Roles That a Consulting Engineer Can Play When Hired To Work for a Construction Contractor
Consulting engineers are independent professionals that provide expert advice in a particular field of engineering that they specialise in. As a construction contractor, you are a potential client for consulting engineering service because you will need to perform structural engineering work as part of your construction jobs. The underlying reason why construction contractors seek the help of consulting engineers is so they can have a structural engineering issue solved. But that does not mean that consulting engineering is a one-size-fits-all solution to all structural engineering problems.
Read on below to acquaint yourself with the various roles that a consulting engineer can play when they are hired to work for construction contractors.
Consultants
As mentioned earlier, consulting engineers offer professional advice on the various engineering problems faced by their clients. As part of consultation service, your consulting engineer may perform a feasibility study that includes an assessment of your project requirements, possible solutions, and an estimate of construction costs. This way, you will have a number of practical solutions to choose from.
In addition, consulting engineers will use their know-how in structural engineering to give you their expert opinion on any particular engineering problems you may be facing. As a client, you can choose whether or not to act based upon your consulting engineer's opinion.
Problem-solvers
Aside from providing technical advice to help solve structural design problems that builders and architects face, consulting engineers can assist with the whole building design framework or only part of the design, depending on the specific needs of their clients.
Consulting engineers love to take on new challenges. As problem-solvers, consulting engineers are usually called into action when builders and architects are confronted with a building design problem that they cannot solve themselves.
Managers/Supervisors
If you need an independent engineer to supervise the work that your builders and architects perform, you can turn to a consulting engineer for help. Working as supervisors, a consulting engineer will provide the checks and balances required to ensure that your engineering personnel stick to the project implementation framework throughout the construction process. This will help ensure your structural engineering jobs are carried out in line with the laid out standards.
Seeking a consulting engineer's assistance is a decision that can save you lots of time, money and effort. Whatever, your specific project requirements are, your consulting engineer can provide you with the professional insight you need to optimise project results.