fees

2020/9.1, September 2 — European Influence, Veneer Details, Artful Waterfalls and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS September 2, 2020 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
The Dotted Line
I started my May 2001 column by expressing the belief that watershape designers should be paid for their designs in the same way interior designers and landscape designers are paid for theirs - and by indicating that lots of watershapers I've met are interested in knowing more about the mechanics of how this works. I put off addressing those issues last time because I saw a need to establish criteria for offering such services in the first place.  In other words, there's much more to being a watershape designer than simply declaring yourself to be one, and I set up two dozen questions intended to clarify what I meant. Once you've answered those questions predominantly in the affirmative, once you've determined, through
Are You Experienced?
In October 1999, I wrote an Aqua Culture column titled "Value by Design" in which I explained my belief that watershape designers should be paid for their designs in the same way interior designers and landscape designers are paid for theirs. Since then, I've been contacted by lots of people who are interested in knowing more about how this works; I've also had the privilege of traveling throughout the United States and abroad to talk about watershape design and construction and have met hundreds of people with the same need for information. On the one hand, it's exciting to see the notion of a watershape-design specialty catching on:  It isn't a foreign idea to people the way it used to be, and
Bidding on Value
I'd like to bring up an old observation of mine:  In looking at the high-end watershapes that win awards or achieve some sort of public acclaim, it seems to me that the designs are increasingly coming from outside the mainstream pool and spa industry. This is just a strong impression, and I don't have any statistics to back up my case.  But when I look around me and see who's doing the
For All You Know
I'd humbly like to add my own voice to the growing list of those who are encouraging watershapers to seek payment not just for what you do, but also for