By Yvonne T
KUCHING, Aug 24: A holistic review of engineers’ professional rates is needed to reflect the realities of today’s consultancy industry, particularly as consultants face rising costs from digitalisation, new project requirements and increasingly competitive tender processes.
Konsortium Bumi Group of Companies group managing director Dato Ir Janang Anak Bungsu said consultants were facing higher costs from adopting new technologies and meeting evolving project requirements, while their professional fee structure had not kept pace with these changes.
He said consultants now had to invest in technology and specialised expertise to meet requirements such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), adding to their project costs.
“For every project, we have to put in an additional cost without any compensation,” he told DayakDaily.
Janang said consultants had to purchase software and engage certified BIM integrators, among other requirements.
At the same time, he pointed out that the engineers’ scale of fees had not been revised since 1998, adding that a revision was expected to be tabled in Parliament soon.
“For the last five years, this has become a mandatory. So, we spend, for every project have to put in an additional cost without any compensation,” he said.
While acknowledging that new technology had helped consultants, Janang, who has 30 years of engineering consultancy experience, said increasingly sophisticated requirements could also add to the cost of delivering more efficient designs.
He cited the example of a high-rise building designed to achieve Platinum GBI (Green Building Index) certification, where consultants would need to undertake additional calculations and engage specialists to optimise aspects such as air-conditioning and electrical systems.
“As a consultant, you have to think, there are a lot of calculation you have to do and that is capital,” he explained.
Janang said greater efficiency could ultimately reduce the cost of the project, but argued that the consultant’s professional fee could also be reduced despite the additional work involved in optimising the design.
“At the end, your cost of work will be smaller. Your fee is being reduced while you’re doing optimised design. So, you’re being penalised to come up with good design. That is, the contradictions,” he said.
He said the fee structure should instead recognise the additional expertise and effort involved in producing better and more efficient designs.
“We must reward those engineers who are doing good design and all that, these have be taken into consideration,” he added.
Janang also called for policy changes to take a broader view of the consultancy industry, taking into account the different pressures faced by firms.
“Policy might change, but it has to take a holistic approach. They have to have to consider all the players in the industry,” he said.
He further pointed out that the industry would continue to face technological changes, including the emergence of AI, and engineers would need to adapt to remain relevant.
“In the era of new technology, we must make ourselves relevant, or else we’ll be obsolete,” he said. – DayakDaily
