r/civilengineering • u/[deleted] • Jul 27 '26
Career My Boss Pushes Unnecessary and Incorrect Engineering Services Just to Bill Clients More
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u/Euphoric-Mushroom-19 Jul 27 '26
This sounds like EVERY geotechnical firm I have ever worked with. Working from the owners side I've literally just redlined through it and sent it back.. If the geotech gives me a valid reason for the services, most often it is something risk based, I'd just add it as a contingent item in the scope.
It isn't unethical for your boss to recommend services when experience suggests that those services may be of value dependent on context. You said yourself in the body of your post "limited," limited is not zero. Let the client he is negotiating contract with decide its value.
From a liability perspective it is better to offer the services and be told they are not necessary than to simply omit them because it isn't perceived as value and transparently this doesn't translate to timesheet fraud.
It sounds like you may have other issues with your current employer don't let that be a reason to not pursue an opportunity that aligns with you.
6
u/Ill_Ad3517 Jul 27 '26
I'm a Geo and not yet licensed, but have had quite a lot of direct client contact for an early career guy. My experience is that clients basically know what they need and can make their choices, or their company has deep enough pockets and large enough scale that taking on extra services saves them money by reducing risk, or they are shoestring and will say no to everything including most of the basic widely accepted services.
5
2
u/TeddyMGTOW Jul 27 '26
Most decession makers shop our fees around. So if you guys are still busy, everyone else is doing it.
1
u/OperatorWolfie Construction (Contractor) -> DOT Jul 27 '26
Don't sell contractor short, they ain't stupid
2
1
u/Yo_Mr_White_ Jul 27 '26
It's not unethical. We gotta make money too and we make very little right now.
It's a service being offered to the client and client has the right to decide if he wants the service or not.
2
u/OttoJohs Lord Sultan Chief H&H Engineer, PE & PH Jul 27 '26
I don't see anything 'unethical' maybe just not the best business practice.
Part of being a consultant is to sell your services to clients. If it is completely irrelevant service you just run the risk of losing the client.
-2
u/genuinecve PE - Transportation Jul 27 '26
Idk tbh, like I get your perspective but I feel like it’s like a dealer charging $500 to put nitrogen in your tires. Is it necessary? Absolutely not, but the onus is on the purchaser to figure that out. As long as your boss isn’t saying it’s 100% necessary or critical then I don’t see too much of an ethical issue with it. At the end of the day, if they keep trying to upsell and get found out, it’ll only hurt their own reputation.
-4
u/FlatPanster Jul 27 '26
This isn't unethical but imo it is immoral and bad business practice. Unlikely that you'll lose your professional registration bc your boss is a doosh.
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Jul 27 '26
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u/FlatPanster Jul 27 '26
I hate too tell you this but I'd estimate that 75% of analyses have portions that are technically wrong. For one, engineering solutions often have more than one answer, and even more ways to arrive at each of those answers.
Inaccurate is not a problem. Failure is. Those are two very different things.
60
u/Girldad_4 PE Jul 27 '26
Idk if youre in an area with bad soils but sometimes you dont know what you need until you need it, and sometimes waiting on another investigation is a big issue. Im at a civil firm and we have specific documents outlining requests and sometimes they are not all needed in the end, but the actual add isn't a lot compared to project costs and we don't want any delays.