Insurance???

[Slugger926]

What kind of insurance should a person get if they plan on starting some consulting work on the side of their regular business?

I plan on offering consuulting for civil (site design, structural, water structures, subdivision), mechanical, and general engineering. I already have a project or two lined out, with a general contractor wanting me to design some decks for homes as well. Most of what I will be doing to start off with will be extremely low risk with exception to when I get into site designs/water structures/ and subdivisions. There are several subdivisions in my own neighborhood that have been flooding due to poor engineering either by the design engineer or the engineer that designed the subdivision up stream.

 

[JAE]

Slugger926 - just be aware that in your state, you would have requirements that might limit your practice to specific areas. If you are a PE, then smaller residential projects may not require any type of engineering license.

For larger projects, I do know of many cases where an individual practiced engineering - with a license - in multiple disciplines (you mention both civil and mechanical) and this got them into trouble. Just be aware of your local engineering laws governing this.

As far as insurance goes - you'd probably want to visit with an insurance co. that specializes in insurance for engineers - find out what types of policies they offer and how it relates to your regular business, etc. They sometimes get a little reluctant when two separate businesses are involved - but check with them to see. Try DPIC or various others.

 

[Slugger926]

For some background, my degree is in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. I took the PE in Agricultural Engineering which covers about anything I would want to design as listed in my first post from mechanical to civil projects.

I have experience working for a civil firm, to a digital scale company where i designed large train scales, to my job now working for one of the world's largest internet providers where I have done HVAC, electrical, and structural engineering.

Diversity is fun, because when one industry takes a downswing, you can switch into an industry on the upswing. My engineering department could be shutdown in the next few years due to mergers and synergies, so it looks like a great time to start building a business on the side while I have a job.

I don't want to work directly for a big corporation again unless I owned it. Most of my bosses from the past few years have criminal charges against them (Bernie Ebbers and company).

 

[Slugger926]

PS. here in Oklahoma, you can practice engineering with a PE as long as you are profiecient in that area. IE. I know some Civil Engineers that do electrical engineering and are probably better at 3 phase Transmision Systems than a lot EE's.

 

[JAE]

Well, just be careful - and this means a good deal of evaluation on each and every project you are offered. I would even suggest a visit to your OK board of engineers. I know that most of the state boards appreciate these kinds of communications and it would give you a chance to get their take on what you are trying to accomplish - give you a better way to evaluate your situation.