Engineering and construction firm website cost in Hamilton, Bermuda: local agencies vs Kolonell (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

In Hamilton, Bermuda, a website for an engineering and construction firm built by a local agency costs, as a 2026 ballpark, 12 000 to 45 000 BMD (the same amount in USD, since the Bermuda dollar is pegged at par), and a freelancer charges roughly 4 000 to 12 000 BMD. Kolonell delivers the disciplines, project sheets, careers and tender pages at a fixed 2 900 USD, 4 900 USD or 8 900 USD, with a project manager who takes your calls on Atlantic time. The trade-off is clear: Kolonell does no on-site photography and no in-person meetings, so your images come from your own archive or a Bermuda photographer.

How much do Hamilton agencies and freelancers charge compared with Kolonell?

Bermuda's web market is shaped by reinsurance and international business: the agencies around Front Street and Reid Street set their prices for clients used to Hamilton office rents. A construction firm often receives a quote designed for a captive insurer. The ranges below are prudent ballparks, built from public rate cards of Bermuda and North American agencies, minimum project sizes on Clutch.co profiles, hourly rates published by local studios (commonly 125 to 200 BMD per hour) and freelance profiles on Upwork.

A Hamilton agency earns its premium when you need someone to sit in on a board presentation, coordinate a drone shoot over a hotel redevelopment in Southampton or attend a public tender briefing. If what you need is a credible site that clears prequalification and helps you recruit, the international offer covers it at a price known in advance.

What a Bermuda contractor or engineering practice actually needs online

Construction in Bermuda is a small, tightly networked market: hotel redevelopments, high-end residential on the South Shore, office fit-outs for the insurance sector in Hamilton, and public works on roads, the causeway, water and wastewater. Everything is designed for hurricane-force winds and a salt-laden climate, with the stepped white roofs that collect rainwater. Most senior engineers and many trades come from overseas on work permits issued by the Department of Immigration, so recruitment is a constant concern.

Project sheets need the owner's approval. On an island where everyone knows which hotel is being redeveloped, an anonymised line such as a 120-key resort on the South Shore still identifies the client, so ask before you publish. ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or ISO 45001 logos only appear if you hold the certificates.

On data, Bermuda's Personal Information Protection Act 2016 (PIPA) has been fully in force since 1 January 2025 and is overseen by the Privacy Commissioner for Bermuda. Your careers form collects CVs, passport copies and references, so you need a privacy notice, a retention period and secure storage. Candidates in the UK or the EU bring UK GDPR or GDPR into play. For accessibility, WCAG 2.2 AA is a sensible technical reference. This is not legal advice.

How much does the site cost over three years?

Each column uses the same maintenance assumption after the support period (150 USD per month over 33 months) and the same hosting. Kolonell maintenance after support is quoted on request, so the figure below is an assumption, not a price.

The gap with the freelancer comes mostly from copywriting and from who publishes job openings. In a firm that hires all year, your HR director's ability to post a role in ten minutes matters more than a few hundred dollars on the build.

Which questions should you ask before signing?

• Who holds the domain and the hosting account? A registrar account in the agency's name locks you in. Ask for a written transfer at delivery.
• Is copywriting priced? A low quote with no copywriting line often ends with your engineers writing pages at night.
• What licence covers the site photos? The photographer usually keeps the rights; check that the licence covers the web, tender documents and social media.
• How heavy are the galleries? 8 MB images slow the site on mobile; ask for WebP or AVIF compression and lazy loading.
• What does portal mean in the quote? A site extranet or document control system is a custom application. At Kolonell it is quoted on request, separately from the site.
• How many revisions? Unlimited revisions with no written scope is a dispute waiting to happen.

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Rachel T. is HR director of a 70-person general contractor in Pembroke. Two site engineer roles and a quantity surveyor role have been open for five months, and her recruiter charges 20 % of first-year salary, 22 000 BMD on a 110 000 BMD role. She picks Growth at 4 900 USD, with detailed careers pages (work permits, housing, schools), and books a local photographer for one day at about 2 500 BMD. Total outlay: 7 400 USD. If a single hire comes through the site instead of the recruiter, the 22 000 BMD saved covers the spend almost three times. Nothing guarantees that outcome; the calculation is there to set a coherent budget.

FAQ

Does the Bermuda dollar complicate payment?

No. The BMD is pegged to the US dollar at par; Kolonell invoices 2 900 USD, 4 900 USD or 8 900 USD, by bank transfer or Wise, 50 % at kickoff and 50 % at delivery.

What is the time difference with your team?

Bermuda is on UTC-4 in winter and UTC-3 in summer; the team, based in Senegal, is on GMT, 3 to 4 hours ahead. Google Meet calls fit inside your Hamilton office hours and a written update arrives every week.

Have you built engineering websites before?

Not yet. Our closest reference in complexity is trsigninggroup.com, a bilingual FR/EN site for a New Jersey notary with verified quote requests, appointment booking, live chat and a full back office.

Can you run an extranet for our project owners?

An extranet for drawings and reports is a custom application, quoted on request. The public site at 8 900 USD can link to it and host an area of downloadable documents.

How long does it take?

3 to 4 weeks for Starter and Growth, usually 4 to 6 weeks for Premium with a written schedule at kickoff, then 3 months of support (6 on Premium).

Let's scope your project. Send us your disciplines, your open roles and 8 to 12 publishable projects, and we will reply with a fixed-price package and a launch in 3 to 6 weeks. Request your free quote or see the international offer.