This report was commissioned to examine all operational aspects of two different size consulting firms in the region of Hamilton, S. Llewellyn Associates Limited and Hallex Engineering Limited, and to establish any significant conclusions.

S. Llewellyn & Associates Limited is relatively a small-sized firm which has focused itself distinctively in hydraulic engineering to provide specialized storm water management services. Contrary, Hallex Engineering Limited is relatively a large-sized firm that provides multi-discipline engineering services in the fields of civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental and cost-management. The report is extensively based on the contributions of the PLP officers: Mr. Scott Llewellyn from S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. and Mr. Patrick Mottola from Hallex Eng. Ltd.

In order to conduct successful conclusions, the report is widely based on the following six driving operational factors found in any-sized firm:

Breadth of Engineering services

Size of a firm

Client-relationships

Competition

Liability

The research draws attention to the fact that the variety of engineering services attracts a broader range of clients, consequently, increasing the firm’s growth, revenue and profit. The report proposes that it is highly more practical to work in a small-sized firm than a large-sized as it significantly exposes one to a wider aspect of a project. Further investigation reveals that it is extremely crucial to provide clients with both an exceptional work and dominant relationship in order to grasp future projects from the client. Moreover, the firm must exceed its competition by assuring a balance between the quality and the cost of the project. Finally, the report advises that a firm must conduct serious investigation and examination of the project for not only better engineering ethics but also to avoid any liability issues. These appear to be the major conclusions driven from the operational analysis of both firms in this report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………………………………. iii

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………1

S. LLEWELLYN & ASSOCIATE LIMITED……………………………………………. 2

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..2

TOP MANAGEMENT………………………………………………………………..2

Percent of project division…………………………………………………3

ADMINISTRATIVE/OPERATING STRUCTURE………………………………. 3

CLIENT-RELATIONSHIP. …. ……………………….……………………………5

LIABILITY……………………………………………………………………………5

COMPETITION……………………………………………………………………….5

SEASONALITY. …………………………………………………………………….6

PAST PROJECTS……………………………………………………………………..6

Woodward Avenue Environmental Laboratory…………………………. 7

HALLEX ENGINEERING LIMITED……………………………………………………. 9

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..9

ADMINISTRATIVE/OPERATING STRUCTURE………………..………………. 9

SERVICES…………………………………………………………………………. 10

Civil Engineering…………………………………………………………10

Mechanical Engineering………………………………………………….11

Electrical Engineering……………………………………………………11

Structural Engineering……………………………………………………11

Project Management……………………………………………………. 11

Quantity Surveying……………………………………………………….12

List of all disciplines………………………………………………..…. 12

CLIENT-RELATIONSHIP………………………………………………………….12

Sherwin-Williams Training Facility……………………………………. 15

Eurocopter Facility Expansion…………………………………………. 15

SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………………….16

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PLP PRGRAM……………………….………………….17

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………………………..18

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………….…..18

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the following detailed report is to analyze the various operations being performed at S. Llewellyn & Associates Limited and Hallex Engineering Limited. The report first introduces the nature of each consulting firm, it then moves on to examine the operating structure, and the scope of services each provides. It further expands on the client-relationship and liability aspects of each firm. Lastly the report studies the competition each firm faces, and outlines some of the previous significant projects accomplished.

S. Llewellyn & Associates Limited is a small-sized firm which has concentrated itself particularly in hydraulic engineering to provide specialized storm water management services to its clients. On the other hand, Hallex Engineering Limited is a much bigger firm which has taken the initiative to provide clients with multi-discipline engineering services. As S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. is compelled to complete only the sub-contract work of the whole project, its size is relatively ideal for the operations it performs. However, Hallex Eng. Ltd. is an ideal consulting firm for many architects and contractors as it provides all kinds of services, and therefore mostly acquires full-scale contracts rather than sub-contracts. Both consulting firms believe in maintaining strong, reputable client-relationship and therefore most projects come from the same satisfied clients. In terms of competition, S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. encounters a greater deal because of the various firms in the region that offer the same storm water management services, including Hallex Eng. Ltd. This report further emphasis on each of the above factors mentioned.

During the preparation of this report, the following assumptions/limitations were applied:

The report is primarily based on the contributions of PLP officers: Mr. Scott Llewellyn from S. Llewellyn & Associates Limited and Mr. Patrick Mottola from Hallex Engineering Limited.

The report also further includes the research conducted on the past projects of each consulting firm, and has been referenced.

Detailed interviewing of PLP officers and minor research were the methods used to collect the information for this report.

S. LLEWELLYN & ASSOCIATES LIMITED

INTRODUCTION

S. Llewellyn & Associates Limited is a private company categorized under engineering consultants and has a single location in Burlington, ON, Canada. It provides services such as municipal engineering services, construction management, inspection services but particularly specializes in storm water management. The company has focused itself to provide specialized services to clients in the fields of flood studies and storm water management. As a small-sized firm, their range of operations are limited due to only one specialized service, while Hallex Engineering Limited, with its multi-discipline services, encounters a wide breadth of operations.

Since its beginning 12 years ago, S. Llewellyn & Associates Limited has been involved in thousands of projects and been a top service provider to both municipal and private sectors for its service. The scope of their projects lies mainly in the province of Ontario, and particularly around their single location which includes areas such as Burlington, Oakville, Grimsby and Hamilton (Stoney Creek and Southeast parts of Hamilton).

TOP MANAGEMENT

Scott Llewellyn is the president of the company, and has extensive background in developing comprehensive storm water management plans, storm water policies, design manuals and drainage improvements for flood control, erosion control, habitat protection and water quality enhancement. Before Mr. Llewellyn initiated his company in the year 2000, he had acquired his Professional Engineering certificate, and 14 years of experience in the field of storm water management and had established working relationships with a number of experts in Ontario to provide assistance in groundwater, hydrology, soil mechanics, environmental protection and best management practices.

Scott has kept the division of their previous and current projects to a generally 20% related to Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Grimsby municipalities, and 80% to private-sectors and home-developers. It is noticeable that despite the fact that Scott Llewellyn initiated his company long before Hallex Engineering Limited came into being, it is almost in the company’s policies to remain of the same size, and offer the same service.

Percent of project division

The purpose of this pie-chart is to represent visually a rough division of all the projects operated at S. Llewellyn & Associates Ltd.

Figure 2.1: Project Division at S. Llewellyn & Associates (data acquired during the interview)

ADMINISTRATIVE/OPERATING STRUCTURE

Due to the nature of the services S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. provides, it is compelled to complete only the sub-division work of the whole project, and are usually hired by an architect or a bigger firm. Correspondingly, in order for the company to do their part of the work, it is sometimes necessary to initially perform surveying and modelling and therefore this particular type of work is further sub-contracted to other local surveying companies.

In this section, the operations of the company and any significant work performed by each department will be outlined. The company has a variety of engineering specialities in the office which includes two Professional Engineers (P. Eng.), 3 on-site inspectors, 4 draft-men and a designer. The size of the company is relatively small, but ideal for the operations it performs. As the president of the company, Scott is responsible not only for the completion of every project on timely basis but also for ensuring that quality work is being performed. In addition, Scott and the other professional engineer in the firm both act as the project managers for all projects, and therefore review all the work accomplished by the firm inside-out. In order to deal with the municipal and private sector policies, Scott himself deals with the perspective of the storm design to stay within the standards. On top of everything, it is Scott’s responsibility to address all monthly invoices to the firm’s employers, and accordingly forward monthly paycheques to the firm’s employees; this summarizes the financial perspective of the firm.

In order to operate smoothly, each department is compelled to carry out their functions of the project which are listed below:

Professional Engineers: Both act as the main rotating gears of this firm. They review, certify, outline all required components of the design, and any changes to be made.

Inspectors: The firm and the municipal or private sectors policies demand the attendance of an inspector at all times during the construction of the storm water projects. In technical terms, their job requires them to have a significant knowledge of curve, intensity, duration, frequency for the particular storm design. In addition, they are required to know the quality, the standards of the pipes (copper or plastic) being used during the construction of the project. They are also responsible to ensure that quality work is being performed.

Designers and drafters: They are mainly accountable for on-site storm water detention systems, designing of storm-water systems and control. Furthermore, it is required of them to have advanced knowledge in the software modelling of storm water. Technically, the main software used in the firm is a combination of both Sydney and AutoCAD.

CLIENT-RELATIONSHIP

For a firm size of S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. client-relationship perhaps becomes the most fundamental aspect of the work. Of course many companies lose clients for many reasons but particularly due to bad client-relationships. Taking this in account, the company constantly aims to create an outstanding relationship with their clients, to perform excellent engineering services and to offer a suitable working environment.

From all the projects completed to-date, their biggest projects in terms of size, revenue and profit come from their clients: Losani Homes and Binbrook developers.

Over the last 21 years, Losani Homes have won some of the most coveted awards for home design and quality building in Ontario, including the most recent ‘Best Home builder’ in 2012. Losani Homes has an outstanding reputation for innovative home design and services, part of these services are operated by S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. On the same token, Binbrook is a real estate developer that requires storm water management services in the construction of their plans. These services are also handled by S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd.

LIABILITY

In case of any liability issues, the firm stands accountable for it, although in the history of the firm, such issues have never existed.

COMPETITION

The company faces many competitors alone in the area it provides services to, of which mainly are the Stantec and Amec.

Stantec has acquired more than 58 years of experience in consultancy, and has developed from just a local engineering firm, such as both PLP firms, into a global professional organization serving several thousands of clients across North America and internationally. On the other side, Amec also has a long history of 160 years as a construction company. Its operations vary from supplying consultancy, engineering, and project management’s services in around 40 countries in the globe.

The reason why Stantec and Amec provide intensive competition to a small firm like S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. is not only because they provide same services in the region but mainly because of the reputation they have gained in the years of their services. Regardless of the competition, these companies do not always target a small-scale project such as storm water management project, and most importantly, it is the price factor that the client is interested in the most, which wins the case for S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. as the company has comparably significant lower overhead and management costs.

In case of any competition for a certain project in the area, these companies compete with together and the following factors are considered: best proposal, best bid and best ability to leave a good client-relationship.

SEASONALITY

As for every sector that is involved with construction in Canada, there is a seasonality aspect of projects. The same applies for S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. To deal with the seasonality issue, the design perspective of the projects takes place during December-April season of the year while the construction of the designs takes place from April-December. Beside the season effect, the firm had had also hard times during the last recession, but extreme precautions and optimization of operations resulted in surviving through the recession.

PAST PROJECTS

Due to the nature of the completion time of construction projects, it is sometimes difficult to analyze the number of completed projects a year, but in a typical year, the company simultaneously handles 30 on-going projects and completes 7-9 a year.

The following is the summary of the past available projects constructed by S. Llewellyn & Assoc. Ltd. the information below is extremely limited due to lack of resources but yet still informative:

Table 2.1: This table shows the firm’s most significant past projects. (from ref [1] )

Project Name

Finish Date

McMaster Engineering Building (IT)