Providing Design without a Stamp
Providing Design without a Stamp
(OP)
I have been offering construction engineering services for a short time now and have been asked to provide a design for a temporary structure to be used on a construction project. The project is fully within my area of expertise and I am licensed in the state where the structure will be used. The structure is not intended to protect or be accessed by the public however, workers will use it to suspend material while being sand blasted.
Since I am just starting out, I have no liability insurance and am a little iffy on stamping plans until I am covered.
1) Is it permissible for me to provide the design plans and calculations if the client is agreeable to this arrangement?
2) Should I be concerned with stamping my designs in the future without coverage as long as it is not required by my clients (provided I have checked and re-checked the design)?
Thank you,
Tim
Since I am just starting out, I have no liability insurance and am a little iffy on stamping plans until I am covered.
1) Is it permissible for me to provide the design plans and calculations if the client is agreeable to this arrangement?
2) Should I be concerned with stamping my designs in the future without coverage as long as it is not required by my clients (provided I have checked and re-checked the design)?
Thank you,
Tim





RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
If something were to occur as a result of your calculations or drawings or just ambiguities, will the Client pay for the damages? If so get this in writing every time you provide service.
VOD
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
Check with the respective state laws.
VOD
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
Fork it over.... and protect yourself. It's tax deductible.
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
If you provide engineering and don't stamp it, you might be violating the engineering law in your area.
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
If the drawings and calculations are interim, no seal is required but the name and lic. no. of the engineer in responsible charge of their preparation is required. If the drawings and calculations are final, a signed seal is required.
In sum, I will be providing my seal and signature on the package. I am looking into insurance coverage now. Thanks again for the help.
Tim
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
Robert Mote
www.motagg.com
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
I place my seal on its own layer in AutoCAD and freeze that layer when I plot/print review sets. Since my titleblock and seal is in paperspace, I simply wblock the modelspace entities and e-mail that to whoever needs it. Otherwise my review sets are plotted in pdf format for e-mail purposes - sans seal. Final sets contain the seal and I digitally sign the pdf when I "deliver" the final set to the client. With Adobe Acrobat, you can create a single pdf with each sheet separately available within the pdf. Pretty cool software.
Don Phillips
http://worthingtonengineering.com
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
Don Phillips
http://worthingtonengineering.com
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
6735. Preparation, signing, and sealing of civil engineering documents
(a) All civil (including structural and geotechnical) engineering plans, calculations, specifications, and reports (hereinafter referred to as "documents") shall be prepared by, or under the responsible charge of, a registered civil engineer and shall include his or her name and license number. Interim documents shall include a notation as to the intended purpose of the document, such as "preliminary," "not for construction," "for plan check only," or "for review only.""
In California, ostensibly, even a back-of-the-envelope calculation legally requires your name and license, but, not your stamp.
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Providing Design without a Stamp
To provide an electronic signature, we follow this process. We have an 8.5x11 sheet with our seal on it (about 8 per page) when we sign the stamp we date it and add our job number next to the seal as well. Next to the seal we provide, for our records, not to be displayed, the clients name and purpose of stamping the drawing. We then cut and paste this into model space and a view port in each paper space displays the stamp. Here in the State of Washington, the use of electronic signatures is allowed provided they are something like "original and verifiable". We keep a permanent copy of all stamps. When we deliver drawings we deliver them in PDF format only. If a cad file is necessary we wblock out the part of the drawing that is required and send only that, no stamp or details. On the topic of insurance someone made a comment that it is for our protection, I also see it is for the clients protection. Given our influence over such a large project, it is possible we could error in such a fashion as to leave the client with substantial damages. I personally see it as a way fulfill my commitment to my clients. It is very much a risk management issue however and if I had a simple component I might just take care to design it and go bareback on the insurance. I was once told to chose one of two ways, insure to the hilt or go without. If you have nothing to give a law suit may go away all by itself. But then I'm not a Lawyer, I only watch them on TV.