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Tower Climbers Are Worth Every Dollar, As Is Insurance

While new WISPs may be surprised at how much tower climbers charge, veterans say they're worth the money. Climbing is a risk that requires insurance.

[July 11, 2006]

On the ISP-Wireless list in June, RH asked:

I am just about to hire a guy to set up my first tower. I have a few overall questions on what to expect to pay and insurance.

Is it normal to pay $1,000 to $1,500 to hang three antennas on a tower? One's at 100 feet and two're at 290 feet. The tower owner requires the climber to have a certain amount of insurance and list the tower owner as additionally insured.

That seems normal. However, the climber says he has to charge me the additional $250 his insurance company charges him to add the tower owner as additionally insured. Is that normal? What insurance companies are people using for tower climbing insurance? About what do you pay a year for the insurance?

Thanks for all the help!

[TI replied] "Sounds about right. It will probably take 2 trained people all day and they will be risking their lives. It sounds like he is buying insurance by the job as required."

[Ed. note: See, for example, Tower Mishap Claims Three Lives.]

[TR warned] "If you can find a good climber that only charges $1000-$1,500 AND WILL GUARANTEE THE RESULTS, OR AT LEAST BE FLEXIBLE IF THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO PERFORM WORK, I highly recommend paying them to do it. It's tough and risky work, and worth every penny, when they give you a fair price. Its normal to pay $1,000 to $1,500 per day. Actually we usually pay $2,000 a day. They charge us a day, whether they get the job done or not. The question you need to concentrate on is what guarantee's you have for what you are paying for. If they don't finish, will they charge you again the second day to come back? If it rains half way through the day, what are they going to charge you? Still the whole day, when they have to come back the next day to finish? Define that upfront, or you might get stuck with an unexpected double bill."

[RS explained] "The figures the tower climbers are quoting you are pretty close to normal. I and my son are climbers and in California, on towers, I get $295.00/hr, portal to portal, for two men. I buy my insurance by the job and a usual 300' guyed tower for two me to work on in one day is $300 to $600 per day, plus the 'going in price" that I pay for the renewal for the insurance each year. The renewal for each year is about $1,500 for me. It's real hard for find a company to write climbing insurance because they all want a history of your company, (i.e. what you did, how long have you been in business, any accidents, any damage to the towers or outbuildings, cert'ed climbers, etc)

For your job it would probably be

• 1 man climbing to 100', install antenna and coax
  • continue to top to 300' install two antennas
  • same man ties the coax to tower on way down
  • maybe other man climbs to 100' to tie coax to tower
• Ground man handles all equipment to go up rope pulleys, equipment, and safety
• Most Insurance companies want 1 man on tower and 1 man on ground for safety.
  • this job could be up to 6 hr plus lunch and drive time
  • if the job goes over 8 hrs (p to p) you're into 1.5 x hourly rate plus per-diem.
  • i.e.: $1,700.00 install time plus drive time and get ready time at office.

You pay from the time the climber leaves his workplace to the time he gets back, including the time he is talking to you, getting your parts and equipment ready, driving to the site, installing, driving back home, etc.

About 20 percent of the time I'm charging per diem because it takes 2 to 3 hrs to get to the town for the install and it's cheaper and safer to drive over on Monday, get all the equipment ready, check to be sure the ISP or Comm company hasn't forgotten anything and load it in the truck for the next day. Then, day two, do the install, and if there is still time to drive home, do it, if not another day of per-diem and drive home on day three.

The other choice is do the install yourself, buy the insurance, necessary equipment, take a couple of days to learn what your job will be, do the install. However, the second person on the ground has to be also trained, insured, etc. So what have you gained? If you climb without insurance and do some damage, your business life is at stake!

It ain't cheap, but neither is life. If someone questions why the charges are so much I usually tell them to climb the tower themselves and do the install, then you can find out."

[SC disagreed] "I don't do business with tower owners like this. It is not that this particular owner is unreasonable (I'd probably requestthe same thing if I owned a tower)—it's just that there are always easier people to work with. We ask them to not require a particular tower crew if they want our business. They usually give in or we find the next guy that will. Also (just my opinion) I think that what they are billing you seems a bitsteep—if it's over $1000. Up to that, its pretty much within reason. But then again—it's never too much if you are willing to pay :)"

[CW recommended] "Most towers we are on require $4 million to $5 million in insurance, no matter who climbs the tower. So, even if you are trained, you'll need to have the insurance. We pay $4,000 to $5,000/year for this level of insurance. It makes sense if you are on multiple towers, or plan to be up and on a particular tower a lot. A lot of our point-to-point work requires high insurance as well, so you are covered for both."

TR said that although he does know an outfit with the veteran, fully insured crew, he has options:

I have a long list of alternatives, and learned how to climb myself safely, and better trained my staff as a ground crew. I am now prepared so that on any given day our staff can climb. I now can scroll through my list when there is not an emergency, to find better cost climbers. I have a few that will now climb by the hour. I set up an informal relationship with another local WISP to share/barter climbing assistance. So [the contractor] does not get all of my climbing work anymore. But when there is a big job to do, I know who I need to do it."

[KC concluded] "I highly recommend taking a class from ComTrain LLC. Me and my son did."

—End