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Recent content by RLM2000

  1. RLM2000

    stamping your own house

    I don't see a problem with it at all. It happens all the time, and the liability does not go away even though you don't hvae e & o, it stays with the engineer. You would have to really, really screw up to have a wood structure fail with current design and construction techniques. I think you...
  2. RLM2000

    Marketing Your Company?

    I am in charge of sales for my firm. I don't want to blow my own horn, but our sales have gone from 450K to 1.2M in the 3 years since I have taken over the position. Our office is much bigger now. When I came here, they sent me to a bunch of these "Small Business" consortiums, and "How to...
  3. RLM2000

    Definition of Structural Engineering Competence

    If you are an A/E firm, that doesn't mean you hav to do the E part of it. If the powers in your company want you to do the design, then you need to tell them you don't know what you are doing and need help. Or do what we did: My company is small, but tries to stay on the cutting edge, and...
  4. RLM2000

    Design Services Performed by a General Contractor

    JAE is probably right, he doesn't need a license to design a residential structure. He probably does need an engineer as a subconsultant to review and stamp the drawings for IBC and local code compliance. Here in Washington state there are countless numbers of contractors who provide the design...
  5. RLM2000

    Reasonable backcharges

    I have read your post and it is a very interesting question that you pose. It sounds like there might be some coordination/QA issues. If I read your post correctly, this designer has charge of a critical path item. If there is to be an installation along the critical path it needs to be...
  6. RLM2000

    Can a Civil PE ethicall prepare a landscape plan?

    I agree with everyone else. The municipalities ususally spell out landscaping planting requirements. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, draw up the areas that need landscaped and hire a sub-consultant. We use a local nursery (they have a guy) and it is cheaper for our clients (even after...
  7. RLM2000

    So You Gut Shot an Estimate . . .

    ENC- We use the same techniques for retaining clients. We have gone as high as 5% "hair-cuts" and called it marketing. We also take "hair-cuts" as education for employees (an employee is new to some type of work so they learn through a clients' project). Often jobs that go over budget are...
  8. RLM2000

    Job offer/ salary negotiation scenario

    The big boss at our office has dug into his personal account for x-mas bonuses one time. It was something that I won't soon forget. When this office first got started I heard that they were operating on the red line for quite a while and it was very stressful. Now the only stress is execution...
  9. RLM2000

    I'm leaving...

    Yeah, along those lines. I needed to get two of my old bosses to sign off for my experience so I could sit for the PE exam. Once I realized that I was going to need their signatures, I started to regret becoming a folk-legend. I called them both and asked, and they both agreed and told me more...
  10. RLM2000

    Job offer/ salary negotiation scenario

    Good job! In response to wyhun above, I work for a Mom-n-Pop. We have an open compensation policy. There is no hush-hush or any passive aggressive BS (you feel underpaid, you tell someone now!). When we interview someone we ask them how much they want. We always have a number in mind, but it...
  11. RLM2000

    So You Gut Shot an Estimate . . .

    All very good information. IRStuff you have the same feelings I do about this stuff. DRC1 you are correct for the type of work that our office does. I always have a list of inclusions, but we have a policy on not listing exclusions. How many of you have standard documentation you have your...
  12. RLM2000

    I'm leaving...

    Congrats on your new job! If there is anything that engineers are not good at it is communicating bad news to a client or co-worker. I have noticed it among our profession more than that of many professional services. The only way to do it is face to face and honestly, you will much better when...
  13. RLM2000

    So You Gut Shot an Estimate . . .

    I have been wondering what other firms/project managers do in this situation: You have a private client, you give an estimate based on some preliminary drawings or ideas, and the estimate ends up being off target (low and to the left). Most of our estimates are time and materials, and there is...
  14. RLM2000

    Ethics of unlicensed practice reports

    In my case: We wrote a letter to the Jurisdiction and OSHA. We didn't have any facts other than visual data and estimates. We wrote the letter voicing our concern, and that maybe it should be checked into. There could have been other outlying items with the work; there may have been a geo-tech...
  15. RLM2000

    Ethics of unlicensed practice reports

    We have a client who is an inspector for a local jurisdiction. He is a "permit specialist" outside of his jurisdiction. One day we noticed an illegal cut in his jurisdiction and it was blatantly unsafe (20 feet of vertical face in sandy silt). There were people working in between this basement...
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