Building Enclosure Consulting

Express Quotes

We sincerely thank you for your interest. We would love to give you the estimate for your job. Please contact us, preferably via email, and one of our representatives will get back to you asap.

Here are some guidelines:

If you never worked with a facade consultant before.

Chances are you never worked with building enclosure consultants before. When you contact us, we will schedule a telephone call. The first 1/2 hour while we determine whether and how we can help you is free of charge. Then we will email you a standard scope of work for your edits. Typically we would need to establish what is the ultimate engineering question you want us to answer. Once the scope is determined, we will send you the proposal.

Document reviews - Risk Free

IF IT DOES NOT SAVE YOU MONEY (OR REPUTATION) IT IS FREE OF CHARGE.

Since our successful promotion "Free Documentation Review" last year, we made it our regular policy to leave the payment decision up to our clients. If we did not save you money or face, then the review was complimentary. We also provide second-opinion reviews on sets reviewed by our competitors. Contact us at your convenience and one of our representatives would be happy to help you.

Computer Simulations:

We are recognized as a world-class leader in the field of 3-dimensional computer simulations. Many of these state-of-the-art services are unique worldwide and posted on the computer simulation page. We are a direct provider, which explains why our prices are low and quality is high. Feel free to add a markup if you are a re-seller.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you happen to write performance specifications you may want to use our consulting services, because we are typically asked for a simulation that would answer an uneeded engineering question.

Education

We do not have a flat fee for seminars and educational workshops. The fee depends on our schedule, and the number of paying participants. In limited cases, we offer free seminars if we can reach a large group of our prospective clients in a strategically-important sector or location. However, at the very minimum, we typically ask for a reimbursement of travel, meal,and accommodation expenses.

Forensic/ Restoration Assignments, Ongoing Consultations,
and other jobs characterized by the undetermined effort

You guessed it: Time and Expense. We charge a flat hourly fee, in 15-minute increments, portal-to-portal, with Not-to-Exceed milestones, and with a frequent timesheet reporting, giving you a better control of the budget. We ocassionally would agree on a lump sum basis on typical jobs.

Facade Access Advantage

We specialize in high-rise facades characterized by a challenging access. We own rigging equipment ready to access your facade, saving you thousands of dollars right at the start. Most other experts don't own the necessary equipment and require you to pay for services of a contractor or charge you extra for a rental.

Construction Testing Advantage

We specialize in complicated cases which often require custom-modified field testing of existing buildings, followed by iterations until the failure is neutralized and the test passed. This is different (and more expensive) than the new construction testing, which only gives a "pass" or "fail" answer. We own testing equipment, again saving you thousands of dollars right at the start. Most other architectural and engineering firms don't own the necessary equipment and would require you to pay extra for services of an additional testing firm or charge you extra for a rental.

Timing

We know that once you made up your mind, you needed a quote for yesterday. Some assignments are easier to estimate than others; therefore, the time may vary. Typically we would need to establish what is the ultimate engineering question you want us to answer. In many cases you may need us to suggest the best approach. The more details we would get, the quicker our estimate would be.

Responsiveness to Your Needs

We are not in a mind-reading business but we are able to easily identify tasks which completion would not respond to your stated goals or may constitute a conflict of interest (e.g. when you ask us to both specify, perform, and witness facade field tests). Many clients ask us to price a scope that does not stand close examination and raises more questions than answers, (e.g. asking to include QC travel costs to unknown locations for unknown periods. There is more than one testing laboratory in the world, and there is a big difference between five weeklong trips to China and three days in Miami, FL.) Very often you ask us to price services that are already contracted and provided by someone else (e.g., certification of work compliance). We understand that your scope was often put together by someone else, who may not have sufficient knowledge and experience, and we are here to help. However, if the time is tight and the bid is formal, the best we can do is to add some fine print. Please read the fine print. Please ask us for suggestions of services you may need and services you may not need.

Apples to Apples

1) Very often, the cost simply cannot be determined on basis of the information you gave us. We may have some sort of idea of the effort required on basis of size and complexity of similar jobs but we are not in betting business. Most companies quote specific tasks and then invariably gouge for the additional scope and unforeseen conditions. We are too honest to do that and we would end up with a loss. We would rather give you a Not-to-Exceed quote based on time & expense. However, if you compare it with task-based proposals, the result would be obvious. Please, remember to compare apples to apples: they will charge you MORE than the quoted lump sum, while we will charge you LESS than the NTE we quoted. E.g. we recently completed the job for 41% of the Not-to-Exceed amount we quoted.

2) Small things matter. Watch the limitations and the fine print. E.g., many consultants don't own the necessary testing and access equipment and require you to pay extra for services of a specialized contractor or charge you extra for a rental. Such exclusions may easily quadruple your ultimate cost. We own our testing and access equipment, saving you thousands of dollars right at the start.

The first 1/2 hour while we determine whether and how we can help you is free of charge. We strongly encourage you to email or FTP the relevant documentation to us ahead of time. Security of your documentation is important to us; and we will happily sign a nondisclosure agreement regardless whether hired or not. The time spent reviewing the circumstances and preparing a proposal, etc is free of charge.

We would start billing if you ask us to perform the technical work e.g., answer a technical question or conduct observations. We will typically charge you for each 15-minutes started, depending on the seniority level of the individual whose assistance you seek. You can also purchase 1-hour blocks at a 10% discount.

Why hire us?
No particular reason. It's possible that we already work for you indirectly. However, some of the points listed in this document may prove helpful in your consideration.

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