The roles of engineering consultants in the southern African power sector

Abstract

Historically, a main theme behind the roles of engineering consultants has been the constant adaptation to the progressive requirements of their clients. It therefore stands that the roles of engineering consultants require constant reevaluation to ensure that they are up to date with clients’ needs today. This study, based in the context of southern African power systems, aims to identify and evaluate the key roles required from engineering consultants. An online and paper survey was presented to clients, of engineering consultants, to evaluate the extent to which they have; currently, and intend to use, the services of engineering consultants in key roles. The study statistically compared the current and intended uses of 22 roles using the technique of depended t-tests and non-parametric related tests. These tests revealed statistically significant positive differences between the current and intended uses of consultants in all roles, each of which indicated greater intended future use. The study found that while the traditional roles, like specialist ability and accountability, were not being threatened, roles which were considered new to the field were growing at a higher rate. In addition, while clients indicated higher overall use of consultants in future, public sector clients revealed higher use than private clients. In summary, advisory and technical roles remain key for clients in the short term, however, staff issues such as retention and training are growing concerns for clients which need to be addressed by consultants. The trend reveals engineering consultants requiring the establishment of a more holistic, customer oriented approach to serving client needs