] [Thread] [Date] [Author]

["Paul Feather" <pfeather(--nospam--at)SE-Solutions.net>]

Bill wrote:

> Hey, the INTERESTING thing is: I can say that he HAS relied on what I've
> said, and that he most certainly is NOT an Engineer!
>
> Of course, what he will do after that is probably find some accursed
> Structural Engineer from the "Dark Side". It isn't the business lost that
> bothers me; it's the idea that we are so often done in by our own.
>
> Sometimes I think we're going to have to convert "Clients and Prospects"
one
> grindingly slow transaction at a time. But first, we need to heal
> ourselves...
>


The problem is there will always be someone out there who is willing to "do
the work" ( heavy sarcasm intended) for next to nothing.  The only thing to
hope for is that quality engineers will stick to their guns and refuse to
take jobs for less than a fair and adequate fee with schedules that allow
for a thorough job.

We have had the client argument "why is your fee so high?, so and so will do
the job for xxxx".  The standard response is "then have so and so do the
job".  The fact is that they want us to do the job because of quality
service, construction support, constructible well detailed designs.... but
they only want to pay the same fee charged by "the other guy" who does not
provide the same service.

People do not choose their doctor, their lawyer, or their accountant based
on the lowest fee, and choosing an engineer should not be any different.

I seriously doubt that we will ever as a profession "heal ourselves" as you
say.  The only thing we can do is heal our own individual selves and leave
the schlock clients to the schlock engineers.  There are plenty of clients
who understand the value quality engineering services bring to the overall
project costs, and are willing to pay for it.  Some clients you will have to
convert one grindingly slow transaction at a time, some you will never
convert.


Paul Feather







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