What SGH Consulting does

SGH Consulting, operating as Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH), is a national engineering consulting firm headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, founded in 1956 by MIT professors Howard Simpson, Werner Gumpertz, and Frank Heger. The firm provides five integrated service lines — Structures, Building Enclosures, Advanced Analysis, Performance & Code Consulting, and Applied Science & Research — delivered through approximately 800 employees across 14 US offices spanning the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South, and West regions. Its in-house Applied Science & Research Center conducts laboratory testing, environmental simulations, and materials science work that supports both consulting engagements and failure investigations.

The firm serves a diversified client base including federal/state/local government agencies (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, US Department of Defense, City of Malden, Town of Swampscott), institutional owners (University of Utah, Mount St. Mary's College, Maine Medical Center, VA Polytrauma Center), and private enterprises (Raytheon). Notable engagements include SoFi Stadium ($5.5B construction value, 3M sq ft scope), Millennium Tower, Grand Central Terminal, and the World Trade Center. The firm holds leadership positions in industry bodies including ASCE-COPRI, SEAOI, SEAOSC, and the Loss Executives Association, and contributes to national codes and standards development.

SGH generates revenue through project-based professional services fees, serving as either prime consultant or specialized subconsultant on design, investigation, rehabilitation, and code-compliance assignments. Engagement is direct, relationship-based, and geographically diversified across the United States, with no disclosed international footprint. The firm remains privately held under legacy ownership, has completed one acquisition (Capobianco Consulting Engineers in 2006), and pursues growth through new office openings, senior technical hires, and capability deepening rather than external capital.

Name

SGH Consulting

Legal name

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Website

https://sgh.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

SGH Consulting (Simpson Gumpertz & Heger) is a national engineering consulting firm, founded in 1956 and headquartered in Waltham, MA, delivering structural engineering, building enclosure, advanced analysis, code consulting, and applied science research across 14 US offices to government, institutional, and private clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Structural & Building Enclosure Engineering Consulting

NAICS

Engineering Services (54133), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Systems Engineering & Technical Program Management (BPAHAIAI)

Keywords

• Structural engineering consulting
• Building enclosure consulting
• Forensic failure investigation
• Seismic retrofit consulting
• Applied science research

Headquarters

HQ city

Waltham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices14 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Professional engineering consulting services including structural design, building enclosure consulting, failure investigations, and code compliance advisory for buildings and infrastructure projects. Revenue is generated through project-based fees for design, investigation, rehabilitation, and consulting services across commercial, institutional, and government markets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SGH is a national engineering consulting firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures. The firm provides structural engineering, building enclosure consulting, advanced computational analysis, performance and code compliance advisory, and applied science research services for buildings and infrastructure across commercial, institutional, governmental, and defense markets. Services are delivered on a project basis through direct client engagement and prime consultant relationships.

Product overview

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) is a structural engineering and building science consulting firm offering five core service areas: Structures, Building Enclosures, Advanced Analysis, Performance & Code Consulting, and Applied Science & Research. These services work together to provide integrated engineering solutions—from initial structural design and computational analysis to failure investigation, repair design, and materials testing. SGH serves diverse markets including Commercial, Education, Healthcare, Government, Infrastructure & Transportation, Science & Defense, and Residential. The firm operates an Applied Science & Research Center that conducts laboratory testing, environmental simulations, and materials science research to support their consulting work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Structures

Quantifiable outcome

• 800 employees across 14 US office locations serving clients nationwide
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves14 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Thornton Tomasetti: Thornton Tomasetti provides structural engineering, building performance, and protective design services with strong overlap in advanced analysis and applied research. Comparable service portfolio (structures, building enclosure, forensics) and similar high-rise and large-project credentials make it one of SGH's closest direct competitors.
• Raths, Raths & Johnson (RRJ): RRJ is a structural engineering firm focused on investigation, repair, and rehabilitation of existing structures—closely aligned with SGH's structural repair and rehabilitation practice. Both serve insurance, institutional, and government clients with forensic and rehabilitation engineering.
• Walter P Moore: Walter P Moore is a structural and civil engineering consultancy serving commercial, institutional, and transportation markets with similar building enclosure and diagnostics capabilities. Comparable size and direct overlap in structural design, forensics, and infrastructure consulting make it a closely matched competitor.
• Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE): WJE is a structural engineering and architecture firm specializing in investigation, repair, and rehabilitation of structures—directly mirroring SGH's core practice. Comparable in size (~700+ employees), employee-owned, and competing in the same forensic/structural-repair niche with many of the same institutional and government clients.

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: Stantec is a large multi-disciplinary engineering firm with buildings, infrastructure, and environmental practices in the U.S. and globally. Competes with SGH on institutional and infrastructure projects, particularly via its building engineering group.
• WSP Global: WSP is a global professional services firm with significant structural and building engineering practices in the U.S. market. Much larger scale and full multidisciplinary portfolio positions WSP as a broad incumbent competitor on infrastructure and large-building projects.
• Arup: Arup is a global engineering consultancy providing structural, building, and infrastructure services across multiple disciplines and geographies. SGH competes with Arup on complex structural and high-rise projects but Arup operates at much larger scale and broader portfolio.
• AECOM: AECOM is a global infrastructure consulting firm with structural engineering as one of many services. It competes with SGH on large public infrastructure, transportation, and government projects but offers far broader capabilities and global scale.
• Jacobs Solutions: Jacobs is a major global engineering and consulting firm with significant structural, transportation, and government infrastructure practices. It competes with SGH for federal and transit authority work but at a substantially larger scale and broader service mix.

Emerging players

• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM): SOM is a global architecture and engineering firm with structural engineering capabilities. While primarily architecture-led, SOM's structural practice competes on complex high-rise and landmark projects where SGH also engages, though SOM's delivery model is more design-architect-led.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sgh_engineering
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_hxGBoEV--WyGOkPL6UUfA
• Facebookfacebook.com/simpsongumpertzheger
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/simpson-gumpertz-&-heger-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles29 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SGH Consulting