What helps a structural engineer approve plans?

[Colin Young]

Hey everyone. I'm a mechanical engineer by career, but I'm currently designing a deck for my house that will need to be stamped by the city for approval. (It's 8ft. about ground thus needs approval.) Anyway, I'm designing the whole deal in Solidworks just because I'm familiar with the software and use it on the daily. My question is what will help the most for approval documentation wise? Should I document with the highest detail possible at risk of a lengthy submission, or do I just deliver a package that addresses the aspects of the code that are under consideration. I'd really like to get most of the work out of the engineers way that I can do myself, and they just spend their time checking/approving.

Does this make sense? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this question.

Thanks for any input!

Colin

 

[r13]

To my understanding, the City can't stamp your design, but a licensed engineer, if the project requires permit, and be designed by a professional engineer registered in the related field. Rubber stamp is unlawful, and the violator will subject to disciplinary action against him/her.

 

[phamENG]

Colin,

I haven't really used SolidWorks, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that will be way over doing it. Assuming, of course, that SolidWorks can model an anisotropic material like wood properly. My understanding is that it is more of a machine parts simulator.

Now I'm not clear on some things in your post. You mention that the city will stamp it for approval, but then talk about an engineer reviewing and approving it. Are you submitting your package directly to the City for permit approval? If so, you're not going to want to do a solid works submittal. They won't know what they're looking at. In that case, you'll want to pull all your numbers and member sizes form the IRC and reference the source as you go. That gives them something to check against for code approval. In my area, the city does have an "approval stamp" that is applied to all drawings when the permit is approved. If you're talking about a professional engineer's stamp, which is more likely, then you're probably wasting your time if you plan to hire an ethical, law abiding engineer. I'm not familiar with the specifics of Colorado's professional engineering regulations, but in every state there is some variation of a requirement for the EOR to maintain control over the entire engineering design process. You can give him the size, elevation, desired appearance, etc., but the load and structural analysis and member selection ultimately needs to be done by him/her. If I were the engineer you hired, my fee would not differ whether you gave me a full calculation package or just a rough idea of what you wanted. Because I'd need to check it all anyway and run my own calculations. And as most structural engineers don't have solid works, I couldn't check your model, just trust what you decided to show in the output report.

Some states are more lenient then others, and some engineers interpret those rules with varying levels of flexibility. So you may find somebody who will do it the way you want to (you do the calcs, they stamp them), but you'll at best be in a gray area and probably afoul of engineering regs.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Some cities will have standards for small additions like patio covers and such. You might ask if they have something like that and use it as a guide to what they're expecting to see.

Granted, I still say you probably have to get a structural / civil engineer to stamp it before it gets submitted. But, no reason why you can't get do some of the work on your end if you like.

 

[IRstuff]

Assuming you are talking about submitting plans for permit approval, that's different than the engineer's stamp required on plans.

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[skeletron]

The main thing for you would be to focus on the material/style that you want out of the build. You are essentially the build contractor. Thus, you can cut down on structural engineering time by finding the connections/material/etc available to you...no guess work for the guy in the office.

There's probably a threshold of detail that the structural engineer wants to see. Above the threshold, and you are wasting your time modeling something that doesn't need modeling. Under the threshold, and the structural engineer will just do their own design. The structural engineer will likely pick details "that work" from their experience, but there is no harm in suggesting the ways you want to build.

Here is what I would expect to see:
Plan view
Elevations
Foundation plan
*Basic details for connections to posts, ledger, etc


The city probably will want to see a site plan, site survey, or utility plan if there is excavation. You should probably track down some soil information if there is any. Again, the structural engineer might be able to approximate the bearing capacity based on their local experience.

*Let the structural engineer guide the details. Let them also provide details for foundations and guard rails, I think that's probably out of your scope unless you want to do some code diving, etc.

 

[skeletron]

I wouldn't give a calculation package. Focus on the layout and construction. Let the professional do the math.

 

[r13]

The City usually has detailed instruction sheet for permit requirement on home improvement project. Get one, then just follow it step by step.

 

[human909]

Other have already said similar but I'll add my bit. I've also done similar work in the past myself.

I'd really like to get most of the work out of the engineers way that I can do myself, and they just spend their time checking/approving.

-General framing, spacing, dimensions and supports is your first step.
-Detailing typical connection details is your second step if you have capable of connection design

I don't see any benefit to providing any loads or calculations. Unless there unique loading circumstances. Let the engineer do that himself. If you can complete a design and a set of well detailed drawings that have sufficient detail for structural engineering plans then you have done 75% of the work.

 

[GeoEnvGuy]

I took out a structural wall in my home when I purchased it. Paid a building code house designer to draft up and stamp the plans.

The plans showed the layout before followed by the layout after. Notes on connections and beam to be sized by engineer.

Permit was issued by the city and the engineer for the laminated lumber beam was the engineer at the lumber shop.

Inspector came by was in and out in 10 minutes. Looked at the beam and the supports only.

Moral of the story you are over thinking it. As others have mentioned the most important aspects are the framing and connection details. Just remember anyone can submit any plans to the city for a building permit. They can either approve or reject, if your plan is not approved look at getting assistance from a local house designer.

 

[gtaw]

A fresh cup of coffee in one hand and your drawings in the other.

Best regards - Al