In civil engineering, coordination isn’t a bonus—it’s the difference between a project that performs as intended and one that quietly bleeds time and money. One of the most overlooked decisions in a development project is whether your civil engineer has in-house stormwater engineering. That single choice can determine how coordinated your plans are—and how controlled your costs remain.
At Mack Engineering, coordination starts at the source.
The Problem with Split Engineering Teams
When civil engineering and stormwater engineering are handled by separate firms, misalignment is almost inevitable. Civil plans and stormwater reports are often developed in isolation, resulting in discrepancies between grading, pipe networks, pond volumes, and calculations. These conflicts frequently surface during plan review, construction, or—worse—at close-out.
Every revision costs time. Every clarification costs money. And every disconnect increases risk.
Production Shops Don’t Build Custom Solutions
Outsourcing stormwater design also introduces another major issue: delay. Civil plans are routinely sent to third-party stormwater engineers who may have dozens of other projects ahead of yours, operating in a production-style workflow. In that environment, your project becomes another file in a queue.
This approach sacrifices care, context, and attention to detail—three things that directly affect constructability and cost.
A Refined, In-House Approach
Mack Engineering takes a different path. By keeping civil engineering and stormwater engineering fully in house, we eliminate handoffs, reduce redesign cycles, and maintain complete control over plan coordination from day one.
Our teams work side by side, aligning grading, drainage, utilities, and stormwater systems as a single, cohesive design. This refined approach significantly cuts down plan development time while improving accuracy and efficiency throughout the process.
Better Coordination = Better Pricing
When stormwater design is integrated internally, it creates leverage. Mack Engineering is able to evaluate multiple system options early and engage stormwater manufacturers in a competitive environment, ensuring pricing, availability, and constructability are all optimized.
Rather than designing around a single default solution, we compare alternatives, challenge assumptions, and select systems that deliver the most cost-effective outcome for our clients.
Why It Matters at Project Close-Out
Projects that lack this level of coordination often pay for it at the end. Conflicting plans, as-built discrepancies, last-minute redesigns, and delayed approvals can all surface during close-out—when time is already tight and budgets are fully committed.
Any project that doesn’t follow a coordinated, in-house methodology is far more likely to experience negative impacts at completion, whether through added costs, schedule delays, or compliance issues.
One Team. One Plan. Real Savings.
Coordinated plans lead to coordinated costs. By keeping all critical engineering disciplines under one roof, Mack Engineering delivers designs that are faster to develop, easier to build, and more economical to execute.
Because when engineering works together from the start, the entire project benefits—right through final close-out.