Considering that I start work Monday at my new job, a consulting firm, I think that this is a very relevant question. As a local government, or concerned citizen you might be asking why a consulting firm must do the majority of the work on your road/bridge project.
Not to be trite, but the short answer is that the way the last highway act was set up, and the process, at least through TDOT, requires it. To give some perspective, a great many of TDOT’s projects are now designed by outside consultants.
The advantage that a good TDOT pre-qualified consulting firm offers is experience. The local programs process has evolved over the past 4 years, and most of the larger consulting firms have gone through a pretty steep learning curve to figure out what it requires to get a project built. Coming into this process cold would be pretty daunting.
You might think, “…hey we have a set of plans, so we are ready to let it to construction”. Well, as just about every one of my postings has detailed, this is just not the case. A good consulting firm understands the WHOLE process.
Now I understand that there might be a bit of “sticker shock with the fee’s associated with a consulting firm (10-15% or more depending on the type of project). Keep in mind that this is (most of the time) Federal money involved. Federal money has all sorts of “emperial entanglements” involved. If you want to get to it, you have to pay to play so to speak. Remember, what you don’t know about the process can hurt you.
I hope that this helps explain things a little better. I look forward to the new adventure that starts Monday!
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