Selection of an environmental consultant is an important step for those in need of qualified professional services. With the many environmental firms in the marketplace, this can be a daunting task. Final selection is often based on criteria of lesser importance, such as perceived value or relationships. An owner’s primary objective should be to solve a challenging problem or complete an important project and primary criteria should include knowledge, experience, quality and value.
Knowledge
Perhaps the simplest criterion to evaluate is the extent of knowledge that the individual consulting firm processes. This is measured on an individual basis on academic degrees, professional registrations and continuing education. Such information is available in resumés provided by the consulting firm.
For engineering degrees, it is important that staff engineers graduated from reputable colleges and universities that have been accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (for a list, visit www.abet.org). A firm should be reviewed by how many hold a current Professional Engineer License in the state in which they practice.
For geologists, an important certification is Professional Geologist, which in some states are licensed by the State board similar to a Professional Engineer or a Certified Professional Geologist which is a certification granted by the American Institute of Professional Geologists (visit www.aipg.org).
The professional certification for Industrial Hygienists is Certified Industrial Hygienists, which is granted by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (visit www.abih.org).
A popular certification in the environmental field is Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) (visit www.ihmm.org), granted by the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management.
Quality
In order to determine if a firm truly is a quality organization, one should review their processes and procedures to determine if they have an internal setup that provides them with the best opportunity to complete work and deliver products that are consistent with the industry standard of practice. A good determination is to see if the firm is ISO 9001 certified, Design Services. Certification under ISO requires setup of internal procedures that promote production of high quality work products. Key components include:
- consistent filing procedures between offices (both hard copy and electronic);
- proper training for all employees based on job function;
- review and sign-off of documents produced by two or more individuals; and
- proper calibration of any equipment used on projects.
These aspects become particularly important when work is completed between multiple offices.
Value
Many owners perceive value through a bidding process, which works well for commodities, but not for professional services. Environmental projects awarded based on low cost generally have trouble satisfying environmental demands and regulatory concerns, or experience cost overruns.
A better approach is to carefully examine individual labor rates. Firms establish categories differently, and it is difficult to compare these head-to-head, so this is rarely done. However, such comparison can be accomplished by looking at the various categories and level of experience of the individuals within them.
For traditional time and materials projects, the professional consultant should provide a scope of work and associated cost breakdown for review. The scope and budget should be reviewed and discussed as needed, so the owner is satisfied with the work that will be conducted and can anticipate associated costs. Other popular cost mechanisms include shared cost savings, lump sum and cost plus fixed fee.
By thoroughly considering knowledge, experience, quality and value, an owner will be able to retain a competent firm who will successfully complete the project. PE
