So, how much will our DECS request cost?
Recharge Rate
The current recharge rate for DECS is $128/hour. Note that this rate is subject to change (with notice).
Payment can be made with a valid recharge index, and/or an ACTRI Voucher (if eligible).
ACTRI Recharge Rates
What Gets Charged
We primarily bill for the development time creating and executing your request, plus the time to compile and release the results.
We do not charge for initial meetings and consultation, part of request set-up.
Generally, we do not charge the client for e-mails and similar communications, unless they involve changes to the request. We also do not charge for the time a request runs on the server.
If a request needs to be re-run or re-published, we may charge for the time taken.
So How Much?
Generally, the final cost of a DECS request is proportional to its complexity: Number of elements (variables) to retrieve, number of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and how easy it is to retrieve the requested data.
As part of the initial review meeting, your DECS analyst can generally provide an estimate for the time and cost. It’s difficult to provide a firm quote, as each DECS request is unique – as work proceeds we can generally improve the estimate.
Some broad guidelines:
- Very simple requests: 1-3 hours (<$400).
- Common requests: 4-6 hours ($450-$700).
- Complex requests: 7-9 hours ($800-$1,000)
- Very complex requests: 10+ hours ($1,100+)
If your data budget is very tight, we can often organize your request into multiple “phases”, to meet your key requirements first, and the rest if the budget allows.
What If I Need a New Set Of Data?
If your request needs to be run periodically (even years later), we only charge for the time to set up the request and compile the results, normally <1 hour. Trivial changes to the request parameters (e.g., a date range) shouldn’t incur any additional cost.