Need advice on structural as-built project 1

[CEmonkee]

I've been approached by a homeowner about a job that could get very sticky…

A while back he had a couple of small "buildings" added on to his house (a sun room and a home office). None of the work was permitted.

Now he wants to get things squared away with the county - admit what he did, get the work permitted after the fact, pay any necessary fines, etc.

What the owner would like me to do is produce a set of as-built drawings and provide structural analysis that shows the buildings meet code.

I've read discussions in some eng-tips forums that it is better to use the term "record drawings" instead of as-builts...

Any other advice on this type of project would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[JAE]

I wouldn't stamp/seal any drawings as you weren't the design engineer for them.

I would perhaps provide my best effort at checking the design but then also document any areas where there are significant unknowns or uncertainties.
Then I'd write a letter documenting what I checked, and what I didn't check (the unknowns) and leave it at that.

You can only do what you can only do and if there are unknowns that are not discoverable
without tearing into the structure, you can't simply guess that they are OK and state that they are OK.

 

[paddingtongreen]

They should be called, "Measured Drawings" per the AIA.

http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/ek_members/documents/document/aiap026835.pdf

Michael.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

 

[CEmonkee]

Thanks for the helpful information JAE and paddingtongreen - I appreciate it!

 

[msquared48]

You can only attest in this case to what you can directly observe, and this becomes a problem concerning the foundation and anything hidden behind sheetrock or under roofing. I would not stamp anything without firsthand knowledge, and not the owners testimony that it was built this way. Pictures might clear up a few issues, but how do you know for sure that they were of that project?

Be real cautious here. As far as I am concerned, the fact that he did not get a permit and wants to get the fines stopped, is incentive to stretch the truth he tells you.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[CEmonkee]

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply.

I spoke with the contractor today and he has no drawings or any type of record of the work he did. So I decided not to take the job, since I don't have a good feeling about it.

Thanks again - I appreciate the advice from everyone!

 

[JStephen]

In the past, I have seen some disciplinary information on various state board sites, where a project was built, or partially built, and the owner was then obligated to get a PE involved, or in some cases, a different PE. In those situations, the state rules simply don't cover what ought to be done, and some flexibility was required to move forward.

If the project is big enough to be worthwhile, the way to approach it is to contact the state board and the permitting authority and see what they would require in order to satisfy their requirements. Assuming there are not obvious flaws in the construction, they likely wouldn't require it be torn out and rebuilt "just because", but you don't want to go jumping through hoops trying to satisfy people without knowing what it will take. The permitting authority may be willing to accept an altered engineering plan, and the state board may direct an approach a bit different from what would normally be considered acceptable.

What you can seal as a PE can be rather tricky. For example, if someone else drew this up, you might not be able to legally seal it, but you can take their drawing, draw it up yourself, and then seal that. You may not be able to seal an as-built drawing if you can't completely ascertain how it was built, but you can seal a drawing showing how it should be built, which could show exactly the same information.

Typically, in our line of work, there are certain aspects of the work that you can tell by looking after the fact whether it was done right or not. There are other aspects relating to how the work is done and inspected that you simply can't fix after the fact. For example, you can X-ray a weld and confirm it's "good", but you can't show after the fact whether it was done using a qualified procedure or not.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

You could also RUN!!!

 

[msquared48]

CEmonkee:

Good decision.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com