Collaborative Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Type of work/when to contact:
Projects that involve multiple disciplines such as engineering, wetlands, landscape architecture and construction.
Licenses/Education:
See previous sections for requirements on individual consultant types.
Where to find a multi-disciplinary team
Speak to local watershed coalitions, neighbors who have had engineered projects completed.
Cost:
If a project is large enough to involve multiple disciplines, it is generally a larger and more complex project. This typically means a higher cost project. Most lead consultants will not mark up the fees of the rest of the team members, but they will need to include extra time (fees) to account for managing the team.
What to ask:
Experience with similar projects, experience with required permits, if the members of the team have worked together, references for projects that they have worked on together, time frame for work.
On some projects, multiple professions will form a single team to assist you. This is especially true for larger and more complex projects. For example, if you need engineering, environmental permitting and planting plans for a project, you may hire a team that includes all of these professions. If you want the same team to install your project, a river constructor can be added to that team.
When considering this option, you will want to talk to whichever profession will have the most work on your project first. This consultant will typically be the ‘lead’ or ‘prime’ consultant. They will be your direct contact and they will manage the other consultants for you. Often, this prime consultant will make recommendations to you about who they could add to the team to help the outcome of the overall project.
In addition to the requirements recommended for each profession in the previous pages, it is also important that these consultants have worked together on other similar projects. If they are not familiar with each other, there is a higher risk that items will not be coordinated correctly. When talking to a potential team of consultants, it is important to define the lines of communication at the beginning of the project, as well as project costs, schedule and impacts to your property.