It was December 1993. The economy was humming. The engineering firm I worked at was staying busy with commercial and hospital remodels. Day in and day out, we faced the usual pressures: last minute architectural changes, upcoming bid dates, incomplete shop drawings and urgent RFIs. Pretty standard fare.

Our company enjoyed an excellent reputation among local architects and a strong reputation with building owners. You would think we were sitting pretty. You would think we would be making good money. Not really.

The financial dynamics of the construction market were changing rapidly. It has thrown open the door to design-build delivery.

Late on a Wednesday afternoon, my boss dropped by to unwind a bit. Like most owners, Bob kept financial information to himself. This time, for whatever reason, he started to share some with me. He told me that despite being very busy, we weren't very profitable. He and Tom made an okay living but nothing grand. Nothing like they used to make.

I asked Bob how he and Tom priced our services. He explained that the market was set. We received 4.25% of the estimated mechanical and electrical construction budget regardless of job complexity (MEP fees are supposedly down to 3.5% now). He went on to tell me that our projects typically ran 30% over on man-hours.