Rising construction costs are a boon for Bellevue-based Pro-Cost, which has seen its revenue more than quadruple recently. Soaring construction expenses have big-box retailers, developers and banks turning to Pro-Cost for help in estimating and managing construction budgets.

Founded in 2004, Pro-Cost helps clients estimate how much it will cost to renovate an existing building or build a new one. Then the company helps clients manage their costs during construction.

The firm is currently overseeing projects totaling approximately $3 billion, Pro-Cost co-founder and CEO Rod Kippen said. He expects revenue of about $3.5 million this year, up from $600,000 in 2004. To handle its swelling business, Pro-Cost has doubled in size to 25 employees, with the firm looking to hire another 10 or so staffers by early next year, Kippen said.

More than half of the small Bellevue firm’s work comes from big-box retailers that include Costco, Home Depot and Target, among others.

Pro-Cost also helped Seattle insurer Safeco Corp. compare the cost of renovating its longtime University District headquarters with relocating to downtown Seattle.

Kippen said about 10 percent of the firm’s business is related to legal disputes and forensic audits. The remainder of the company’s business comes from a range of clients that includes hospitals, assisted-living facilities, prisons and municipalities.

Too often, Kippen said, clients wait until after they have gone through design review to prepare a construction budget. Then, when they finally do contact their contractor, the expenses are too high and they have to go back and rework the design, adding to project costs.

Only about a dozen of the projects Pro-Cost is handling are in Washington state. The rest are scattered across the United States and Canada. The company has an office in the Washington, D.C., area and is considering adding another office in Atlanta, Kippen said.

In addition to Kippen, Pro-Cost principals include his wife, Noreen, Edward Hing and Jeremy Goeckeritz. The Kippens and Hing emigrated to the United States from South Africa, where “quantity surveyors” — essentially construction economists — must earn advanced degrees and pass board exams.

Pro-Cost provides a range of services, including estimating construction costs, managing projects to budget, auditing the cost of making changes and testifying as expert witnesses.

Currently, Kippen is serving as an expert witness in a dispute in New Orleans between Circuit City and its landlord over damages sustained when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Thanks to the tightening credit markets, Pro-Cost has also seen a rise in its work with local lenders. The company monitors construction loans for area lenders and reviews construction costs on completed projects.

Pro-Cost gets a construction report from a local lender and reviews the budget to see if it will cover projected costs. Pro-Cost then monitors the construction budget on a monthly basis, reviewing change orders to make sure items are being charged correctly.

Kippen is grateful for the surge in business.

“Our 10 years in America are such a blessing,” Kippen said. “We are living proof the American Dream is very much a reality.”