How we deliver
Every engineering company delivers quality, and claiming to be better at it is almost impossible to back up. Everybody can produce drawings. What separates firms is whether the project lands on budget and on schedule — and that is a question about management, not draughting.
What project management actually is
Understand what was asked, and what it will cost
Not the lowest initial price. An honest number, with the basis of the estimate written down so it can be checked later.
Forecast continuously
Track the spend against the plan every week, not at the end. A surprise at month nine was visible at month three if somebody was looking.
Tell the client before the money is spent
If the scope has moved or the budget is going to be exceeded, ask first. Given the choice in advance, a client authorises the overrun the overwhelming majority of the time. Asked afterwards, they argue — and the work gets written off.
Keep the record
Action records, note-taking, systems that track the information, and people who do the same unglamorous thing every day. Most firms do not want to do this. It is the whole job.
One service provider, not five
You do not need a multinational to deliver a large project. Large firms manage people across several offices to staff one job — effectively coordinating a group of separate companies — and they are not always good at it.
We lead subconsultants and work with partner firms to deliver more than our in-house staff can carry, and we present that to the client as a single service provider: one contract, one schedule, one accountable engineer. Fewer interfaces is fewer places for a project to come apart.
There is an external signal worth mentioning. When our drawings go out to local fabricators, those shops bid our projects differently than they bid other engineers’ — because they expect fewer issues, and expect the issues there are to be easy to resolve. That is not something we can assert about ourselves; it is something the market does.
We are entrepreneurs first. So we think like business owners — or engineers who think like business owners. We understand that every project is part of a business case, and that a technical solution alone isn't what's needed.
The institutional facts
The questions that cut across every project
Can Engcomp lead detailed engineering, or only early-stage studies?
Both. We have authored NI 43-101 studies and we seal issued-for-construction drawings under our own Certificate of Authorization. The assumption that a study firm cannot carry detailed engineering costs clients a handover they did not need to pay for.
What is the biggest project Engcomp has delivered?
We support project CAPEX to $500 million and take engagements from $5,000 to $15 million in engineering fees. Specific project figures are on the individual project records under Our Work, with third-party filings linked wherever a client has already named us publicly.
How are subconsultants managed on large projects?
Under one contract with us. We hold the schedule, the interfaces and the accountability, and the client deals with one engineer rather than five suppliers. Partner firms extend our capacity without extending your contract count.
Do you only work in potash?
No. Potash is the deepest track record, with uranium close behind, and we also work in gold, diamonds and agricultural and food processing. See Industries we serve.
Is Engcomp Indigenous-owned?
Engcomp is 100% Saskatchewan-owned. We hold partnership relationships with several First Nations and Indigenous development corporations; the description of those relationships is being confirmed with our partners before we publish it, and we would rather leave it unstated than state it wrongly. Ask us directly and we will tell you exactly where each one stands.
What certifications do you hold?
ISO 9001:2015 for quality management, ISNetworld for contractor prequalification, and a Certificate of Authorization — so drawings are sealed by P.Eng. under Engcomp’s own certificate in Saskatchewan rather than borrowed from a partner firm. Ask and we will send the certificates rather than describing them.
Ask us the awkward question
Budget, schedule, whether we can carry the scope — those are better asked before the proposal than after the award.