For context the ‘small practice’ term in this blog typically describes a microbusiness i.e., a business having less than 10 employees and generally providing niche services. If you are looking for a design service to facilitate a small residential extension, a new build dwelling or a minor commercial/industrial project, both small and large structural design consultancies can offer different benefits.
Here are some key aspects which should be considered that are discussed in further detail:
- Contracts and professional indemnity insurance – can the practice offer you a suitable agreement and is the firm covered for anything that can go wrong?
- Communications – is it important for you to have somebody who can help available at short notice?
- Scheduling and resources – how soon do you need a survey or design?
- Skills and experience – does the firm have appropriately qualified people who have done this before?
- Versatility – what if you, the client, changes their mind about what you want; will the practice be responsive to your needs?
- Cost – clients should consider the design as an investment, and a good design will benefit your project in many ways, but how are the fees determined?
- Complaints – how do you complain or who do you talk to if something goes wrong?
- On-going support – When you have received the initial service, what if you need some more help finding a follow-on trade or if something unforeseen pops up?
- The conclusion provides a useful summary of the main points. If you want to know more about these aspects, this blog is for you and any feedback would be much appreciated!
Contracts and professional indemnity insurance
The structural engineering firm must have appropriate insurance cover to meet your project needs. However, this may be limited in smaller practices due to costs and the client should check that appropriate insurance is in place. A smaller practice may not have cover for a complex project, which for instance comprises a basement, or exceeds a certain contract value. The insurance should include for public liability insurance to cover claims related to physical injury or property damage caused to third parties, along with professional indemnity insurance to protect against financial losses due to professional errors or negligence. A situation where this could occur may be that a structural engineer provided a beam design for a proposed opening, without checking that the existing walls receiving the beam bearings had adequate foundations, and some settlement occurred causing cracks in the walls.
Even though you might think a larger practice would naturally have relevant insurance in place, it’s always a good idea to double check this and ask to see insurance details regardless of the size of practice.
A contract should be agreed which clearly defines the client brief, scope of works to be undertaken and payment terms. A larger consultancy may have standard terms of engagement, whereas a smaller practice may be more flexible with the agreements they can provide. Some larger firms may not take on work below a certain fee due to overheads and fixed costs associated with setting up a project.
Communications
A small structural engineering firm will probably only have one person at reception, or one secretary to answer the phone, and in many cases, you will probably be able to call the office and speak directly to an engineer. This easy and direct communication is comforting for many clients, especially domestic clients who are looking for assistance with an extension or home alteration project. Domestic clients often have no experience of the processes involved. This high level of engagement with personalised guidance and attention would typically lead to stronger customer relationships, which better cater for different client or project needs.
A larger practice probably has layers of management and a hierarchical staff pyramid comprising fewer senior engineers and more junior/graduate engineers. There would typically be different people assigned to the various tasks and responsibilities of your project. This type of organisation would probably not readily be able to assist with direct responses to queries, unless you are lucky enough to have a direct contact number or email address for a Technical Director who is not very busy! Alternatively, if you can get the entire team’s email addresses and copy in all those concerned, you may get a faster turnaround to any queries, but the guidance may not be as clear and possibly duplicated.
It may seem a little harsh on larger organisations, but in my opinion having more direct communication to someone with knowledge builds trust and is a huge advantage.
Scheduling and resources
Small practices are often very busy, but this varies on a day-to-day basis. They typically have the capacity to work on projects within a quick turnaround time, with fewer management, project setting up and quality procedures to comply with. If the project deliverables need to be completed quicky, the smaller practice would be able to explain to the client where this may not be possible. Larger work packages can be scheduled by smaller practices, but they will probably want some form of advance payment to block out any other projects within the same period; it’s unlikely that a small practice would be able to work on several large projects simultaneously.
A larger consultancy, generally working on commercial and higher budget projects, with staff working 9am-5pm, may not be so responsive to faster delivery requirements for smaller projects. However, once your project is built into the larger company’s workflow, there is a good chance it will remain on track and be completed as scheduled, with less impact from somebody taking a holiday or falling ill.
Both small and large companies have potential for overload, so it’s always advisable to have a clear understanding of the project programme and delivery requirements early in the appointing process, regardless of which type of practice you enquire with.
In a smaller practice, the same engineer would typically work on a project to completion; this is a benefit for smaller projects where overall structural design responsibility is taken by one person. In contrast, a larger company may offer faster checking services with a fresh pair of eyes available to review designs before they are issued to clients.
Skills and experience
Smaller practices are typically more approachable and prepared for clients who have little or no experience of home renovation or extensions. Often these clients will have a small or limited budget and are having to learn about various design fees and procedures ranging from architectural and structural design fees, statutory planning, building control, drain build over costs, along with other often unforeseen expenditure to deal with such as party wall matters. With a smaller practice which probably spends most of its time working on local extensions, clients are likely to have a more experienced and guided service approach. Clients would usually be assured by a friend or colleague if they recommend the small practice and have seen the project results.
In contrast a larger practice may be able to offer most services in-house and may not be inclined to repeat similar style solutions as they may have more people offering more ideas. This may reduce the number of additional/external consultants the client needs to appoint. The larger practice may collectively have wider knowledge in more sectors, new design innovations, or specialised methods of construction which a smaller practice has not had exposure to. Whether the practice is large or small, if the project brief is outside the scope of their expertise, they should not accept the work.
The client should ensure whichever type of practice they enquire with, that the people working on their project will have the appropriate qualifications i.e., a structural or civil engineer with Chartered status.
Find an Engineer, a search facility offered by this Institution, provides a means to find local structural engineering practices in the UK, all of whom employ at least one member of the IStructE.
A smaller practice with perhaps a sole practitioner or a small team of designers, are likely to be more generalised in their design knowledge, familiar with design codes for reinforced concrete, steel and timber, but not necessarily structural glass or knowledge about heritage buildings. If the project brief is aiming for an advanced solution with respect to sustainability and carbon reduction, the smaller practice may not have the skills to provide various options and a detailed solution.
Of course, there will be exceptions where small practices provide specialised design services, but such small practices are few and far between; homeowners may avoid appointing designers who are based hundreds of miles away for various reasons.
Versatility
The perception may be that a smaller practice has less governance. Less bureaucracy can be an advantage, but issues can also occur without rigorous systems and processes such as quality control. Generally, project management may be less formal, and clients might experience inconsistency depending on the individuals handling their project.
With fewer layers of management and compliance requirements, small firms may be more agile and can offer faster decision making should clients change their mind, or if a project brief changes. This increased responsiveness and ease of communication could be a benefit in certain situations.
If a larger firm has more resources in terms of skills and design software, they may be more flexible if a building design suddenly changes from masonry to reinforced concrete, or from reinforced concrete to a steel framed building. Other types of buildings requiring Finite Element Analysis or Post-tensioning solutions are probably going to be in better hands with a larger consultancy, unless a smaller specialised firm has been engaged from the outset.
Cost
A smaller consultancy with one practitioner may be run from somebody’s home office or outbuilding, or perhaps a team working from a small office. The practice would therefore have fewer overheads to cover fixed costs such as a human resources department. The quoted fees may be exempt from VAT offering a 20% saving. The client should be aware of any additional services that the smaller practice cannot provide such as SAP ratings (Standard Assessment Procedure ratings are the UK government’s approved method for measuring the energy efficiency of new residential dwellings, rated on a scale of 1-100+) requiring a registered assessor, or any bar bending schedules with reinforcement details required for concrete structures. A smaller practice may be tempted to add a mark-up for additional services it arranges on behalf of their client.
If a larger practice has outlined a scope and provides all the required design services, their fee may already price in additional services as a complete package. The total fee arrangement may be simpler to contemplate but also leaves the client with less flexibility to obtain separate quotes from the market. A larger practice may only take on projects above certain fee threshold to ensure overheads and project set up costs can be covered.
For large projects (perhaps over £2M) both small and large practices may use a percentage of the overall build cost as a method of determining the structural design fee. The percentage range varies, depending on the location, size of the project and complexity/coordination involved.
For smaller projects the fee would typically be determined by the time required or number of drawings to be produced.
Aside from structural engineer’s fees, the main cost to the client is of course in the build. If the objective is to keep build costs within a certain budget, the structural engineer can help the client to obtain preliminary quotes by producing scheme designs or options for initial tender enquiries. The detailed design can proceed once the general arrangement and structural forms are established; for homeowners this may be the difference between a large loft open loft conversion requiring a steel frame, or a habitable roof space generally formed in timber comprising smaller rooms.
Complaints
It bodes well for both small and large practices if they have a well-defined complaints procedure. If clients are unhappy with part or all the service provided, there should be a defined way for the client to communicate any complaints to the service provider, and understand the process involved with resolving matters.
If a small practice is run by a sole practitioner, then it is inevitable the complaint will be delivered/communicated to the very person who provided the service, as opposed to a larger organisation that may have a customer services department to facilitate matters.
In many cases having someone not directly involved with the service or project would be beneficial, to provide some impartiality or independent opinions. If a client is considering using a small practice, it would be worthwhile considering how potential disagreements can be resolved, perhaps by having the option of an independent review or third-party check for any designs provided, or agreeing any adjudication processes as part of the initial service agreement.
On-going support
For local residential projects, the smaller structural engineering practice may have the benefit of being well networked in the region and can provide good referrals for other trades/specialisms. They may be able to recommend geotechnical engineers for site investigations, arboriculturists for tree surveys, reliable contractors and steel fabricators etc. If the smaller practice typically works in a smaller region, they can advise of their experience with local council or private Building Control firms giving a good service in the area.
A larger practice may not offer services for the stages beyond the design and statutory approvals. This may be worrying for smaller clients who perhaps do not have any experience of dealing with builders.
A small practice would usually relish the opportunity to ensure ongoing customer satisfaction to obtain further recommendations and any repeat business. However, if the smaller practice resources are limited, they may be too busy to quickly produce any significant design amendments if the scheme changes and they are stretched with other project commitments.
Conclusion
Initial enquiries with both small and large practices are likely to provide indicators on who you should engage for your project. Consideration of the objectives, programme and fees are likely to govern your choice, but as we can see there are plenty of other nuances involved ranging from the benefits of using somebody local, to relying on larger companies that may have many of the skills required in-house.
It's not realistic to assume that small practices are unable to assist with larger projects, and in many cases would also be able to provide valuable niche services; similarly, it is perhaps unfair to suggest large practices would not provide the same level of customer attention and guidance.
However, I would like to end this blog perhaps on a biased opinion, as I am a small practitioner! Small practices and sole practitioners are arguably more directly accountable, and our business is our livelihood. Established small structural engineering practices thrive because the engineers and support staff are ‘hands on’ with various aspects which ensure successful project delivery; we don’t do it because it’s the only job we could find or to ‘impress a manager’. It is more typical for small practices to exist because fundamentally there would be one or a group of structural engineers who take pride in what they do.