Recent content by bigmig

there are no damages yet, so it would be a hard case to proceed with. The exposed risk I have been put in, which doesn't have a monetary value until I get sued by the home owner, is the item at hand.

The issue is that by accepting payment, I inherit the job an all risk, which is quite the risk because I didn't inspect anythinng.

he signed a contract acknowledging ownership of the drawings is mine. He said he 'didn't read it'.

I think in retrospect the reason this happened was because the architect (drafter in this case) builder , developer and real estate agent are one person.....him. There were no checks and balances, no team. If there was, it would have been harder for him to do this. I still can't identify why; it...

he is a contractor.

he was built a home I engineered, then turned and built several more without telling me, using the same plan, but modifying the title block so the building dept wouldn't know.

Found out today that my "friend" who had mysteriously stopped asking us to design his houses for a 2 year period had been deleting the title block, adding the home address, and developing without us. What things can we do to prevent this from happening in the future? Some note on the plans...

I cannot find a clear explanation in the book.... I'm assuming that this is the shear value on a per foot basis for this particular metal decking. I'm sure someone here knows the answer. Thanks in advance.

Looking for a point in the right direction for a factor of saftey required for drilled concrete piers (bearing etc). Thank you.

I found a niche in forensic engineering because of a boss years ago. When the chrome wears off and the new home market plunges, houses still need fixin'. What I learned along side many insurance inspectors and lawyers, is that "they aren't falling down everyday" is a myth that exists in the...

So how do so many engineers design a basement retaining wall with a footing at the base that is barely wider than the wall, and claim "the loads balance out"? The footing below a 9 foot retaining wall is 20 inches wide, 12 inches thick. It has no overturning resistance and is clearly designed...

I have designed sonotube piers for many years for light use residential decks basically, where the reaction is around 2500 lbs, the sono tube is 10 inch diameter and extends 3 to 4 foot into the ground where it is supported by a pad footing. We never used ties. The guy who taught me never used...

They want to win the job (by being the lowest bid) and get through the building department with as little contact with an inspector as possible. They also want to "use my own experience" to build, and then see what you will do after they do that. "What, you're gonna make me take it all down?"...

Communication is key; get the owners and design team together, state your concerns, explain that no further construction is happening until you check the design and issue clarifications and addendums, which will happen at an outrageous price and long time frame. This will probably be met with...

I live in an area that has several markets. The markets exist because of geographic diffences. The 'mountain people' with very stringent building departments (engineering stamp required for literally everything) and the valley people, with little to no building department requirements. Mountain...