Questions we get asked.
The questions clients ask before they hire us, answered the way we would answer them on the phone. If yours is not here, send it with the project address and we will answer that one.
Do you handle the permit, or only the drawings?
Both. We prepare the submittal package, file it, coordinate with the reviewing authority and answer their comments until the permit is issued.
Can you survey a site we have not bought yet?
Yes, with the owner’s authorization. A boundary and topographic survey before closing is the cheapest due diligence there is.
How long does a quote take?
One business day for a scope we can price from the description. If the project needs a site visit first, we tell you that in the same reply.
What do you need from us to start?
The address or folio number, what you intend to build or modify, and any existing drawings or surveys. If any of it is missing, we obtain it.
Do you work outside Miami-Dade?
Yes. Tell us the jurisdiction and we confirm what the local authority requires before quoting.
How long does the work take?
On our side, a design or a comment response is ready within a week, and that week covers our own review, the correction and the resubmittal. What we do not control is the reviewing authority’s calendar, which varies by jurisdiction, or the time taken by a third party when the correction belongs to their design. At any point we tell you which of the three is holding the schedule.
Can you produce as-built drawings to close out a permit?
Yes. As-built and record documentation is one of the four disciplines the firm practices. A small scope is delivered in about two days; a large one takes a week or more. In both cases the drawings state what was actually built and where it departs from the approved set.
How do you charge?
Two ways, and you choose before we start. A fixed fee against a written scope, or an hourly rate when the scope cannot be defined yet. Design work is commonly priced by area, and everything else by defined scope. Whichever it is, the basis, the deliverables and the exclusions are stated in the proposal before any work begins.
What happens when the reviewing authority returns comments?
We review the package internally before it is filed, so what comes back is minimal. If the design is ours, answering the comments is part of the job and carries no additional fee. If the design is someone else’s, the comments go back to whoever produced it. If you would rather we resolve them, that is quoted separately: taking responsibility for another engineer’s work requires a complete independent analysis, not a review. Changes you decide to make after filing are new scope in every case. Agency fees are advanced by us and billed at cost, with the original receipts attached to the invoice alongside our own.
Not answered here?
Send the question with the project address. It reaches the office directly and an engineer answers it. Questions that come up often are added to this page.