Employee leaning over architectural drawings holding a pencil to make notes

A Multi-disciplined Approach

To meet the challenges confronted by our clients, Pickering Associates has assembled teams of technical professionals spanning a diverse range of disciplines. This collaborative multi-disciplined approach creates a well-aligned firm providing fully integrated solutions to clients operating across a range of business activities.

Pickering Associates is aligned to provide an integrated solutions package to clients operating in the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors. It is the integration of our in-house service offerings that uniquely positions our firm to deliver solutions that offer reduced project cycle times as well as improved performance and flexibility while providing the lowest project life cycle cost.

Pickering Associates. We bring together the best.

Project Management

The key to a successful project, in any field, is communication. Pickering Associates understands the importance of clear, concise and effective communication which is why many of our staff members have obtained the Project Management Professional certification through the Project Management Institute.

The Project Management Professional (PMP) credential issued by the Project Management Institute, is the most important industry- recognized certification for project managers. Pickering Associates assigns an experienced Project Manager to every project, no matter the size, to ensure that your project is handled efficiently and effectively. Your project manager will be the eyes and ears of your project, making sure everyone involved is on the same page, up to date on the latest information, on schedule and on budget.

Your project manager will keep the lines of communication open and serve as the contact person for all questions, comments or concerns. As a full service architecture and engineering firm, Pickering Associates can handle projects of all sizes allowing seamless communication between disciplines thus eliminating the risk of delays due to miscommunication.

pickering project team reviewing design documentsSummary of Services:

  • Project Scope Development and Definition
  • Preliminary Project Budgeting
  • Project Scheduling
  • Equipment Research and Definement
  • Permitting
  • Coordinating with Public Agencies
  • Utility Provider Coordination
  • Project Feasibility Studies
  • FEL Studies
  • Assistance in Funding Acquisition
  • Preliminary General Arrangements and Project Layout
  • Project Commissioning and Closeout
  • Training
  • Project Laser Scanning
  • Project 3D Printing
  • Project Advocacy, Branding, and Marketing

Process Engineering

Pickering Associates has a team of process engineers experienced in a broad range of industries from chemicals and polymers, oil and gas, metals, paper, and food processing. We are ready to support your implementation of process improvements in a prompt and timely manner. We can work to your drawing and equipment standards or provide our own should you require them.

closeup picture of valves in for process engineering

Summary of Services:

  • Process Flow Diagram (PFD) development
  • Process & Instrumentation Drawing (P&ID) development
  • Mass and energy balances
  • Equipment sizing and specification (tanks and vessels, pumps, mixers, etc.)
  • Pipe sizing and specification
  • Instrument specification (control valves, flow meters, pressure and temperature transmitters, etc.)
  • Pressure relief valve and rupture disk sizing and specification

Process Safety Management

OSHA’s process safety management standard (29 CFR PART 1910.119) contains requirements for preventing or minimizing the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, flammable or explosive chemicals. All processes covered by this standard are required to have a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) which identifies, evaluates, and controls the hazard involved in the process.

The PHA may also be used to satisfy the requirements of EPA Clean Air Act Rule (40 CFR 68). Each PHA must be updated and revalidated once every five years to ensure that the analysis is consistent with the current process.

Under the requirements of Management of Change, we can facilitate and prepare the report for any PHA required by changes to your process.

Our trained PHA facilitators can manage your PHA revalidation program. In terms of Quantitative Risk Assessment we can provide Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) services to quantify risk of previously identified hazard scenarios based on industry standards and your facility’s operating history.

We are also trained to facilitate Root Cause Analysis (RCA) reviews and can provide forensic investigation services should an incident occur at your site.

Summary of Services:
Protected Welder welding pipe

Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)

  • Complete program implementation
  • Certified PHA facilitators
  • Revalidations
  • Design phase safety reviews
  • Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA)

Training

  • Training program development
  • Management of training documentation

Pre-Startup Safety Review

Mechanical Integrity

  • Reliability hazards assessment
  • Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Incident Investigation

  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Emergency Planning and Response

Compliance Audits

Architecture

Our architects embrace the collaborative effort required to develop a vision and create a design that presents the look and feel desired by our clients. We work closely with our in-house engineering experts to create the maximum synergy and lowest building life cycle costs. We offer an integrated project approach that nets our valued clients the best match to project objectives while balancing the realities of cost, schedule, and risk.

Employee leaning over architectural drawings holding a pencil to make notes

Summary of Services:

  • Feasibility Studies
  • Master Planning
  • Pre-Project Conceptual Design and Space Programming
  • Code Compliance Reviews
  • ADA Compliance Reviews
  • Building Assessments
  • Full Service Architectural Design
  • 3D Rendering

Interior Design

At Pickering Associates, it is the goal of our interior design department to assist clients in fulfilling their ideal vision for a space. From conceptual design to final finish selections, we ensure each space reflects the individual needs of the client.

Our designers are experienced in both new construction and renovation work, with completed projects including healthcare, education, commercial, and residential design. Whether it be as simple as selecting new paint colors or as complex as a newly constructed building complete with furniture and fixtures, we provide friendly and professional services to ensure all of your desires are met.

Woman choosing paint swatch colors and carpet from booklet for interior designSummary of Services:

  • Commercial Interior Design
  • Interior Renovation Design
  • Exterior Design and Color Planning
  • Design consultations to establish the desired outcome and total vision for the space
  • Selection of materials and finishes
  • Space planning for furniture, fixtures, equipment, and traffic patterns
  • Sourcing and purchasing of décor and furniture items
  • On-site location coordination of furniture and décor

Structural Engineering

Pickering Associates’ structural engineering group has the expertise to ensure the successful completion of a structural project or to support the design of the other engineering disciplines in a multi-discipline project. These projects can include the use of structural steel, concrete, cold-formed steel, masonry, and timber. Design-build projects also comprise a portion of our project portfolio. Other services we offer include structural condition assessment reports and structural failure forensic studies, industrial modifications, commercial expansions and residential developments.

Girders Structure built with structural engineering teamSummary of Services:

  • Building Design
  • Foundation Design
  • Bridge Design & Load Rating
  • Structural Inspections
  • Building Assessments
  • Structural Failure Forensic Analysis
  • Rating and Lifting Device Design
  • Blast Wall Design
  • Construction Administration
  • Historical Structure Restoration
  • Finite Element Method Modeling
  • Material Evaluation
  • Blast Wall Design

Mechanical Engineering

The mechanical engineering team is able to design a broad range of systems across a variety of facilities. We can incorporate LEED practices, creating energy savings systems for commercial buildings or institutional clients. We can design ventilation systems for specialized systems such as vehicles, welding, mist, or dust. We have extensive experience with make-up air, single zone, multi-zone, variable volume, constant volume, special filtration, ultraviolet, clean rooms, or laboratories.

We have the ability to create multiple water systems such as chillers, boilers, steam, hot water, geothermal, radiant, gas, storm water, or sanitary. We also can provide specialized systems such as compressed air, medical air, vacuum piping, oil piping, fuel piping, and other process piping.

Our staff is licensed professionally in multiple states and is experienced with local building codes and standards for West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and more.

Summary of Services:

piping in industry plant from mechanical engineering

  • Dust Collection
  • Geothermal
  • LEED HVAC
  • LEED Plumbing
  • LEED Commissioning
  • LEED Project Management
  • Energy Modeling
  • Facilities/building Assessments
  • HVAC systems
  • Radiant systems
  • Clean Rooms
  • Plumbing water and sanitary
  • Integrated systems design
  • Medical gas, vacuum, air
  • Steam, hot water, chilled water
  • Thermal Storage
  • Cooling Towers
  • Area classification ventilation
  • Air, oil, fuel piping
  • Conveyors, Hoppers
  • De/humidification

Electrical Engineering

Pickering Associates has many years of experience providing commercial and institutional electrical engineering services, in both renovations and new construction. From power distribution to industrial instrumentation systems design and implementation, Pickering Associates has the capabilities to provide a complete design solution. Our electrical engineering group has experience in low, medium, and high voltage power distribution, emergency backup power systems, lighting, fire alarm, communications/data systems, industrial instrumentation and control systems, grounding, hazardous area requirements, and NFPA 70E arc flash requirements. We can also provide onsite engineering and field construction support.

Summary of Services:

automated control panel electrical components

  • Electrical System Assessment
  • Arc Flash Analysis
  • Emergency Power Distribution Design
  • Substations
  • Fire Detection and Alarm
  • Interior and Exterior Illumination
  • Power Conducting/Power Systems
  • Access Control
  • Nurse Call Systems
  • Camera and Surveillance
  • Heat Tracing
  • Site Electrical Design
  • DCS Design
  • PLC and Control System Design

Civil Engineering

From roads and buildings to oil and gas sites and sewage systems, Pickering Associates‘ civil engineering department possesses the skill set to take on any project of any size. Our civil resume includes subdivisions, municipal roadways and drainage, general site development, utility service, grading, building/parking layout, sediment and erosion control, pavement and retaining wall design, and stormwater management projects.

Pickering Associates’ engineers can provide site development including stormwater management, erosion control, site utility layout and parking management for both commercial and industrial applications.

Summary of Services:civil engineers working to plan city development

  • Conceptual Site Planning/Master Planning
  • Site Layout & Grading
  • Landscape Design
  • Utility Design/Coordination
  • Permitting Assistance
  • Water/Sewer Mainline Layout & Design
  • Lift Station Design
  • Pavement Design
  • Truck Turning/Swept Path Analysis
  • Stormwater Management & Sediment/Erosion Control Design
  • Roadway Infrastructure Design
  • Slope Stability Analysis
  • HEC-RAS Modeling
  • Construction Administration
  • Project Management

Automation & Controls

Pickering Associates automation specialists team up with clients to achieve sustained improvement in operational and production performance through problem solving, education and the utilization of appropriate technology and tools. We have developed automation applications that include conveying systems, packaging systems, pumping stations, multi-axis robotic systems, chemical addition, dust collection, power management, and security systems. We use control methodologies from simple open loop systems to sophisticated continuous multiple cascade PID control loops.

Our personnel have successfully completed municipal and industrial projects in areas such as water treatment, chemicals and plastics, metals, paper, food processing, oil & gas, and manufacturing. Projects have ranged from the very small using only a single PLC with a handful of I/O to the very large involving several PLCs, supervisory computers, operator control station HMIs, and several thousand I/O points. These completed systems can provide trending, historical archiving, batch recipes, and other special features.

Summary of Services:Robot working on assembly line that was engineered through automation and control engineering

  • Authorized Rockwell Systems Integrator
  • Engineered Safeguards
  • Call-Out Services to Limit/Prevent Downtime
  • Commissioning and Start-up Services

Surveying

Pickering Associates’ professional surveyors are trained to provide the most accurate information and highest quality customer service experience offering up to date surveying and engineering technologies.

Our team has significant experience providing data in support of residential and commercial developments, commercial projects, industrial settings and oil & gas development. Each surveying team is led by an experienced professional creating an additional layer of assurance that your project will start out with reliable, precise, accurate data delivered in a timely fashion.

Summary of Services:

Surveying tool setup at siteBoundary and Topographic Surveying

  • Boundary surveys
  • Topographic surveys
  • Route surveys for roadway and
    utility location
  • Lot surveying and staking
  • GPS control surveys
  • Aerial topographic surveys (large tracts)
  • Mapping services

ALTA Land Title Surveys

  • Large Scale commercial ALTA surveys
  • ALTA Land Title Survey Standards compliant services

FEMA Elevation Certificates and LOMA (*Certified Floodplain Surveyor)

3D Scanning

  • 3D Laser Scanner
  • Digital, measurable point cloud model

Construction Staking

  • Residential foundation staking
  • Commercial site staking for construction and grading
  • Curb, building pads, grading, storm drainage and utility staking
  • Final “As-Built” surveys

Construction Administration

construction hats lined up on work counter

Pickering Associates can offer you the construction administration services required for the successful development and completion of your project.

These services begin the bidding process for the selection of a General Contractor (GC). Pickering Associates can compile a list of potential GC’s for your approval, hold the pre-bid meeting and walk -through, and answer all of the bidder’s questions prior to the final bid due date. Once you receive bids, we can help you evaluate each of the GC’s so that you can select the GC best suited for your project.

Our engineers can answer the GC’s questions to eliminate delays due to uncertainty. We can inspect construction workmanship in progress to make sure you receive the highest quality installation.

As construction nears completion, we will tour the site with you to compile a punch list of outstanding tasks that need attention before the GC leaves the site. We will work with the GC to ensure all of the punch list items are resolved.

Finally, we will incorporate all changes to the drawings for the project resulting from construction so that you have an accurate depiction of the project for your records.

Summary of Services:

Construction Administration

  • Preconstruction Meeting
  • Submittal Review
  • On-Site Construction Observation
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Progress Meetings
  • Change Order Management
  • Review Pay Requests
  • Final Inspection & Punchlist
  • Review As-Built Drawings
  • O&M Manual / Warranty Doc. Review
  • Contract Closeout
  • 11 Month Walkthrough

Bidding Services

  • Document Distribution
  • Plan Room Management
  • Prequalify Bidders
  • Schedule & Hold Prebid Meeting
  • RFI Management & Addenda
  • Schedule & Hold Bid Opening
  • Evaluate Bids & Make Recommendations
  • Contract Negotiations
  • Contract Preparation