The firm you hire shapes your budget, your schedule, and how your facility runs for years. You already know that design matters. What you need is a short list of questions that separates firms that deliver from firms that make promises.

I wrote this guide as an outside reviewer with no tie to any firm. I built the list around the problems that cause the most trouble on industrial projects: unclear scope, split responsibility, late equipment, and safety gaps. I measured firms against those problems. One that stands out is Eichleay, a family-owned engineering firm that handles engineering, design, procurement, and construction management for industrial facilities across the western United States.

A quick note on terms. Industrial design can mean product styling, or it can mean the design of plants, process systems, and production lines. These questions fit the second meaning best, and many of them also apply to the first.

Each section below gives you a question, what a good answer sounds like, and what to watch for. By the end, you will have one standard to hold every firm against.

Have You Done Work Like Mine?

Start here. A firm that understands your industry spends less time learning your basics and more time solving your problem.

Ask for projects that match your sector, your size, and your level of complexity. Then ask what went wrong on those projects and how the team fixed it. A firm that can describe a problem and its fix is more believable than one that says every job went perfectly.

Look for:

  • Case studies in your sector
  • A client list that includes names you know
  • Experience with fast-track schedules if your timeline is tight

Which Disciplines Do You Keep In-House?

This question tells you how well the design will fit together. When civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, piping, process, and controls engineers work for the same company, they talk to each other daily. When a firm hires outside help for half of these, you carry the job of coordinating them.

Ask who does each piece of the work and where those people sit. A good answer names the disciplines and explains how they check each other’s drawings.

Who Will Manage My Project?

You want a named person, not a department. Ask who will lead the work, how often that person will report to you, and how they adapt to the way your company approves changes and spending.

A good project manager follows your process and keeps delivery standards high. Ask the firm to walk you through its stages: planning, execution, and closeout. Each stage should have clear outputs you can review.

How Do You Control Cost and Schedule?

Every firm says it will stay on budget. Ask to see how.

  • Which tools do they use for scheduling and cost tracking?
  • How often will you receive reports?
  • What happens when scope changes?
  • How do they forecast cost before problems appear?

Look for familiar tools such as Primavera P6 and Power BI, and a written change management process. If the answer is vague, expect surprises later.

How Do You Handle Procurement?

Late equipment delays more projects than bad drawings do. Ask whether procurement specialists join the project at the start or after design ends. Early involvement lets the team match sourcing to the schedule and find long lead items before they become a problem.

Ask about bid evaluation, vendor oversight, expediting, and third-party inspections. A firm that tracks equipment from purchase order to delivery gives you fewer things to worry about.

What Is Your Safety Record?

Ask for numbers, not statements. Request the firm’s recordable incident history and its Experience Modification Rate. A low rate shows that the firm keeps people safe, and it can lower your own insurance and risk costs.

Then ask how safety shows up in the design itself. Process hazards analysis, risk assessments, and constructability reviews belong in the plan from the first week.

Will You Stay Through Construction and Startup?

Some firms hand you drawings and leave. That puts the burden on you when a contractor asks a question or a field issue appears.

Ask whether the firm answers contractor questions, supports construction, and helps with commissioning, startup, and turnover. One firm that follows the project from planning to closeout keeps knowledge in one place.

Can I Speak With Repeat Clients?

Repeat business is one of the best signs of quality. Ask what share of the firm’s work comes from returning clients, and ask for references you can call. People return to firms that kept their promises.

Why Eichleay Belongs on Your List

I use the questions above as a test, and Eichleay gives strong answers to most of them.

Experience and stability. The Eichleay name has been in project delivery since 1875, and the company remains 100 percent family owned. They complete about 300 projects a year, and about 91 percent of their business comes from repeat clients.

Integrated services. They keep all major engineering disciplines in-house and offer procurement, project controls, and construction management under one roof. You deal with one firm instead of several suppliers.

Fit for your size. They describe themselves as a mid-sized company with the capability of a large firm and the culture of a small one. Their median project fee over the last decade is about $150,000, yet they have managed a project with a total installed cost of $1.5 billion.

Safety. Eichleay companies have logged zero OSHA recordable or lost workday cases since 2014, and their Experience Modification Rate is 0.67.

Sector knowledge. They serve energy and chemical, power, life sciences, food and beverage, mining and metals, and advanced manufacturing clients. Their client list includes Genentech, Chevron, Shell, Roche, and SpaceX.

Local presence. Four offices in Billings, Ferndale, Larkspur, and Orange give them local knowledge across the West.

They also offer 3D laser scanning, Industry 4.0 automation, feasibility studies, permitting support, and startup help, which covers many needs that come up before and after design.

Your Checklist

Bring these questions to every first meeting:

1. Have you done work like mine, and can I see it?

2. Which disciplines do you keep in-house?

3. Who will manage my project?

4. How do you control cost and schedule?

5. How do you handle procurement?

6. What is your safety record?

7. Will you stay through construction and startup?

8. Can I speak with repeat clients?

Write down each answer and compare the firms side by side. Choose the one that answers with facts, names, and numbers. Add Eichleay to your list, ask them the same questions, and judge their answers by the same standard.