Our History · Est. 1992

One lab.
Then everything after it.

Universal opened in 1992 as a construction materials testing laboratory. Everything that followed — inspections, engineering, drilling, a second region — was built on the record that laboratory kept.

Scroll the timeline

1992 — today · 35 years

The Laboratory

A reputation is not claimed. It is accumulated, one break result at a time.

The firm began with concrete and soil testing for local builders. Two years in, the New York City Department of Buildings certified Universal as a Class 1 agency under License #0400 — a credential we have held continuously since 1994.

National accreditation followed. AASHTO R18 under E-329, C1077 and C1093, inspection by the Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory, and the laboratory that forged our reputation grew into one of the largest private CMT laboratories in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

1992

Laboratory founded

Service disciplines

Years of records

Milestones

Every expansion followed an accreditation.

Growth here was never a rebrand. Every expansion followed an accreditation, and every accreditation followed the work.

1992

Founded as a construction materials testing laboratory

Universal opens in New York providing concrete, soil and aggregate testing to local builders — the record-keeping discipline the whole firm is still built on.

1994

Certified by the NYC Department of Buildings

Class 1 approval under License #0400, held continuously since — the credential that put our inspectors on New York projects.

Laboratory scale

The laboratory scales

Capacity, equipment and technician certifications grow to carry high-volume placement programs across the Tri-State area.

AASHTO R18 · CCRL

Nationally accredited

AASHTO R18 accreditation under ASTM E-329, C1077 and C1093, with laboratory inspection by the Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory in cooperation with NIST.

Four disciplines

Beyond the laboratory

Special and progress inspections, support engineering, and geotechnical and environmental drilling are brought in-house — self-performed, under one quality system.

CMEC Florida

A second region

Fort Lauderdale and Miami regional offices open, providing daily service throughout South Florida under CMEC accreditation.

IAS accredited

Accredited as a special inspection agency

International Accreditation Service accreditation formalizes the inspection practice for agency-facing work.

Today

One of the largest regional providers

More than 100 professionals across two regions, trusted on projects from small and straightforward to multi-billion-dollar complex programs.

What Grew Out Of It

All disciplines from one laboratory.

We expanded services and capabilities over the decades, building expertise to fit broader markets and industries — so a client can hold one firm accountable across the whole construction sequence.

Construction Materials Testing

The original discipline — field and laboratory testing of concrete, soil, asphalt, masonry and aggregate.

Special & Progress Inspections

Code-compliance inspection through the full construction sequence, filed with the Department.

Geotechnical & Environmental Drilling

Our own rigs and crews for borings, monitoring wells and subsurface investigation.

Support Engineering

Licensed engineers evaluating existing structures and sealing the finding.

Steel fabrication inspection in Quebec. Airport construction in Trinidad & Tobago. Curtain wall steel assembly in China. And everywhere in between.

Where That Leaves Us

35 years on, the same record-keeping runs multi-billion-dollar programs.

More than 100 Professional Engineers, Registered Architects, special inspectors, technicians and drillers work from a New York headquarters and Fort Lauderdale–Miami regional offices, serving seventeen markets across two regions and supporting programs throughout the East Coast, Canada and the Caribbean.

New York headquarters, Florida regional offices

2 regions

Professional Engineers licensed in 4 US states

Seventeen markets served, from school additions to transit programs

Markets

Programs supported across the East Coast, Canada and the Caribbean

Reach

One lab.
Then everything after it.

A reputation is not claimed. It is accumulated, one break result at a time.

Every expansion followed an accreditation.

All disciplines from one laboratory.

35 years on, the same record-keeping runs multi-billion-dollar programs.

The next decade is already on the schedule.

Accredited Testing. Proven Results. Trusted Expertise.

One lab.Then everything after it.

A reputation is not claimed. It is accumulated, one break result at a time.

Every expansion followed an accreditation.

All disciplines from one laboratory.

35 years on, the same record-keeping runs multi-billion-dollar programs.

The next decade is already on the schedule.

Accredited Testing. Proven Results. Trusted Expertise.

One lab.
Then everything after it.