Reducing SUE Cost Per Project by 75% with CivilGrid

About Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas is a leading California-based civil engineering firm specializing in transportation, utilities, and public infrastructure design. The firm partners with PG&E, Southern California Edison, and numerous municipal agencies to deliver subsurface utility engineering (SUE), surveying, and civil design services across 100+ projects annually.

As SUE Program Manager, Francisco Rojas leads a team that performs comprehensive SUE work at all quality levels (A through D). He partners closely with survey teams to deliver accurate subsurface utility data that engineering teams can stamp and deliver to clients.

Francisco’s responsibility is clear: ensure every cross-functional stakeholder has the data they need to effectively plan, design, and dig. Without accurate data, the risks are severe with dangerous dig-ins, costly delays, and liability exposure.

The Challenge: Blind Locating and Costly Rework Loops

Before CivilGrid, Mark Thomas faced the same challenge plaguing many civil engineering firms today – incomplete or inaccurate site data delayed projects and increased costs.

Manual Research Consumed Weeks Per Project

Every project began the same way: the Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) team would spend up to 40 hours hunting for utility records from agencies by emailing, calling, and downloading PDFs from countless portals.

Stitching those maps together into a single basemap could take days—and even then, there was no way to tell if the data was complete. Field crews would return with conflicting information. The team had the talent and discipline to deliver great work but no way to ensure reliable site data.

To combat these data gaps, Mark Thomas assigned five different people to manage as-built requests, trying to workhorse their way out of a difficult data situation. Even with the extra manpower, they often came up short.

Teams couldn’t wait for complete data research to finish, so they proceeded to the field with whatever information they had. The result? A constant web of redundant work between SUE, survey, GIS and engineering teams.

Legacy Technology and Workflows Hurt Collaboration

These disconnected workflows hurt collaboration and project management.

“We would go out there, get the job done, and then move on,” Francisco explains. “And then weeks later, we’d finally get some as-builts. The surveyors would look at it and be like, ‘Hey guys, it looks like there’s a waterline going this way.’ So we’d have to go back out and reassess.”

When workflows drag, billable hours climb. Higher costs frustrate customers, hurt relationships, and jeopardize future RFPs. Mark Thomas leadership knew there had to be a better way to collaborate on planning, design, and execution.

The Solution: Sourced Site Data Embedded Across Planning

Mark Thomas evaluated multiple options to solve its data and collaboration problem. They chose CivilGrid for three critical capabilities: sourced site data, collaborative map-based workflows, and mobile field access. CivilGrid’s centralized platform would finally allow SUE, survey, GIS and engineering teams to streamline and uplevel their work.

Mark Thomas uses CivilGrid in four core ways.

1. Enhanced Scoping: Faster, More Accurate Estimates

When Francisco scopes a proposal’s timeline, costs, and feasibility, CivilGrid is the first tool he opens.

“As soon as I get an initial project boundary, I plug it into CivilGrid to easily see all site data. It’s so much easier to see all potential conflicts and project requirements than on Google Earth. It’s now way easier to verify what the client thinks and then share with survey so they can validate what we find.”

Beyond reducing manual work, CivilGrid helps Francisco forecast costs and labor hours more accurately by revealing subsurface congestion.

“Sometimes the street is just completely congested with underground utilities. We know it’s going to take a long time. When we get pushback from the client saying, ‘Your estimate is really high,’ I’ll take screenshots from CivilGrid and show them: ‘It’s flooded with utilities.’”

CivilGrid helps Mark Thomas now visualize the complexity and nuance of the work. The result: better client alignment, transparency, and relationships.

2. Efficient Planning: One Person Replaces Five

Mark Thomas consolidated all as-built and records management under one person, Eric, who spends just 2-5 hours per project analyzing and validating data in CivilGrid. Now, those four team members focus on drafting and GIS work that directly generates revenue.

“We had five different people doing as-builts,” Francisco said. “Now we have one.”

3. Field Work: Real-Time Verification via Mobile

Locators and surveyors access CivilGrid’s mobile app daily to verify utilities in real time to compare live signal detection against as-builts without returning to the office or waiting for PDFs.

“They’re able to see it in real time,” Francisco explains. “It’s a lot easier to look at the CivilGrid mobile app than going on their computer or trying to look at as-builts and maps. It lets them get their work done faster.”

The mobile app has become so valuable that surveyors at a recent company meeting asked, “Why is it that the SUE guys have this really cool app where they can see all the land work for the project? How do we get that?” Mark Thomas is now rolling out access to 30+ surveyors and drafters across the company.

4. Sourced Data: Defensible Liability

After field work is complete, surveyors use CivilGrid data to quality-check CAD drawings, confirming nothing was missed. The final deliverable includes both the CAD file and CivilGrid’s sourced as-builts with full chain of custody—critical for clients who need stamped, defensible records.

“It’s very important to us, especially because we’re dealing with big utility companies. Our surveyors are going to stamp it with their license, so they want to know that this is coming from a reputable source.”

When Sourced Data Prevents Disaster

The value of this investment became crystal clear when a subcontractor without CivilGrid made a critical error on a shared project. They located utilities based on surface features alone. No utility verification, no as-builts. Mark Thomas raised concerns about the lack of sourced data, but the subcontractor proceeded with their approach.

The consequences were severe. The subcontractor broke ground during a paving moratorium and quickly realized their SUE data was wrong, forcing them to open up a far larger portion of the roadway than planned.

Now they’re facing a lawsuit from the City for tens of thousands of dollars in repaving costs—plus the cost of project redesign based on bad data.

Mark Thomas’s portion of the project? Fully defensible. Their CivilGrid-backed data chain documented everything, protecting them from liability entirely.

The Impact: Time, Cost, and Quality Gains

88% Faster Utility Research

40 hours → 5 hours per project. What used to take a week of manual coordination now happens in less than a day. Eric can manage a dozen active projects simultaneously, checking in weekly on each.

75% Lower Cost Per Project

By replacing 40 hours of internal labor with streamlined CivilGrid workflows, Mark Thomas saves 75% per project. At 100+ projects per year, it nets over $500K in annual savings.

Dramatically Improved Field Safety and Quality

With as-builts in hand before field work begins, Mark Thomas avoids the “blind locating” that led to their subcontractor’s costly mistake.

“The quality of our work has drastically improved. We’re not just doing blind locating,” Francisco said. “CivilGrid saves us time, money, and gives us a better product.”

Improving Customer Relationships

CivilGrid has evolved from a client-requested add-on to a standard line item on every Mark Thomas SUE proposal. The platform enables better internal and external cross-functional collaboration. Customers see the value and appreciate having access to sourced Quality Level D data and chain-of-custody documentation.

Looking Ahead

CivilGrid has become the site data foundation that allows Mark Thomas to bid more accurately, work more safely, and deliver higher-quality results to clients. This new way of working reduced costs and freed up staff to focus on revenue-generating work.