Total MEP design revenue increased, making this a lucrative year for the MEP Giants.
MEP Giants insights
- The 2026 MEP Giants reported a significantly larger market, with total gross revenue rising to $98 billion and MEP design revenue climbing 27.7%, reflecting continued demand for building systems expertise across a shifting mix of firms and project types.
- The MEP Giants also showed notable growth in staffing, sustainability work and public-company participation, while ranking movement and revenue-mix changes point to an industry that is expanding, consolidating and evolving beyond traditional MEP/FP design boundaries.
The 2026 Consulting-Specifying Engineer MEP Giants, which represents data collected from the 2025 fiscal year, show a larger and more revenue-heavy market than the previous year’s data. Across the mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and fire protection engineering firms highlighted, total gross revenue rose from about $73.79 billion in 2024 to $98 billion in 2025, while total MEP design revenue increased from $15.02 billion to $19.18 billion, representing an increase of 27.7%.
The average percentage of revenue attributed to MEP work also edged up, from 55.7% to 56.9%, suggesting that the listed firms remain highly concentrated in building systems work even as several multidisciplinary firms continue to dominate the top of the ranking.
At the top of the list, Jacobs retained the No. 1 position, followed again by Burns & McDonnell at No. 2. The most notable additions near the top are Harris, which entered the list at No. 3, and AECOM, which appears at No. 5. WSP moved from No. 3 to No. 4, while Mott MacDonald slipped from No. 4 to No. 6. Salas O’Brien held steady at No. 7, and Stantec remained No. 8. HDR moved from No. 6 to No. 9, while EXP remained No. 10.
Table 1 shows the top firms based on MEP design revenue, which is how the MEP Giants are ranked.
Shifting MEP Giants firms
There were 20 firms appearing in the current data that were not exact matches the previous year. These include Harris; AECOM; Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers; Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B); Coffman Engineers; Fishbeck; GFT; HEAPY Engineering; STV; Resolut; EMA Engineering and Consulting; ENFRA; Hipp Design + Consulting; Precis Engineering + Architecture; BSA; BRPH Companies; Michaud Cooley Erickson (MCE); Bowman Consulting Group; DFW Consulting Group; and Jacob Feinberg Katz & Michaeli Consulting Group. Some of these appear to reflect naming changes or rebranding rather than purely new market entrants, such as Alfa Tech/Vela Tech – AlfaTech, GFT/Gannett Fleming TranSystems, JB&B, EMA and Michaud Cooley Erickson.
Ranking movement was substantial among several firms. The largest positive jumps were LaBella Associates, up 27 spots from No. 62 to No. 35, and Arora Engineers, up 26 spots from No. 73 to No. 47. Other significant gains included Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson and DLB Associates Consulting Engineers, each up 14 spots; Power Design, up 10; and McKim & Creed, up six. The largest declines included ThermalTech Engineering, down 33 spots from No. 44 to No. 77; Pond & Co., down 18; Ghafari Associates, down 13; EwingCole, down nine; Smith Seckman Reid, down seven; and LiRo Engineers, down six.
Several year-over-year percentage shifts point to broader changes in firm revenue mix rather than simple ranking movement. The data suggests that some firms are reporting a larger share of MEP revenue from U.S.-based projects, while others show a greater concentration of work outside the U.S. or a different geographic balance than in the previous year.
Similarly, changes in the percentage of total revenue attributed to MEP work indicate that portions of the list are becoming either more specialized in MEP/FP services or more diversified across other disciplines. These shifts may reflect changes in project mix, market focus, acquisitions, organizational restructuring or reporting methodology.
Overall, the 2026 Consulting-Specifying Engineer MEP Giants reflect a stronger revenue base, continued dominance by large national and global firms, and meaningful volatility among midranked firms. For consulting engineers and MEP/FP industry observers, the data points to both consolidation at the top and competitive movement throughout the ranking.
It also suggests that the market is not changing only in size, but also in composition, with firms adjusting geographically, strategically and operationally as demand for MEP/FP design services continues to evolve.
Read more at www.csemag.com/giants.
