Building Evaluation
Building evaluations, or Condition Surveys, provide the basis for many of our services. At Consult Engineering, we take the time to discover each cause of a problem. Our engineers and industry experts understand how building components are designed to work together.
Whether your roof is leaking, your paint is peeling, or your concrete is cracking, we explore all the contributing factors, document, photograph, and perform testing when appropriate. We have various investigative methods at our disposal, from metal detection and moisture detection, to aerial inspection and thermal imaging, to non-destructive and destructive testing, and structural analysis. Our expert knowledge and exhaustive technique give you a complete picture of the condition of your building. Armed with the highest quality information, your tough decisions become much easier to make.
Capital Reserve Studies
At Consult Engineering we have elevated our Capital Reserve Studies to a form of art. Because we perform structural evaluations, water intrusion investigations, prepare roofing, painting, and waterproofing specifications, create project manuals, oversee bidding, and administrate construction projects, our services form a comprehensive solution to owners’ needs.
While other reserve study providers rely heavily on pricing guides—blue book for the building industry—for estimating, Consult Engineering is an engineering firm at work in the field. Our meticulously prepared capital reserve studies, and developer transition studies, are informed by current, real-world pricing examples and tailored in our proprietary reserve study software to your exact parameters. That means we can provide you with custom-fit projections, designed around the way your association prefers to set aside funds.
Because we are operated by a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and employ a certified Reserve Specialist (RS) we can easily add the periodically mandated legal component of the Structural Integrity Reserve Study, or SIRS, to our traditional Reserve Studies.
Project Design & Planning
Project Design transforms an engineer’s worth from theoretical to practical and sets the trajectory for the eventual outcome of a project. Capital improvements, alterations, and structural strengthening require engineering and detailed drawings. Even seemingly simple jobs, like replacing a roof or painting, can benefit from detailed specifications including methods and materials. Engaging an engineer to design your project results in the least ambiguity, allows contractors to bid with confidence, and ensures critical decisions are made by the appropriate parties.
As a Board of Directors member or Community Association Manager, you are required to act in the best interest of the Association. Consult Engineering makes it easy to own your decisions. By leaving the specifications to us, you are relying on experts and are insulated by the business judgement rule.
Specifications & Bidding
Like every process at Consult Engineering, our bidding process is designed to protect the interests of the owners. We refrain from actions or relationships which may create an actual or perceived conflict of interest. We never receive referral fees or kickbacks, nor are we indebted in any way to the contractors you may utilize, or the manufacturers or vendors of materials we may specify. Ethical practices raise the integrity of any project and the industry as a whole.
Making sure the Client, Consultant, and Contractors are all on the same page is essential to any bidding process, and that page is from our Project Manual, which contains all the general and technical specifications. We describe in detail the nature, extent, and expected quality of each task in our Summary of Work. Written in plain language, this summary establishes a clear understanding of what is expected from those performing the work.
By providing a detailed Project Manual and overseeing the bidding process using requirements designed to protect you, Consult Engineering ensures you’ll get apples-to-apples bids from each contractor, with less likelihood of Change Orders costing you time or money during the project.
Project Administration
Project Administration is the physical, in-person oversight of the work in progress. We send in the professionals so you don’t have to be one. Consult Engineering’s Project Administrators are engineers, former contractors, or other experts with knowledge of projects large and small, representing decades of experience in the construction field. We understand the intricacies of structural design, materials estimating, manpower allocation, and equipment staging, and have a critical eye for proper quality workmanship. By being present on the worksite, any potential issues can be identified and addressed before becoming costly to your timeline or budget.
Coupled with our competency, our communication elevates us above others in our field. We conduct regular staff meetings to keep up to date on every project underway. During each visit to your site, we check in with the Property Manager or Board Representative to discuss our observations and any directives that were given. Every site visit is followed up with a written Field Report, including photographs if applicable, sent electronically for distribution to whomever you choose. Every member of our staff has remote access to every document on our servers for immediate answers in the field.
Allowing Consult Engineering to take ownership of your project means you’ll never again be out of the loop, wondering how your project is progressing and when it will be completed.
Forensic Engineering & Expert Witness
Occasionally, taking ownership of your problems means taking someone to court. While there is no shortage of ethical and conscientious contractors in Florida, sadly there is no shortage of those who fail to act in good faith. In our most unfortunate specialty, Consult Engineering provides Defect Investigations and Expert Witness services.
Defects in workmanship, design or materials, or failure to meet building code, are often the result of “value engineering” to a meet a budget. When finishes, waterproofing, and structural elements fail to serve their intended purpose, the owners are left with the aftermath.
Should you find yourself in this regrettable situation, remember that Consult Engineering shines in our role as owner advocate. We can provide the investigative field work, testing, and expert testimony to establish your legal case or insurance claim. You can rest easy knowing you have the most knowledgeable, experienced, and dedicated professionals in your corner.
