S Y Lee Associates

What S Y Lee Associates does

S Y Lee Associates, Inc. is a privately held engineering consulting firm founded in 1990 and headquartered in Glendale, California, with a second office in Ontario. The firm provides integrated Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP), Civil, and Fire Protection engineering design services across eight U.S. jurisdictions plus Guam, with project delivery documented from Hawaii to Georgia and from Seattle to Mexico City. Its client base spans healthcare (Cedars Sinai, Kaiser Permanente, Henry Mayo Memorial Hospital, St. John's Health Center), education (USC, LAUSD), government (NASA JPL, Andersen Air Force Base, LA County), retail (Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Chanel, Louis Vuitton), hospitality (Hyatt House, Intercontinental), mixed-use and affordable housing (Century Housing projects), civic, and commercial office sectors.

The firm operates as a single integrated practice offering core engineering disciplines including HVAC, plumbing, electrical distribution, fire detection and life safety, medical gas systems, hydrologic design, and site/civil work, with specialized capabilities in LEED-certified and zero-energy-ready design, historic preservation and adaptive reuse, and healthcare critical systems engineering. S Y Lee Associates holds Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Small Business Enterprise (SBE) certifications across multiple agencies, providing preferential access to government and institutional set-aside contracts.

Revenue is generated through professional engineering consulting fees on a project-by-project basis, with pricing determined by scope, complexity, and size of services. The firm employs 11-50 people and is led by founder Sang Lee as Principal. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales targeting developers, healthcare systems, school districts, government agencies, and hospitality chains, supplemented by reputation-driven referral from architects and institutional procurement offices. The firm has accumulated 25+ industry awards over its operating history, including an AIA|HUD Secretary's Housing & Community Design Award, multiple LEED Platinum certifications, and Gold Nugget Grand Awards, primarily concentrated in affordable housing, K-12 education, and sustainable design categories.

Name

S Y Lee Associates

Legal name

S Y LEE ASSOCIATES, INC.

Website

https://sylinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

S Y Lee Associates is a privately held Glendale, California-based engineering consulting firm providing integrated mechanical, electrical, plumbing, civil, and fire protection design services to healthcare, education, government, retail, hospitality, and affordable housing clients across eight U.S. states plus Guam.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

MEP Engineering 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

Systems Engineering & Technical Program Management (BPAHAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sustainable/Green Building & LEED Consulting (BPAHAKAG)

Keywords

• MEP engineering design
• HVAC system design
• Fire protection engineering
• Civil engineering consulting
• Building systems design

Headquarters

HQ city

Glendale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Professional engineering consulting fees for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and civil engineering design services on a project-by-project basis. Revenue generated through design fees for new construction, renovation, and rehabilitation projects across commercial, institutional, and government sectors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

S Y Lee Associates is a consulting engineering firm providing professional Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP), Civil Engineering, and Fire Protection Systems design services. The firm operates as a single integrated practice delivering these engineering disciplines across mixed-use developments, hospitality, healthcare, education, civic services, government/DoD projects, retail, and office buildings throughout California and several additional U.S. states.

Product overview

S Y Lee Associates is a consulting engineering firm providing professional Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP), Civil Engineering, and Fire Protection Systems design services. The company operates as a single integrated practice offering these core engineering disciplines across diverse project sectors including mixed-use developments, hospitality, healthcare, education, civic services, government/DoD projects, retail, and office buildings. Their portfolio spans projects of various scales from residential complexes to major institutional facilities, working throughout California and several other states. The firm is certified as a DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) and SBE (Small Business Enterprise) and is registered in Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 357-bed hospital successfully served with critical ventilation and medical gas systems
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing working relationship with LAUSD, the school district serving the second most students in the country. Regularly provides engineering consulting services for renovation and new construction of educational facilities, including the first LEED Platinum certified LAUSD school (Playa Vista Elementary).
• Osborn Architecture (now NAC Architecture)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering consulting partnership with Osborn Architecture (now NAC Architecture) for LAUSD projects including Playa Vista Elementary School which achieved LEED Platinum certification as the first LAUSD school to receive the highest level award for environmentally sustainable building design.
• Century HousingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Century Housing for affordable housing developments including Century Villages at Cabrillo which received LEED Platinum certification. Century has served as steward of the property since 1997 under the federal McKinney Act.
• Los Angeles County Department of Beaches & HarborscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partnership for Dockweiler RV Park Office Expansion project, providing Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineering Consulting Services for feasibility study, schematic, construction documents and construction administration.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global infrastructure and building engineering giant offering MEP and civil design within a much broader portfolio, an incumbent competitor on larger institutional and government pursuits.
• Henderson Engineers: National building systems (MEP, fire protection, technology) engineering firm serving healthcare, education, and retail, overlapping S Y Lee's sector and service scope at larger scale.
• Introba: Global building engineering and sustainability consultancy (formerly Integral Group/Ross & Baruzzini) offering MEP and net-zero design overlapping S Y Lee's sustainable engineering niche.
• Salas O'Brien: Fast-growing national engineering and facilities firm with deep MEP practice; a consolidator serving the same building sectors at far larger scale than S Y Lee.
• IMEG Corp: One of the largest US MEP/structural engineering firms serving healthcare, education, and government buildings, overlapping S Y Lee's offering across a national footprint.

Direct peers

• Syska Hennessy Group: National MEP consulting engineering firm designing HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection for buildings, directly overlapping S Y Lee's core service lines and sectors.
• Glumac: West Coast MEP engineering firm specializing in sustainable, LEED, and net-zero building design, directly comparable to S Y Lee's green-building and MEP focus in California.
• P2S Inc. Long Beach, CA-based MEP and energy engineering consultancy serving healthcare, education, and government clients across California, closely mirroring S Y Lee's discipline mix and regional focus.
• tk1sc: Southern California MEP and technology engineering firm serving education, healthcare, and commercial clients, competing in the same regional market and disciplines.
• ME Engineers: MEP engineering firm focused on institutional, sports, and civic facilities, comparable to S Y Lee's building-systems design work for public and institutional clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/s-y-lee-associates-inc-

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 S Y Lee Associates