About ASFE

Dear Clients and Colleagues:

Welcome to ASFE/The Best People on Earth. ASFE is a not-for-profit association of Member Firms whose 125,000 employees provide a variety of earth engineering and related applied-science services: geotechnical, environmental, and civil engineering; geology, hydrology, biology, ecology, and archeology; construction materials engineering and testing; brownfields revitalization; and sustainable development, among other important services essential to the well-being of society, now and in the future. 

ASFE exists to help its members prosper through professionalism. Toward that end, ASFE has developed highly effective programs, services, and materials that add value to members’ operations, so members, in turn, can add value to their relationships with clients, employees, investors, and other stakeholders. 

I am delighted to serve as ASFE's President this year, helping to carry forward a 40-year tradition of excellence. The individuals who founded ASFE in 1969 did so to gain relief from professional liability claims so frequent and so severe their firms were, literally, uninsurable. The organization responded and, by 1985, an independent survey revealed, ASFE Member Firms were able to obtain professional liability insurance from a number of sources at rates lower than those paid by any other design professionals. The same survey also showed that ASFE members were the most profitable of all comparable firms. 

How did ASFE help its Member Firms accomplish that 180-degree turnaround? By developing new contracting concepts like limitation of liability. By creating and promoting new procedures for alternative dispute resolution. And by establishing quality-boosting programs like Peer Review, recognized by Engineering News-Record as the single-most innovative construction-industry-association program ever developed.

Although some ASFE Member Firms are among the largest of their kind in the world, the majority of members are small firms. This underscores ASFE's unique approach: The organization helps its Member Firms by helping the individuals who comprise those firms. ASFE membership is also open to allied firms, such as those providing design/construct and design/remediate services. ASFE has also established membership categories for individual faculty members, government engineers and geologists, consultants to Member Firms, and others who have an interest in practice issues. 

Clients benefit by relying on firms that participate in ASFE, because that participation sensitizes firm personnel not only to the risks created by key project variables, but also to the importance of identifying, discussing, and addressing clients’ needs and preferences. 

Browse the ASFE website. If you have questions, simply get in touch by phone (301/565-2733) or e-mail (info@asfe.org). Check the website frequently. We update often.

Sincerely, 

Edmond D. Alizadeh

Edmond D. Alizadeh, P.E., Esq.