FEDERAL INTERVIEW
SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF THE MISSION
INTERVIEW WITH FEDERAL MARKET LEADER BRAD LENTZ
The U . S . Federal government has hundreds of entities that fulfill various roles and functions . With mandates that include ensuring safety at home , facilitating trade , maintaining infrastructure , preserving natural resources , and protecting public health , government agencies have crucial responsibilities that protect and connect the United States . With our depth of experience and diverse team with expertise in every facet of MEPT design and commissioning , P2S has supported U . S . government agencies with engineering and commissioning services for decades .
Brad Lentz , our Federal Market Leader , is especially proud of our role in helping the U . S . government achieve its goals . As a mechanical engineer with extensive waterfront , aviation , industrial and healthcare project experience , he ’ s worked closely with the U . S . Navy , Coast Guard , Army Corps of Engineers and many other federal departments . We spoke to Brad to better understand how we support the planning and design of federal facilities and how his team approaches sensitive project requirements for clients like the Navy . Brad also discusses the way in which federal facilities are pivotal in helping our country meet the challenges and opportunities of a changing world .
Hi Brad ! I want to begin by noting the breadth of facilities , project types and clients that make up the Federal market . How do you and your team prepare to service so many different kinds of facilities with differing functions and owner requirements ?
Brad Lentz : That ’ s what ’ s so fun about federal work ; we get to work on these wide-ranging types of projects . We have projects from hangar design , medical and dental facilities , hospitals , dry docks , piers , office buildings and maintenance shops . We ’ ve designed everything from 80-foot-high rolling doors with mechanical operating mechanisms to a renovation of a 550,000 SF 1930s-era machine shop . We really get to be involved in it all .
For us , it really comes down to the individuals working on the job . Our federal team is passionate about understanding the criteria , diving into the details , initiating conversations with the client , asking questions and trying hard to understand what the project needs to be , which drives that foundation .
Much of the federal work goes back to the Unified Facility Criteria , or UFCs , as they ’ re commonly known . These guidelines govern a lot of the design work ; most projects have a UFC that defines what the government wants . If you ask Larry Swartz , the previous federal market lead , a question about a federal project , he ’ s going to ask you back , ‘‘ what do the UFCs say ’’? If you don ’ t have a good answer to that , it ’ s usually not a good first step . Understanding the criteria and just being curious is critical .
Can I ask what brought you into working so extensively with Federal clients ?
BL : When I started at Notkin in 2006 , I primarily worked on healthcare and higher-ed projects on the plumbing side . At that time , we also had a prime design IDIQ with NAVFAC . There was a need for more design support on the IDIQ , and I slowly stepped into that role providing mechanical and plumbing design . See a need , fill a need ! In 2010 , we won two different $ 30 million design IDIQ contracts with NAVFAC , and we suddenly had a strong need for individuals to do federal design work . So I jumped all in on that opportunity , eventually taking on more of a lead PM role on the projects I was working on .
We were the prime consultant on these IDIQs , so we would hire the architect , structural , civil and all the other consultants . I found I really enjoyed the prime PM work just as much as I enjoyed the mechanical and plumbing design . I loved being part of all the disciplines , having my fingers in everything , and understanding the other consultant ’ s scopes and designs . Getting to control the schedule was also fun . I managed scope , negotiated fees , and was the main point of contact with the client and the project team . All that was just really fun for me , and that ’ s what really drew me to federal work .
5 | Q1 2023