Do you find the issue of finding and hiring environmental consultants stressful? Are you uncertain where to start or even how to choose the right one? Well, if that’s the case, it is completely understandable as there are many firms out there that offer an huge choice of different products and services. Once you have decided that you require the assistance of an environmental consultant, how do you narrow down and choose the best one? Fortunately, the process of picking the right consultant does not have to be too complicated. Just follow these steps and you will be in a much better position to make the right decision.
Understand Your Needs
For you to be able to match the abilities of a consultant with the your goals, you must first understand your project needs and the role that you would like the specialist to play. Make sure that you have well-defined goals, but this is something that an environmental consultant can help with during the first consultations.
Consider these questions:
-What’s your timetable for project completion?
-How much work can be done by your staff and how much will need to be done by the specialist?
-How much money can your organization devote to the project?
Understand The Services that They Can Provide
Once you know your needs, you’ll have a better idea in regards to the support you need from an the consultant. The services you can expect include environmental compliance, site assessments, soil vapour intrusion investigation, waste management, testing and sampling, abatement and a lot more.
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that these specialists are there too add to your own expertise and improve your business. They should not take decisions on your behalf, provide generic services that are not tailored to your needs or be buying equipment that isn’t in your best interests.
Finding The Right Consultant
Usually, doing a Google search is the best way to find environmental consultants in your location, but you should also consider asking other businesses and colleagues for recommendations. You cannot beat recommendations. Also, you can search in trade journals and even on professional sites like LinkedIn. Get at least 3 or 4 specialists that you can chat too about the project.
Request and Review Proposals From Various Consultants
Make sure that the specialists you have decided to get proposals from, received your project brief. Get at least three proposals so that you can be able to make an ideal comparison. When it comes to reviewing the proposals, you should have criteria for evaluating them. Examples include:
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1. Professional Qualifications- does the potential consultant have proper training and qualifications to do the work required? You should check for CIEH, IEMA and NEBOSH qualifications.
2. Work Experience – this is an important aspect as you want an environmental consultant with experience in the kind of services you require.
3. Price- you cannot always compare like for like as these [consultants|specialists} take on varying strategies and techniques. However, you’ll want to ensure that the proposals cover the same amounts of work and that you’re aware of the price of each one. This will help make a better decision.
We recommend that you - on this issue, but also that you carry out more research on the matter too.