Recently, I had lunch with a prominent structural engineer in the Phoenix area. Our discussion was wide ranging, covering many topics. One topic of interest that we discussed was the pros and cons of in-house engineering for foundation repairs.
One strong pro for in house engineering for foundation repair is single source accountability.
The Cons of Inhouse Engineering include:
The perception of a lack of objectivity. Since the engineers work for a foundation repair company, their advice could be seen as biased. Perhaps the culture or company structure theoretically could influence an engineer to lean towards recommending repairs more than usual… especially if the corporate structure has the engineer under the direct supervision of someone in sales or marketing (I doubt any good engineer would agree to having a marketing or sales supervisor) but I suppose it is theoretically possible. We certainly would never agree to such a corporate structure and truly value the independence of our engineering team.
A Homeowner’s best choice might be to find an independent engineer, who does not receive the majority of their income from either foundation repair contractors or from homebuilders.
I wonder how that really differs from engineers who receive 95% of their revenues from homebuilders. If those same engineers are doing forensic investigations on behalf of those same homebuilders when unhappy Homeowners who have reach out to the homebuilders with complaints, isn’t that a similar situation? Could the corporate structure and culture contribute to making recommendations favorable to their homebuilder clients? Let that sink in.
Naturally, Homeowner’s best choice might be to find an independent engineer, who does not receive the majority of their income from either foundation repair contractors or from homebuilders. That could be a tall order, considering this is mostly a geotechnical problem that tries to understand serviceability reactions of a structure to soil movements. Logically, Geotechnical engineers are better suited in some ways than structural engineers - but there are some structural aspects - so it really requires both. Our experience has shown that Geotechs are better at writing reports than drawing and detailing plans…. Structurals are less experienced in writing reports. In the end, there are not many good choices for independent engineers who are that helpful and truly independent for Homeowners for foundation repairs that have both geotechnical and structural capabilities. Perhaps that may change someday.
What about the Pros of Inhouse Engineering?
One strong pro for in house engineering for foundation repair is single source accountability. If the plans for the repair come from one source and the actual work comes from another, when things don’t perform it can be difficult to determine who is at fault. Both parties naturally will point to each other rather than themselves in the case of a dispute; leaving the Homeowner with no clear responsible party. This can be avoided when the engineer and contractor are both working for the same company. With this type of arrangement, the Homeowner has a much simpler action when trying to understand who is responsible for performance.
The best possible choice for Homeowners is an engineering practice that is both structural and geotechnical, and not associated with either a repair contractor or a home builder. Until such a practice exists, we find the most practical and cost-effective solution is for a design/build practice with both structurals and geotechs that operate independently from sales and marketing. Perhaps someday truly independent practices will arise.
