Frequently asked questions

We're based in New York, NY and work across the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester, and northern New Jersey.

Yes. Rana Afzal, P.E. is a New York State Licensed Professional Engineer and personally leads every project.

Yes. HIE is an SBA-Certified Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and an SBA-Certified Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB). That matters if you're sourcing engineering under public-sector participation goals or set-asides.

Pricing depends on scope, site conditions, and which services you need. After a short consultation we send a written proposal with a fixed scope, not a blanket rate.

Within one business day. You'll hear from the engineer who would do the work.

Not yet under the HIE name. The firm is new. Rana brings 15+ years of structural and site engineering on transportation, aviation, housing, and parks projects for public agencies, and is glad to walk you through that experience.

Yes. We can join a prime consultant's team for structural, civil, stormwater, QA/QC, and constructability scopes. See our capability statement for details.

Whatever you have: photos, existing drawings, a survey, or a geotechnical report. It helps us scope faster, but none of it is required for a first call.

Site time depends on building size and access. A small building is often a single visit. We give you dates for the visit and the report when we scope the work.

We support FISP compliance with condition surveys, documentation, and repair recommendations. Tell us where your building is in its five-year cycle and we'll confirm the right scope.

We tell you on the spot, not in the report two weeks later, and explain what needs to happen right away.

No. Many are shrinkage cracks that only need sealing. Width, pattern, and whether the crack is growing tell us which kind you have. That's what an evaluation answers.

Sometimes. If the cause looks tied to soil conditions, we'll tell you early and coordinate with a geotechnical engineer rather than guess.

You get a report with findings and repair or monitoring options. We can then work with your contractor on the next steps.

Yes. Many projects are fixes: regrading, new drains, or sending downspouts and runoff away from the building. We find where the water comes from before recommending anything.

Yes. We design to the rules of whichever agency reviews your project and respond to their comments through approval.

Under New York State's construction stormwater permit, generally when a project disturbs one acre or more, with lower thresholds in some watersheds. New York City also has its own stormwater permit rules. We'll confirm which apply to your site.

Often. When the layout, phasing, or controls change, the SWPPP should be amended to match. We keep it current so it reflects what's actually on site.

An outside reviewer isn't invested in the original decisions, so they catch what the team has stopped seeing. It also gives owners and agencies a documented check.

Yes. We can run QA/QC as part of a prime consultant's team, including on projects with WOSB or EDWOSB participation goals.

Before bid, once drawings show how the work will be built, usually late design development or construction documents. Earlier catches more; later is still worth it.

A comment log keyed to sheets and spec sections, prioritized so the design team knows what to fix first.

Where a report needs a Professional Engineer's seal, it's sealed by Rana Afzal, P.E., a New York State Licensed Professional Engineer.

Whoever has to act on them: owners, lenders, boards, attorneys, or agency reviewers. The summary is written for them; the calculations go in the appendix.

We agree on a turnaround at the start of the job and hold to it. Urgent field issues get priority.

Often, yes. We review the design documents first so our answers match the engineer of record's intent, and coordinate with them where required.