What is a Construction Consultant?

What is a Construction Consultant?

A construction consultant is a "producer who creates the future"

A construction consultant is generally a professional who provides specialized knowledge and experience in the entire process of planning, designing, managing and completing a construction project.
Their role covers a wide range of areas throughout the entire construction project, including planning, proposing construction methods, cost and quality control, and risk assessment.

Our company has not been limited to "construction projects"; we have expanded our business to be "future producers" that propose optimal solutions for local issues and ideal future visions for social infrastructure services, taking into account laws and regulations, as well as safety, convenience, and environmental considerations.

What are social infrastructure services?

Social infrastructure services are essential to the foundation of our daily lives.
When you turn a tap, water comes out, and when you flip a switch, the lights come on. There are roads and parks, cars and buses run on the streets, and train stations. Tunnels run through mountains, bridges cross rivers, and airports and ports connect to other countries. Garbage is collected regularly, renewable energy is used, measures are taken to prevent traffic congestion, and measures are taken to deal with frequent natural disasters. All of these are social infrastructure services.
We are able to live comfortable lives every day because the environment surrounding our lives is well-maintained.
This is where the work of construction consultants has been extremely helpful.

Industry and job description

The occupation of construction consultant is classified as "academic research, professional and technical services industry" in the Japan Standard Industrial Classification, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism classifies construction consultants as a "construction-related industry."

Generally, there are three main types of work performed by construction consultants:
The first is the planning stage, including feasibility studies (FS) and preliminary design, which includes fundraising, budgeting, and development planning at the early stages of the project.
The second is detailed design and supervision at the design stage, which is when the construction project is actually created.
The third is to develop long-term plans and propose improvements for operation, maintenance, and management after completion.

The position of construction consultant

Construction consultants act as partners to clients (national governments, companies, local governments, etc.) who provide social infrastructure services that are used and desired by the public, proposing solutions through research and investigation, carrying out designs, and providing various types of consulting. They may also supervise the construction of general contractors and manufacturers who carry out the work, and provide support for maintenance, management, and operation afterwards.

History of Construction Consultant

Construction consultants who supported the postwar period of rapid economic growth

The profession of construction consultant (consulting engineer) was born around the time of the Industrial Revolution in England at the end of the 18th century. It started when entrepreneurs developed social infrastructure such as roads, canals, and railways, and, unlike construction companies that were responsible for everything from design to construction, consulting engineers used their highly specialized skills to protect the interests of their clients in a neutral position.
In Japan, even before the war, all planning and design of civil engineering projects was carried out directly by the Home Ministry and other government agencies, and was not outsourced.
In the postwar period of rapid economic growth in Japan, infrastructure development and urban development progressed, and the role of construction consultants began to attract attention around this time. In particular, the technical support of construction consultants was indispensable for large-scale projects such as the construction of expressways and Shinkansen trains from the 1960s onwards.
The profession of construction consultant was born in order to speed up the country's reconstruction after World War II, and the Japan Civil Engineering Consultants Association was established in 1961 (Showa 36).

Since our foundation in September 1951, for over 70 years we have grown into a leading construction consulting company, following in the footsteps of Japan's construction consultants.

The Future of Construction Consult

Resolving growing issues in social infrastructure services in Japan

In Japan, the population will continue to decline and age, leading to a decline in tax revenues. This will necessitate a review of the public services provided by the government. How can we provide public services efficiently with limited tax revenues? Although the construction of new public facilities one after another as in the past will decrease, we will be required to address new issues such as the maintenance, management, consolidation, and review of existing public facilities.
Construction consultants are expected to manage project execution on behalf of the government and provide third-party advisory services, and their role is expected to expand further in the future.

Knowledge from a wide range of fields is needed

The construction industry is constantly undergoing technological advances and regulatory changes, which means that construction consultants need to be up to date on the latest technology, regulations, and social issues.
Furthermore, social infrastructure services are evolving into complex services that span a wide range of fields, industries, and technologies, including recovery from damage caused by natural disasters, earthquake countermeasures, energy efficiency and environmental considerations, measures to combat climate change, and the proactive introduction of digitalization, robotics, and the latest technologies such as AI and VR.
In this environment, construction consultants play an increasingly important role in quickly adopting new technologies and methods and promoting their practical application.

Expanding into private business and global markets

As mentioned above, construction consultants are already required to have expertise, knowledge, and problem-solving skills that go beyond the field of "construction," and their scope of activity is expanding to private businesses and the global market.
Until now, construction consultants have mainly been active in public works projects, but the process of professionals from a wide range of fields pooling their knowledge to find solutions to increasingly complex issues is common to a variety of businesses.
Construction consultants are now expected to demonstrate a wide range of problem-solving capabilities, including management, going beyond their traditional fields, to deal with environmental standards, negotiations with government and licensing procedures, and problem-solving consulting.