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Civil Engineering Services

Civil engineering services for building owners: pavement and drainage assessment, construction documents and site observation. Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis.

Civil engineering services for the ground around the building

Inspec's civil engineering work begins at the property line rather than the building skin. We assess pavements, grading and site drainage, document what we find, prepare drawings and specifications for the corrective work, and observe construction on the owner's behalf. We are consulting engineers and architects, so the recommendations you receive are not tied to a product line or to a contractor's scope of work.

Owners, facility managers and property managers typically call when a parking lot is deteriorating faster than expected, when water collects where it should not, or when a capital plan needs a defensible scope and sequence instead of a proposal from whoever paved it last.

What a site assessment covers

Pavements and paved surfaces

Asphalt and concrete parking lots, drive aisles, loading and refuse areas, walkways and curbing. We read distress patterns — cracking, rutting, settlement, joint condition, edge failures — because the pattern usually points to the cause, whether that is base failure, drainage, traffic loading or age.

Grading and site drainage

Where water goes once it reaches the ground governs how long the paving lasts and how much of it ends up against the building. We review surface slopes, ponding, catch basins and inlets, downspout and scupper discharge points, and how the site drains toward or away from foundation walls and entrances.

Site structures and features

Retaining walls, site stairs, exterior slabs, curbs and gutters, and the accessible routes between parking and building entrances are assessed alongside the paving they connect to, so the repair scope is coordinated rather than piecemeal.

From findings to construction documents

An assessment ends in a written report: what we observed, what is driving it, and the repair or replacement options with the reasoning behind each. Owners use that report to set priorities and build a budget before committing to a scope, and to separate the conditions that are causing further damage from the ones that are simply aging.

When you move ahead, we prepare the construction documents — plans, details and specifications written for your site rather than adapted from a generic template. Drainage revisions, pavement sections, jointing and repair limits are drawn so that bidders price the same work and so the finished result can be measured against something.

Bidding and construction observation

We can assist through bidding, answer contractor questions, review submittals and observe the work in progress. Site work is unforgiving once the base is covered, so field observation at the right moments — subgrade, base, drainage structures, paving — is where document quality either holds up or does not. Deficiencies are documented in writing, and we verify punch list completion before final payment. Projects currently out for bid are posted on our bidding page.

Where site civil work meets the building

Site drainage and enclosure performance are connected. Pavement that slopes toward a wall, a plugged area drain or a downspout discharging at a foundation will show up indoors long before the paving fails outright. When the investigation crosses into the building itself, it moves into our below-grade waterproofing and building enclosure consulting work, and the two scopes can be investigated and designed together. Where the building as a whole is being planned for, site conditions can also be reported alongside facility condition assessments.

Getting started

Inspec works from offices in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Tell us what you are seeing on the site and what decision you are trying to make — a repair-versus-replace call, a capital plan, or a drainage problem that keeps returning — and we will scope the assessment around it. See our office locations or contact us to discuss a site.

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Not sure which service your site needs?

Describe the site and the problem, and we will point you to the right consultant. Our consultants work across Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

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Civil engineering capabilities

Design, pavement, stormwater and outdoor sports facilities.

Common questions

What civil engineering services does Inspec provide?
We assess and design the site improvements around a building: asphalt and concrete pavement, sidewalks and curbs, site grading, drainage and stormwater conveyance, and retaining walls. Work includes condition assessment, opinions of probable cost, construction documents, bidding assistance and construction observation. We are consulting engineers and architects, not a contractor, so we never perform the construction work itself.
Can you tell us whether our parking lot needs repair or full replacement?
That is a common assessment request. We document surface distress, evaluate whether the problem is limited to the wearing surface or extends into the base and subgrade, and identify drainage issues driving the deterioration. From there we present repair and replacement options with estimated costs and service life, so you can decide based on your capital planning horizon rather than guesswork.
How does site drainage relate to building enclosure problems?
Water that ponds against a building or drains toward it loads foundation walls, below-grade waterproofing and at-grade wall assemblies far beyond what they were designed for. Correcting a basement leak without fixing the grading that feeds it often fails. When both conditions are present, we investigate the site and the enclosure together so the repairs are designed as one solution.
Do you stay involved once construction starts?
Yes, when the owner engages us for construction-phase services. We review submittals, observe the contractor's work for conformance with the drawings and specifications, answer field questions, document deficiencies in writing, and verify punch list completion before final payment. Owners finish the project with a documented record of what was actually installed, not just what was specified.
Does Inspec perform the paving or drainage repairs?
No. Inspec is a consulting engineering and architecture firm. We assess the site, prepare the drawings and specifications, and observe the contractor's work, but we never hold the construction contract. That separation is the point: our recommendations are based on what the site needs, not on what work we would be performing afterward.
Who usually engages Inspec for site and pavement work?
Building owners, facility managers, property managers and architects. Some come with a specific failure such as settling pavement or standing water. Others need an independent scope and cost basis before going out to bid, or want a defensible engineering opinion to support a capital request or a discussion with an existing contractor.
Can site repairs be phased across more than one budget year?
Often, yes. Our reports separate conditions that are driving further deterioration from those that are cosmetic or simply aging. That lets an owner address drainage and base failures first and defer surface work, while keeping the phases sequenced so later work does not disturb what was already repaired.
What about soil borings and subsurface testing?
Some pavement failures point to subgrade or soil conditions that surface observation cannot confirm. Where that testing is warranted, it is performed by a geotechnical testing firm, and we incorporate the resulting data into our analysis and into the pavement sections and details we specify for the repair work.