west coast, and central Florida. Travel time outside of our normal area will be negotiated prior to the inspection. but is typically $ 45.00 per additional hour of travel time.

Normally an inspection will not exceed 5 hours of time actually at the boat including time explaining the survey to the customer. Any time beyond 5 hours will be billed at a charge of 27.50 per hour. There is usually no reason for a Survey to exceed 5 hours if things are properly planned up front. A normal inspection require a total of about 10 hours, with 5 of the 10 spent on the vessel.

All payment excluding additional charges is due before the survey starts. Additional charges are due before the report is delivered. We accept check or cash, Credit card processing is via PayPal for those outside the US. See notes below


Example Pre-Purchase survey of a 35' deep V with twin engines oil analysis requested.
35 x $11.00	385.00
Oil Analysis Engine #1	45.00
Oil Analysis Engine #2	45.00
Total	$ 475.00

It is the customers responsibility to schedule and pay for haul out/pressure wash, and to arrange for the owner or their representative to be there during the inspection to operate any equipment, or remove, and or open any panels that are screwed down. Because of liability the surveyor will not operate engines, or any other equipment. This must be done by the owner or owners representative. The survey can not proceed without an operator. We also do not recommend that the purchaser operate anything, their time is best spent observing operations, not learning how to operate the vessels systems. There is plenty of time after the purchase to learn how to operate the boat.

Counties covered without additional travel charges:

East Coast: Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St Lucie (not below Ft. Pierce)

Central: Lake, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Okeechobee

West: Citrus, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota

We will go anywhere in the world for additional charges, all travel charges exceeding counties stated will be negotiated up front.

Everyone asks so here are some answers:

So if I don't have a sea trial during a pre-purchase survey does the price go down? the answer is no. It takes more time if a sea trial is not done. A sea trial is always recommended. It is impossible to access boat handling or discover some potential problems when not under power.
If it takes less time does the price go down? the answer is again no. read further for a explanation of the time actually spent in order to perform the survey.
How can I guarantee the price up front? The answer is simple do everything possible to keep wait time at a minimum.

Don't schedule the haul out for 10 am and start the inspections at 9
Don't arrange for the survey to start at 9 and not show up till 9:30
Make sure that you have notified the owner that all paperwork needed for the survey is available in one place, it takes time huge amounts of time to search the vessel or piles of paperwork for the lost sales receipt of a part that the owner says was replaced last week.
Make sure that the owner or their representative is there before the survey is to begin. The Surveyor will not board the vessel without them, they also need to be available to operate all equipment. For liability reasons the surveyor will never operate any equipment or dissemble anything.
Make sure that the owner has signed a consent form prior to the inspection (provided in the pre-survey package).
Read the survey agreement prior to the survey, then it is a simple matter to sign the required forms.

What should I expect during the survey and how much time is involved?

2.5 hours	Total Travel Time (to and from boat)
.5 hours	Gathering boat information, engine(s) serial numbers, equipment serial numbers, reviewing boat history and documentation supplied by owner, thing like oil change interval, parts replaced etc. (note unless independent documentation is supplied nothing is assumed. If a bill is supplied for a new water jacket, and the jacket looks new then it probably was changed. if the owner says it was changed with no documentation we can't assume it was.
1.5 HOURS	Above water line inspection including machinery, deck, interior, machinery, fuel tanks, monitoring equipment bilge equipment, emergency equipment etc. Run up engines check heat on headers at idle, water temp check for leaks etc. the boat is then moved by the owner or representative to the hall out area if not already there.
1.5 HOURS	hull pressure wash, inspect below waterline, drive train, through hulls etc, re-launch vessel. You should schedule the haul out approximately 2 hours after the start of the inspection.
1.5 HOURS	Sea trial, verify speeds, verify engine movement on stringers, drive line, verify gages and accuracy, steering systems, sails if its a sailing vessel, etc. overall test of all systems.
.5 HOURS	Verbal Reviewing survey with customer (without seller present.)
5.0 HOURS	Researching value of vessel, writing formal survey of vessel normally takes 24-72 hours depending on other activity. A PDF version of the final survey can usually be e-mailed within 24 hours.
13 HOURS TOTAL TIME	You spent approximately 5 hours, while the surveyor spends approximately 13 hours.