Stamping Drawings by PE 2

[BSMEclassof2012]

Hello Engineers,

I recently received my PE license in Mechanical Engineering and was contacted by a recruiter for a project involving drawing review and stamping. The assignment is estimated to take around 50 hours with a fixed payment.

On one hand, I feel confident in my ability to check the accuracy of the drawings, verify details and complete the work. However, I am concerned about potential risks. I understand that any missed details would make me liable for the work but I am unsure if there are other risks involved.

Can you offer any advice on additional risks I should be aware of? I want to ensure that all work is completed in compliance with the law and with the integrity.

Thank you.

 

[phamENG]

If you have no prior engineering business experience, I wouldn't recommend taking this. Understanding the legal requirements of your state, the licensing requirements involved, liability and other risks, etc. can get a little complicated. It's important to have a trusted mentor you can consult, an attorney, and potentially an insurance agent.

You'd be better served putting your knowledge to use at a firm where you can start learning about the business side of things and how all of this is handled.

 

[RVAmeche]

Worth also mentioning that the PE stamp generally requires (may vary in some states) that you were actively involved in the work and directed it. Not just coming in at the end and rubber stamping/quick checking it.

 

[TigerGuy]

Is this a single contract, or a full-time position where you will be supervising the design? Who has estimated it to take 50 hours, you or the hiring firm? If it's not your estimate, they could keep you on the hook for much more time.

 

[JAE]

What would have been the original fee (or hours) required to design it in the first place?

As RVAmeche stated many US states prohibit a simple "review" of the plans.

Encompassing all 27 state licenses I once had I determined that any review would be based on the idea that I would model, analyze, calculate, etc. everything in the design as though I was doing it as the original designer.

The only difference would be that the design decisions (i.e. how to frame it, which materials to use, preliminary design developement drawings, etc.) would be bypassed as the design was in front of me to check.

However, many times I was presented with a "completed" design only to find the original engineer didn't do things correctly or how I as the signing engineer felt it should be - so I had to do it all over anyway.

Check your jurisdiction but I think most states in the US do allow something like this as long as you are very thorough in your design calculations.

But my point is - it usually takes - and should take - almost as much time as an original engineer design.

And one final point: Sometimes cheap owners, or contractors, get a cheap design done and try to farm out the final "review" and stamping to an EOR for a significantly discounted fee. Something we should fight against as a cheap initial design followed by a cheap "review" can cause major problems, collapses, or death.

 

[IRstuff]

You would, or should, be in technical and ethical violation of your license; you're supposed to sign/seal work that you personally performed, or was in complete ("responsible") charge of overseeing the work performed by someone else.

You can only review what's in front of you, but if someone left off critical information/assumptions that were critical to the design, but used wrong assumptions or guidelines, you might not be able to pick up on that and run the risk of getting sued and losing your license if something fails.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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