Our Special Inspection practice is backed by our multidisciplinary design and construction expertise. Urban has performed expert controlled and special inspections per Chapter 17 of the International Building Code for more than 20 years. We emphasized this public safety service long before Philadelphia required building owners to hire accredited special inspection agencies for their projects. Our controlled and special inspection services have reduced damages and loss for clients.

Our IAS accreditation was an important factor in our selection as the special inspection firm for the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, which will be the tallest building in the city when complete.

As further testament to our commitment to building owners, Urban holds and maintains ISO 9001:2008 Quality Certification, the definitive quality standard for consulting firms . We are proud to be one of a select number of consulting engineering firms in the United States to have earned this distinction. These qualifications, our local presence, and longstanding teaming arrangements enable us to provide high-quality services and competitive rates in Philadelphia.​

Constructability reviews can help save time and money by identifying potential construction issues during the design phase. Our Integrated Constructability Evaluations program results in high-quality and cost-effective design documents.

Our constructability reviews are performed by a team of construction professionals skilled at evaluating construction documents to ensure that they work within design constraints, address regulatory and stakeholder concerns, and can be built efficiently. 

Urban prepares cost estimates during any stage of a project using an approach similar to contactors.  We identify permanent material and equipment requirements, as well as construction equipment rates, crew sizes, crew productivity estimates, and materials prices. Rather than use approximations based on percentage markups, we calculate contractor overhead and cost in detail. Urban considers the cost impacts of work conducted in active environments, such as highways, transit lines, and airports. 

We have a full-time claims department and more than 30 years’ experience providing claims support services. This includes counsel support with litigation strategies, interrogators, depositions, and exhibit preparation. Urban can guide you through the process of avoiding, developing, and resolving claims. Tort liability analysis relating to witness and liability cases is also available. We provide the following claims services:

• Claims mitigation and preparation
• Bid document and contract review
• Negotiation support
• Expert witnesses
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Construction and repair cost estimates
• Damage assessments and inspections
• Negotiations
• Settlement support

We develop accurate and easily understood schedules to help you control construction time and cost. We use best-in-class scheduling software and have saved clients millions by keeping projects on schedule.

Our scheduling specialists use Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling as a tool to plan, monitor, and react to project elements, protect the assets of key project players, and prevent delays.  We provide the following scheduling services:

• Preliminary project schedule
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Duration estimating
• Allocation of resources
• Budget control
• Progress updating
• Risk analysis

Urban’s construction managers facilitate communication and collaboration among designers, owners, contractors and others involved in each project. Our commitment to construction management excellence and continuing education attracts industry leaders to our team.

• We are annually recognized among the country's top firms and continually strive to develop better ways to manage projects
• Urban co-authored the Quality Management Guidelines for the Construction Management Association of America
• We create a team atmosphere to meet client goals and project challenges

Our inspection staff consists of experienced, knowledgeable, and capable professional engineers, managers, supervisors, and inspectors. We use an established system of checks and balances to ensure the quality and timeliness of work. We monitor and approve payments to contractors and prepare or review federal, state, and locally required reports.

Our team has a full gamut of certifications and registrations required for various state DOTs and public and private agencies. We support continuing education and training to stay ahead of the industry. As new tech emerges, Urban stays on the cutting edge.