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"This lead to my buildings being cheaper / easier to build, which of course lead to our engineering fees looking like a larger portion of the job."

I propose you could start a consulting gig and maybe your own firm. Can't be that there aren't people who want their buildings to be cheaper for the same quality.

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It may not be cheaper if you're paying a consultant.

You're paying more for the project but spend less on construction. And construction is the expensive part, is it not?

For whatever reason, people in general prefer to pay for things, not knowledge. It's much easier to ask for $10K more of materials than it is for $8K more of consulting, even if the latter is actually 20% cheaper. Human nature.

The real problem is information asymmetry, it's more difficult to know that the consulting was good than to check that we have more materials.

It depends on how you spin it. People happily pay premium for smart offerings. They just have to see the reputation working.

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