Services Provided by Professional Consulting Engineers

Consulting engineering services vary in scope, from short-term consultations to the development and design of large and complex projects. These professional engineering services may be provided directly to clients, or in association with architects. 
 

Engineering services are often grouped into four basic classifications:

1. Consultations, Investigations, Reports, Project Coordination, and Administrative Services
 

The services included in this general classification are widely diversified. 
 

Typical examples are:   

2. Basic Design Services
   

Basic design services may include:

• Assistance in the awarding of construction contracts

• Construction plans and specifications

• Construction contract documents

• Opinions of probable cost

• Pre-design conferences

• Review of shop drawings

• Other related services

3. Construction-Related Services
 

Consulting engineers offer a variety of services to their clients during the construction phases of a project. Trained personnel from the staff of the consultant are made available to represent the client on either a full- or part-time basis. These resident project representatives provide on-site observation to assure that the construction is performed according to plans and specifications. Project representatives may or may not be registered engineers, depending upon the complexity of the project. These services may also include:

• Client/contractor project liaison

• Coordination of multi-contractor projects

• Preparation of record drawings

• Preparation of periodic payments to contractors

• Review of shop drawings

4. Special Services

Consulting engineering firms offer a variety of specialized services. Normally, these services are considered separate elements of the total engineering required for a specific project. In many cases, services of this nature are performed by firms that specialize in one or more of the following forms of consulting engineering:

Additional Services Provided by Professional Consulting Engineers

Community, Regional, and Statewide Planning
Comprehensive planning projects often require the services and talents of many professional disciplines. Consulting engineering firms are selected to participate in all types of planning programs.

This is because they possess the experience and technical training necessary to properly evaluate existing conditions and to make forecasts of future needs.   

Because of the complexity of today’s buildings, consulting engineers play an ever-increasing role in their design. Professional engineers are called upon by architects and clients to provide designs, detailed plans, and specifications. These may be used for building site development; foundation and structural systems; heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; acoustics; electrical power; and lighting.

The primary design for industrial buildings and other types of structures that house specialized machinery or process equipment is often accomplished by consulting engineers. These structures may be incorporated in water and wastewater plants, electric power plants, chemical process plants, and a wide variety of other public or industrial physical plant facilities.