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EAGLE NOTE 105 WHY HIRE A CONSULTANT? In the past only the largest churches hired consultants. Today even the smallest churches are realizing the benefits of hiring a consultant. Should you hire a contractor or an independent consultant to evaluate your sanctuary and design your sound, lighting, and video systems? When ministries call contractors rarely are they given a set of plans or specifications. Each contractor will do a quick top level design and submit their bid. Many contractors have a formula or cookie cutter they use for bidding. The ministry receives bids spanning a very large price range and several design philosophies. In this situation ministries usually have no one with enough knowledge to truly evaluate the bids and select the best contractor. The decision is usually made on price or who they felt the most comfortable with. When the contractor receives notification of their selection only then does the true design phase begin. The unfortunate issue is virtually all design decisions are now based on profit since the final price has been set. For example if X mixing console cost the contractor $3,000.00 but they can substitute Y mixing console which only cost $2,400.00, guess which console your ministry will get. By hiring a consultant to design your system a ministry can then provide the design to three or more contractors and compare apples to apples. Another bonus is a true consultant has no monetary interest in which equipment is used. A true consultant is only interested in your ministry getting the best design and equipment your ministry can afford. Recently many contractors have added consulting to their services. Can contractors consult? Yes, but not if they are going to be the contractor. When your consultant is also your contractor you are basically paying for a sales pitch. If you choose to hire a consultant ensure they are qualified. Anyone can claim to be a consultant. Most consultants were once contractors. Being a consultant does not mean they have the knowledge to design your systems. Check references and ensure they have experience designing systems for churches. Churches are very different from restaurants, night clubs, sporting stadiums, schools, etc. and have very unique requirements. Ask what standards they will use to design your systems. One important note is there are no official standards for church audio, lighting, or video. A few consultants and contractors follow the "Highly Intelligible Church Sound (H.I.S.) System Standard" developed by Joseph DeBuglio of EdB Sound and Acoustics. Unfortunately, 95% of the church sound systems in the United States fail to meet these minimum standards.

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