Leland Saylor Associates

What Leland Saylor Associates does

Leland Saylor Associates (LSA) is a privately held, founder-led construction consulting firm headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, with additional offices in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. Founded by Lee Saylor over 30 years ago, the firm delivers professional services across the full lifecycle of public-sector construction programs, including design-phase cost estimating, scheduling, value engineering, claims analysis, integrated program/construction management, construction inspection, and water-and-air-quality (SWPPP) services. Its primary customer base is California public agencies — K-12 school districts, state and county governments, federal clients, transit authorities, and healthcare systems (UCLA, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente, VA), with named program engagements including the Oakland USD 90-school building program ($700M), Monterey USD 24-school program ($80M), and San Francisco International Terminal CM work ($1B).

The firm's differentiating intellectual property is its content library: four nationally recognized construction cost manuals authored by Lee Saylor — Current Construction Costs, Residential Construction Costs, Commercial/Square Foot Costs, and Repair/Remodeling Costs — supplemented by annually published LSA Cost Indices. The manuals are adopted as the standard by the California Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) for school pricing, and cost estimating formats developed by Saylor are used on a nationwide basis by the Western Division Naval and FEMA. Underlying these publications is an internal database of thousands of actual construction project costs, which underpins the firm's documented estimating accuracy (e.g., Maria Carrillo High School estimate within 1/10th of 1% of actual low bid).

LSA's revenue model is project-based professional services delivered through an enterprise field-sales motion — long-standing direct relationships with public agencies and institutions rather than active marketing. Engagements are staffed by dedicated professionals and are awarded via public procurement where prior experience and proprietary format expertise are significant switching costs. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional ownership, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity; founder Lee Saylor remains personally associated with the firm.

Name

Leland Saylor Associates

Legal name

Leland Saylor Associates

Website

https://lelandsaylor.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Leland Saylor Associates is a private, founder-led construction consulting firm providing cost estimating, scheduling, value engineering, and construction management services to California public agencies, including K-12 school districts, transit authorities, healthcare systems, and federal/state/county governments, underpinned by four nationally adopted Saylor cost manuals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Consulting Services

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

Construction Engineering & Constructability Consulting (BPAHAIAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

New School Construction (Greenfield Builds) (EDAEABAA), Systems Engineering & Technical Program Management (BPAHAIAI), Construction Specialty (Wrap-Ups/Builders Risk/Contractors) (FSAJAGAH)

Keywords

• Construction cost estimating
• Construction management services
• Value engineering consulting
• Public works estimating
• Construction claims analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Walnut Creek

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Construction Consulting Services: Professional consulting services for construction cost analysis, scheduling, value engineering, claims analysis, and construction management targeting public agencies and institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Leland Saylor Associates is a construction consulting firm providing cost estimating, scheduling, value engineering, claims analysis, and construction management services to public agencies, school districts, and government entities. The firm also publishes proprietary construction cost manuals and indices that serve as industry standards for school pricing and federal estimating systems.

Product overview

Leland Saylor Associates is a construction consulting firm that provides professional services rather than a unified software product. The company offers a portfolio of construction cost publications (including the 'Current Construction Costs,' 'Residential Construction Costs,' 'Commercial/Square Foot Costs,' and 'Repair/Remodeling Costs' manuals, as well as LSA Cost Indices) alongside service offerings including Design Phase Estimating, Construction Management, Scheduling, Value Engineering, Claims Analysis, Needs Assessment & Bond Funding Estimating, Order Estimating, Water and Air Quality Services, Insurance Claims Analysis, and Construction Inspection. The publications serve as the foundational data resource enabling the consulting services, with Lee Saylor's cost estimating formats now used on a nationwide basis including by Western Division Naval, FEMA, and OPSC.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Current Construction Costs Nationally recognized construction cost manual authored by Lee Saylor, used as the standard by the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) for setting pricing for schools in California and widely adopted by state and local agencies.
• Residential Construction Costs Nationally recognized construction cost manual covering residential construction cost benchmarking and estimation.
• Commercial/Square Foot Costs Nationally recognized construction cost manual providing commercial construction cost data on a per-square-foot basis.
• Repair/Remodeling Costs Nationally recognized construction cost manual covering repair and remodeling construction cost estimation.
• LSA Cost Indices Annual cost index information published by Leland Saylor Associates for construction cost benchmarking.
• Design Phase Estimating Cost estimating services during the design phase, from conceptual through final design, utilizing an extensive database of actual construction project costs for public agencies and government entities.
• Construction Management Integrated Program Management services overseeing the total delivery process from pre-construction coordination through on-site supervision of scheduling, cash flow, and change orders.
• Scheduling Services Detailed project scheduling to evaluate design approaches, construction techniques, and change order impacts, enabling efficient allocation of manpower and determining financial cash flow requirements.
• Value Engineering Systematic analysis to reduce both initial costs and life-cycle costs of buildings, with over 40 years of expertise in optimizing construction value.
• Claims Analysis Expert analysis for construction disputes, change order negotiation, and insurance claims, leveraging extensive verified construction cost databases.
• Needs Assessment & Bond Funding Estimating

Quantifiable outcome

• Maria Carillo High School estimate within 1/10th of 1% of actual low bid
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Anser Advisory: Program and construction management firm specializing in public-sector aviation, transit, and education capital programs — comparable in offering cost and PM services to LSA's institutional client base.
• Kitchell: California-headquartered construction management and consulting firm serving healthcare, education, and civic clients. Competes with LSA on West Coast public-sector cost estimating and program management engagements.
• Cumming Group: One of the largest dedicated construction cost management and consulting firms in the U.S., providing cost estimating, project controls, and CM services to public agencies, education, and transit — directly overlapping LSA's core service lines and verticals.
• O'Connor Construction Management: California-based CM and cost consulting firm focused on public agencies, K-14 education, and civic projects — a regional direct peer with similar service mix and customer profile to LSA.
• Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB): Global construction cost consultancy with a strong U.S. public-sector practice (cost management, estimating, advisory) serving education, civic, and transit clients — highly comparable in service mix and customer profile to LSA.
• Harris & Associates: California-based engineering and construction management firm focused on public works, education (K-12 and higher ed), and civic clients — closely comparable to LSA in geography, vertical mix, and service offerings.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with a large cost estimating / program management practice serving transit, civic, and education clients. Competes with LSA on large California and federal programs but with far broader service portfolio.
• Faithful+Gould (AtkinsRéalis): Cost consultancy now part of AtkinsRéalis, providing project controls, cost estimating, and PMO services to public agencies, transit, and higher education — direct competitor in LSA's verticals, with greater geographic and capital resources.
• Turner & Townsend: Global cost management and consulting firm with major public-sector infrastructure and education programs. Much larger and more diversified, but competes head-to-head on cost estimating and PMO services for the same government clients LSA serves.
• Jacobs Solutions: Major global infrastructure consulting firm with extensive cost estimating and PMO capabilities for transit, civic, and federal programs — competes with LSA on the largest public projects but operates at far greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leland-saylor-associates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Leland Saylor Associates