MEP Giants design revenue is up

The 2021 MEP Giants reported a 6% increase in MEP design revenue, though gross revenue has decreased

By Amara Rozgus, Editor-in-Chief and Amanda Pelliccione, Research Director September 9, 2021
Courtesy: Consulting-Specifying Engineer

The 2021 MEP Giants generated $9.3 billion in mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering design revenue, an increase over last year’s MEP Giants’ revenue of $8.8 billion. This year, the 2021 MEP Giants earned approximately $62.2 billion in gross annual revenue during the previous fiscal year, a decrease of about $5.5 billion. While gross revenue was down, MEP design revenue rose 6% over last year’s numbers.

One major player moved to the top 10 list: Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers Inc. was purchased in part by the German foundation RSBG in 2018. After a three-year trial period, the company has grown through mergers and acquisitions and is now reporting its full revenue numbers.

While no other shake-ups occurred within the top 10 firms on the MEP Giants list, there were some newcomers to the total of 100 companies. Several companies either joined the list for the first time or returned after time away from reporting data (in order of ranking on the list): Integral Group, AKF Group, I.C. Thomasson Associates Inc., Mazzetti, WB Engineers+Consultants, Concord Engineering Group, LiRo Engineers Inc., Advanced Engineering Consultants, Sazan Group and Power Design.

Other companies also moved up more than 10 slots, frequently due to mergers and acquisitions (in order of appearance on the list): Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers Inc., McKinstry, SETTY and VBFA.

The list this year comprises 62% private companies (down from 63% in 2019), 24% employee-owned companies, 8% limited-liability companies and 6% public companies. The 2021 MEP Giants are made up of consulting engineering firms (59%, same as last year) and architectural engineering firms (31%).

Several mergers and acquisitions occurred in the past year; 21% of the firms reporting acquired another company.  

Table 1 shows the top firms based on MEP design revenue, which is how the MEP Giants are ranked.

Table 1: Top 10 firms are listed by MEP design revenue. Jacobs topped the list yet again — as it has since 2013 — with $1.5 billion in MEP design revenue, a 17% decrease from last year. Courtesy: Consulting-Specifying Engineer

Table 1: Top 10 firms are listed by MEP design revenue. Jacobs topped the list yet again — as it has since 2013 — with $1.5 billion in MEP design revenue, a 17% decrease from last year. Courtesy: Consulting-Specifying Engineer

Download the complete report and list of all 2021 MEP Giants at www.csemag.com/giants 


At the beginning of 2021, the Consulting-Specifying Engineer staff collected and analyzed data from several consulting and engineering firms. Some of the top mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering firms submitted their firms’ profiles to Consulting-Specifying Engineer; however, not all consulting firms were willing or able to participate in this year’s MEP Giants survey. The smallest amount of MEP design revenue reported this year was more than $12.5 million. Some firms were unable to report final data due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, more than 100 engineering firms provided their information for the MEP Giants program, with some newcomers or firms reentering the program. Data and percentages are based on the top 100 companies that responded to the request for information; the results do not fully represent the construction and engineering market as a whole. However, with nearly identical questions asked in previous years and more than 100 engineering firms participating this year, we present a qualified portrait of where the top engineering firms stand in 2021.