Technical Service Center
TSC Billing Information
Since the formation of the Technical Service Center in FY95, TSC has charged for its services on an as-requested, job-by-job basis through individual service agreements. TSC operates like a business and uses both a billable labor rate and fee structure to fully recover its operating costs. The billable rate charged to a customer is the same for both regular and overtime hours worked. The table below provides the current basic billable rates for the TSC.
Table 1.— TSC Billable Rates
FY2009
| Skill Level | Grades | Hourly Rate | Daily Rate |
| 1 | 1 - 10 | $76 | $608 |
| 2 | 11 - 12 | $99 | $792 |
| 3 | 13 - 15 | $120 | $960 |
FY2010
| Skill Level | Grades | Hourly Rate | Daily Rate |
| 1 | 1 - 10 | $69 | $552 |
| 2 | 11 - 12 | $95 | $760 |
| 3 | 13 - 15 | $117 | $936 |
What rates are projected for FY 2011 and 2012?
Beginning in FY2001, TSC implemented supplemental fees for certain laboratory, field, and computing services. In addition, a few of the TSC groups have adopted a higher billable labor rate to cover the costs of their broad-based higher rate services. These premium rates (TSC baseline rate plus a surcharge) and service fees are summarized below, in table 2.
Table 2.—TSC Premium Rates and Service Fees
| ORG CODE | PREMIUM SERVICE OR OTHER ADDED COST | FEE OR SURCHARGE | |
| All codes | In-house contractor services (surcharge) | $15/hr | |
| 86-68110 | Workstation fees for structural analysis | $200/day | |
| 86-68170 | Construction tracking/scheduling to cover software & equipment | Small job | $50/yr |
| Avg. job | $100/yr | ||
| Large job | $250/yr | ||
| VE or PASS studies—Costs of supplies, equipment, space, and admin | $300/day | ||
| 86-68180 | Partial costs of materials lab supplies, equipment, space, & maintenance (surcharge above premium base billable rate) | $15/hr | |
| 5-Million-Pound Test Machine | $1,000/day | ||
| Use of Vibration Lab | $1,000/day | ||
| Specialized equipment use—Laboratory | $1,000/day | ||
| Specialized equipment use—Field | $1,000/day | ||
| DPR (drill hole parameter recorder) | $1,000/site | ||
| Coatings work | $160/day | ||
| Sample storage | $2/ft2 /month | ||
| Structural testing and analysis field trips | $2,000/trip | ||
| Lab tour/public outreach equipment and supplies | $2,000/tour | ||
| 86-68210 | GIS development of area-capacity info from hydrographic data collection—UNIX system costs | Contact group manager* | |
| Mobilization and use of drill rigs—Equipment and storage costs | $0.20/mile + $125/hr | ||
| 86-68220 | Use of boats and related equipment, environmental chambers, and associated space and special utilities | Contact group manager* | |
| Use of greenhouse | $700–1,400/month | ||
| Use of greenhouse ponds | $400/month | ||
| Use of lab | $80 day | ||
| 86-68221 | R&D & demonstration activities directly using or benefiting from the mobile plant, pilot plant lab, bench scale lab, wet lab, or chemistry lab (surcharge above base billable rate) | $10/hr | |
| 86-68240 | Use of large survey boat, instruments, equipment, software licenses for HYPACK, Trimble, and UNIX computer | $240/day | |
| Use of small survey boat, instruments, equipment, software licenses for HYPACK and Trimble | $210/day | ||
| Use of GPS survey equipment, depth sounder, and software licenses for Trimble | $160/day | ||
| 86-68290 | Field supplies, equipment, lab space, storage, and other services associated with fish collection, retention, and analyses | Contact group manager* | |
| 86-68320 | Cone penetrometer vehicle | $600/day | |
| Trimble GPS system | $250/day | ||
| PLGRs | $50/day | ||
| 86-68330 | Partial costs of geophysical and seismological equipment, storage, and maintenance (surcharge above base billable rate) | $15/hr | |
| Class V: GPS, X-hole truck, White logger | $250/day | ||
| Class IV: Crawler Cams | $200/day | ||
| Class III: Trim2d and Promax | $150/day | ||
| Class II: Seismograph, Intergraph, Gray logger, MGX logger | $100/day | ||
| Class I: UNIX, Intergraph II, Borehole cams, misc geophys equipment, temp microseismic nets | $50/day | ||
| Use of lab | $80 day | ||
| Temporary microseismic network | $3,000/sensor | ||
| 86-68410 86-68420 86-68430 |
Staff development costs (surcharge above base billable rate) | $5/hr | |
| 86-68440 | Partial costs of hydroelectric lab supplies, equipment, and space (surcharge above base billable rate) | $17/hr | |
| 86-68460 | Hydraulic lab and lab shops infrastructure surcharge—Space, equipment, supplies, and storage costs for hydraulic studies (surcharge above base billable rate) | $15/hr | |
| Hydraulic lab infrastructure fee—Space, equipment, and storage costs based on hydraulic model "footprint." | $2/sq ft/month | ||
| Hydraulic lab equipment/instrumentation surcharge for specialized equipment used to analyze hydraulic conditions | Contact group manager* | ||
| Lab tour/public outreach equipment and supplies | $2,000/month | ||
*Prices are variable for some services. Group managers can provide current pricing information for these services.
TSC billable rates for outyears are conservatively estimated to cover anticipated inflation and cost of living increases in employee salaries. The rate for an upcoming year is then adjusted immediately prior to the start of a new fiscal year (normally in early September) based on better information about prior year performance and future year operating costs. Table 3 below provides a summary of the current preliminary estimate of outyear rates for the TSC.
Table 3.—Preliminary Outyear TSC Billable Rates
| Fiscal Year | Skill Level | Hourly Rate | Daily Rate |
| FY2011 | 1 | $73 | $584 |
| 2 | $100 | $800 | |
| 3 | $123 | $984 | |
| FY2012 | 1 | $77 | $616 |
| 2 | $105 | $840 | |
| 3 | $129 | $1,032 |
Please contact a client liaison (303) 445-2561 to help you get the most efficient services for your needs.