RC Cost Group

What RC Cost Group does

RC Cost Group is a privately-held construction cost consulting firm headquartered in Bainbridge Island, Washington, founded in 2020 by Managing Partners Andy Cluness and Mark Richardson. The firm delivers preconstruction cost planning, estimating, and management services to owners, architects, engineers, and institutions across the Pacific Northwest and broader Western United States, with active project coverage in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, California, and Hawaii. The company operates three Washington State offices — Bainbridge Island (headquarters), Tacoma, and Spokane — and serves clients across vertical segments including K-12 education, higher education, government, healthcare, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and specialized infrastructure such as data centers, transit facilities, and life sciences projects.

The firm's service portfolio comprises six core offerings: Cost Estimating, GC Estimate Review, Change Order Review, Value Engineering, GC-CM/CM-GC Procurement Advice, and Detailed MEP Estimating. These are delivered as fee-for-service, project-based professional consulting engagements spanning the full preconstruction phase from concept through construction documents. The firm specializes in alternative project delivery methods — particularly GC-CM and CM-GC — with the leadership team having worked on more than 70 such projects over a 20-year span. Individual track records include projects from $1 million to $1.5 billion in scope, and Dan Cassady's 1,000-plus K-12 project history positions the firm as a top-tier K-12 estimator in the Pacific Northwest.

RC Cost Group operates without any proprietary technology platform, software product, or AI/ML capability; the practice is grounded in human expertise, industry databases, and cost estimating methodologies. Revenue is generated entirely through project-based consulting engagements rather than recurring subscriptions, with no publicly disclosed pricing. The firm's leadership comprises two Managing Partners (Cluness and Richardson) and two Associate Principals (Cassady, Blankenship), plus a Complaints Manager (Andrew), all leveraging decades of preconstruction experience drawn from both independent consulting and major Pacific Northwest general contractor backgrounds. Go-to-market is driven by industry reputation, direct client relationships, and demonstrated GC-CM procurement expertise rather than formal marketing, digital channels, or institutional sales infrastructure.

Name

RC Cost Group

Legal name

RC Cost Group

Website

https://rccostgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

RC Cost Group is a Pacific Northwest construction cost consulting firm providing preconstruction cost planning, estimating, and management services to owners, architects, engineers, and institutions across the Western United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Cost Consulting

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Design-Build / EPC General Contracting (IMAFAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Commercial General Contracting (New Build) (IMAFAAAA)

Keywords

• Construction cost estimating
• Preconstruction cost planning
• Construction cost consulting
• GC-CM procurement advice
• MEP cost estimating

Headquarters

HQ city

Bainbridge Island

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Consulting Services: RC Cost Group generates revenue through fee-for-service professional consulting engagements for construction cost planning and management. Services include cost estimating, GC estimate review, change order review, value engineering, and GC-CM procurement advice. Revenue is project-based rather than recurring, with engagements spanning from concept through construction document phases.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

RC Cost Group provides construction cost planning, estimating, and management services for owners, architects, engineers, and institutions. Core offerings include Cost Estimating, GC Estimate Review, Change Order Review, Value Engineering, GC-CM Procurement Advice, and Detailed MEP Estimating, delivered as professional consulting engagements from concept design through bidding and construction.

Product overview

RC Cost Group is a construction cost consulting firm offering a unified portfolio of preconstruction services centered around cost planning and management. The core offerings include Cost Estimating (the primary service), GC Estimate Review, Change Order Review, Value Engineering, GC-CM Procurement Advice, and Detailed MEP Estimating. These services work together to provide complete construction cost planning from concept through bidding and construction, with the team working closely alongside design teams and owners to align expectations and deliver projects within budget.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Value Engineering
• GC-CM Procurement Advice
• Cost Estimating
• GC Estimate Review
• Change Order Review
• Detailed MEP Estimating

Quantifiable outcome

• Dan Cassady has estimated or reviewed over 1,000 K-12 projects in his career
• +3 more outcomes

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Cumming Group: One of the largest pure-play construction cost management and consulting firms in the US, offering cost estimating, project controls, and owner advisory services across commercial, education, healthcare, and government verticals — the closest direct peer in terms of service mix and target customer profile.
• MGAC: Mid-sized construction project management and cost consultancy serving commercial, hospitality, education, and cultural clients with owner-representation and preconstruction services — comparable in scale and service orientation to RC Cost Group.
• Anser Advisory: Construction management and cost advisory firm offering owner representation, cost estimating, and project management services to public and private clients — comparable in size, service mix, and vertical targeting to RC Cost Group.
• Hill International: Global construction consulting firm specializing in project management, construction claims, and cost advisory — provides similar preconstruction and owner advisory services and competes in the same institutional client segments.

Broad incumbents

• Turner & Townsend: Global construction cost consultancy with deep public-sector and commercial cost management practices, often serving as the established incumbent for large institutional projects — overlaps directly with RC Cost Group's GC-CM advisory and estimating services but at vastly greater scale.
• Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB): Global independent construction cost consultancy providing cost management, quantity surveying, and advisory services — a long-established broader incumbent competing for the same institutional and commercial owner-side engagements.
• Faithful+Gould: Project and cost management consultancy (subsidiary of AtkinsRéalis) offering preconstruction cost planning and owner advisory across public, commercial, and infrastructure sectors — comparable in core services but operates as part of a much larger global engineering platform.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure and construction services firm with a dedicated cost advisory practice (legacy of Davis Langdon and Tishman) that competes directly for preconstruction estimating and owner advisory mandates — a much broader incumbent spanning engineering, design, and program management.
• JLL (Project & Development Services): Global real estate services firm whose Project & Development Services division delivers cost management, owner's representation, and preconstruction advisory — competes for the same institutional and commercial clients but as part of a much larger commercial real estate platform.
• Arcadis: Global design and consultancy firm with a cost and project management practice serving public, commercial, and infrastructure clients — directly comparable in cost planning and owner advisory services but operating as part of a global professional services platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rc-cost-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

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 RC Cost Group