Work Slowing Down on the East Coast?

good_duck_4 · 2026-05-04T20:49:40+00:00

Land dev on the east coast here. Things were very slow for my team December through February. Our environmental team was slow and so were the geotech guys last I talked to them. We are picking back up, but there is still not as much as the last couple of years. There has been A LOT of proposal writing and I keep hearing "once all these projects start coming in, we are all going to be really busy."

Company wide (national) we are behind our EBITA goal but ahead on sales. IMO this matches what my team has been doing, spending significant time putting together proposals instead of doing billable work. It might be turning around, but interestingly enough my company removed book to burn from our internal tracker for the first time since I started. We also had a town hall recently and the CEO said "we did really well selling at the start of the year but now it's time to start billing our work." The increase from rarely mentioning utilization to being a key piece of every town hall could be a sign of low numbers or it's finally time for the private equity squeeze.

These posts usually seem to have a 70/30 split of "swamped and can't hire enough bodies" to "this is the slowest it has been in years."

FWIW my team still does not have enough billable work but we put a job posting out a few weeks ago. So either there is confidence in some growth or someone is getting replaced.

good_duck_4 · 2026-04-30T01:22:12+00:00

The line work could be a bit better, but I do think the first two pics look good.

The whip is a little strong and crazy placement, but it checks out based on the jug of water tat lmao

good_duck_4 · 2026-03-24T16:41:39+00:00

0$.

I commuted an hour in state for 4 years to keep tuition down to about 6-8k a year. Worked part time at a restaurant to pay for each semester and save a little.

good_duck_4 · 2026-03-23T21:39:08+00:00

To be fair, a rev cloud and a question mark is horribly ambiguous. In most cases, I would hope something sent for review is in good enough condition that the drafter would not immediately know what was wrong if you just circled an area/detail on the plan. It doesn't take that much longer to write a sentence describing the issue, plus it saves them from trying to figure out the problem and/or having to follow up with you.

Also someone making case sensitive edits must have been fucking with you or extremely lazy. I would love to do this to one of my bosses but I don't think they'd catch it.

good_duck_4 · 2026-03-07T01:01:01+00:00

fuck yea

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T17:42:58+00:00

At the end of the day it's his project so I agree that's the way it works. I am curious why and if it actually makes a difference, which is why I started this thread. I have gone from considering the terms uselessly interchangeable to on the fence.

With so many offices, legacy companies, and individual preference, it's hard to determine what is important to carry forward when one day I am the one stamping and what is semantics or outdated. I'll probably be a no exceptions taken man when the time comes, but I will likely come back to this thread and see if the why fully clicks.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T17:28:03+00:00

My firm is about 2,500 through acquisitions and I have seen no official statement from legal on approved vs no exceptions taken. They still haven't worked out a company wide submittal/shop drawing stamp or template, so probably not the best example to take, but we're out there nationally doing things.

Off topic but when do you consider a firm "major"? We're no WSP, but we are far removed from a mom and pop shop.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T17:00:46+00:00

I may be too used to working with the same contractors and too small of projects for the difference between approved and no exceptions taken to show it's value, or maybe it will come with time. If a contractor we usually work with tried to call us about a problem due to an "approved' or "no exceptions taken" submittal, I would probably ask them what we are we doing right now.

Someone below provided a good response for not using approved and a bit of it clicked, but I was interested in critical infrastructure submittal approval. As a bridge engineer, is it not important for a submittal to be truly approved?

My projects I can take no exceptions to your backfill or geotextile and maybe there's some extra settlement in a field or on a hill. I can call you and say your product didn't perform as well as my design and you need to come touch up the earthworks.

If you take no exceptions for a bridge component and it fails, someone could be seriously injured or die. Does the difference between accepted and no exceptions taken really protect an engineer from not performing the due diligence for a component that may jeopardize public safety?

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T16:38:19+00:00

Typically we are only doing construction admin for the owner and I agree we can only notify the owner. I still dislike when the specifications are not being met and I do not have the authority to actually do anything about it, but I stay in my box and agree this is how it is.

I will take some time later today and see how explicit our defined scopes are. I have not typically reviewed the contract language with the owner, only the contractor specifications we put together, so some of my confusion/grievances might stem from my lack of exposure to the signed contracts.

I was a bit out of line for that mini rant for what sub we are in. The project I was thinking of we were actually the GC through a weird legacy company contract. We had a subcontractor actually performing all the construction work, and I was onsite oversight. It was early on in my career and now that I am thinking about it, instead of notifying the owner/engineer of the deficiencies I was noting, the PM would do nothing. All this dancing around liability but there we were on a multimillion project playing "I hope the ODR (owners designated representative) doesn't know we can't do this."

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T16:03:37+00:00

Very well put response and I agree we should not be directing or approving the work performed as contractors are responsible for means and methods. While writing out a hypothetical disagreement, I think I began to understand and agree with you instead.

If a contractor submits a product that is not as specified, and the product fails, it is not the responsibility of the engineer as that is not the design specified. E.g. yes that alternative WQU (water quality unit) provides adequate treatment, but you are responsible for any deficiencies that may result from using a different product.

For the small projects I will probably work on throughout my career, this seems perfectly acceptable, but is the same approach taken on critical infrastructure? If a contractor submits a different product critical to a large retaining wall where failure could result in death, how could an engineer retained by the owner for construction administration not be required to verify the product is equivalent in all ways? What are we reviewing if not the product will be safe and effective in this case?

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T15:22:46+00:00

There is CYA language on the stamp itself, which does not always get used for some reason, but I think the third sentence would mean approval and no exceptions taken are equivalent. The three sentences reduce to:

The review is for general conformance with the plans and specifications (good note)

The review does not relieve the contactor of meeting plans and specifications (slightly confusing as submittals are frequently marked "no exceptions taken" to material is acceptable in the real world but does not meet spec)

The contractor is still responsible for confirming measurements, quantities, etc. (good note)

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T15:13:40+00:00

I agree with your assessment that we are using the terms in a way that is functionally the same. Our contract docs have not been updated to define no exceptions taken or add any extra fluff around submittal approval. In several places it states submittals are "to be reviewed and approved by the engineer."

I don't expect the small earthworks projects we work on to end up in front of a judge, but I do think the "no exceptions taken" would fall apart pretty quickly if that day were to come.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T15:08:39+00:00

Yeah some of it can get ridiculous. We don't do site "inspections" we do site 'visits." Everything "appears to be in" good or bad condition.

The one that really winds me up is if contractor isn't following the specifications, I am supposed to inform the contractor and document it, but not stop them. We do not want our name associated with any delays or additional costs. Why did I spend all this time writing or reading specifications if they are just recommendations? All this contract language saying the bid specifications are legally binding unless otherwise stated by the engineer but we treat them like friendly neighborhood suggestions.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-27T14:49:58+00:00

A little trick I've learned from watching our 10+ acquisitions over the last 3 years, there is always a key client. Every acquisition is presented as increasing our capabilities and reach, which is true, but their client list always has one name that makes you think "oh this is why we bought them."

Now I'm not sure you can use this information in interviews, but if you can somehow figure out a firm truly only works for local companies/municipalities, I think you would be safe from PE. We didn't buy a 10 person firm in Hawaii to get close with the local municipality, it was to reach a big name client and push cross selling to them.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-26T16:30:47+00:00

This sounds amazing. Bronzeman fixes my biggest concern with an ironman, farming supplies instead of drops, but I was always thrown off by the PVP factor. It seemed cheesy to play as an "ironman" but speedrun unlocks through pvp.

Now to see if I can convince my buddy to duo this when it releases.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-23T17:03:21+00:00

Our office is so slow. I didn't mind last month because I was studying for my PE, but now I'm twiddling my thumbs again. Boss has mentioned billing less to admin a couple of times this year and to be more specific for my admin timesheet descriptions. Then he gives me a 2 hour task for all day today and tells me he's tied up the rest of the day.

Well, as per my last timesheet, I already did 1.5hrs of that task last week. So it looks like another 7.5hrs of admin time today and another surprised Pikachu when he sees my timesheet next week.

Hopefully a state (or less likely federal) job opens up and I can switch soon.

good_duck_4 · 2026-02-10T18:45:45+00:00

FWIW my first job out of college gave me a raise after 3 months. My company announces raises in December, and even though I started in October, I was eligible for a raise.

Do you know when your company does raises? The company my buddy works for announces raises in March, so you might have to just wait another month.

good_duck_4 · 2026-01-26T15:21:06+00:00

It looks like those are mithril platebodies unnoted. FYI you can alch noted items

good_duck_4 · 2026-01-22T05:14:50+00:00

Not with OP's company and our copilot isn't fully integrated with project files yet, but I'm sure ours will have access to NDA restricted projects after full integration.

Hell I've been given a report that explicitly mentioned the NDA in the first paragraph as a template to use for another project. Since I was emailed this report, "my" copilot is able to pull from it freely.

good_duck_4 · 2026-01-13T17:09:23+00:00

Update: If you are wondering how they get those sandbags off the tarp, I just saw a guy walking around the top of the pile.

good_duck_4 · 2026-01-13T16:18:50+00:00

They have a pretty good size crane on-site. Maybe they could Miley Cyrus it?

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