Thanks for this tip. Would you be able to elaborate on methods of doing this? Do you simply ask directly, or do you have a round about way of getting this info? Do you have any other tips on the sales aspect of engineering consulting? I've been trying to learn this recently but it's so...
It all depends on how much you charge. Are you in Australia @human909? What is your typical charge for a project like this? I wouldn't necessarily say no if I had time, but charge an amount where you would be happy doing the work, taking into account opportunity cost etc.
We've done the same. Once you switch to lower case then you wonder why everyone else still does all caps, especially seeing a page full of notes in all caps. I think it's just fear of change?
Thanks phamENG. No, our code does not have guidance for this. Using H/500 for 4.5m tall wall would result in 9mm racking deflection at the upper floor level. Obviously if the bed is shaking back and forth by 9mm during wind then this is a big issue and would make the house potentially unlivable...
Thanks jhnblge. The walls are 90mm steel stud; for this height they would be back-to-back stud. For a normal height lower storey I wouldn't check racking deflection and would only check strength. For this I haven't yet checked racking deflection as I'm deciding on the max allowable deflection of...
Hi all, just wondering if anyone can provide advice on this.
I am designing a 2 storey steel stud framed house. Due to architectural reasons, the lower storey walls will be taller than normal, 4.5m tall (about 15 ft). While I can calculate the required bracing walls in the lower storey for...
I'm not up to date on the differences, but is AS 5100 a legal requirement to follow for your particular state, or is it in your contract that you must explicitly comply with every clause? Otherwise, deviation from standards for the purpose of improving design is completely allowed, if not...
I was also taught never to support masonry using timber. Timber creeps over time and the masonry will eventually crack. Is this different in the US?
In this situation I would probably use a PFC (channel) with the flanges pointing into the building, and an angle welded to the web to support the...
Yes, the Chinese one is heavily censored in terms of Chinese history. The Western AI is adulterated in science. In terms of science you will probably get more accurate answers with DeepSeek.
Try asking DeepSeek and then the US ones (Gemma, Claude etc) "What is a woman?".
Thanks Dik. It's definitely interesting that China is open-sourcing their best AI and the best in America is closed source. I've used Deepseek and it's quite amazing since it shows you it's thought process. You can use it for free on their website. Although I think the main obstacle for us...
To conclude this thread, I ended up asking that the agreement be amended to more reflect other standard agreements. They declined and said that other engineering companies had already signed it without question, so we ended up not quoting on the job. Which makes me question other companies...
Thanks all.
They have their company name all inside the agreement so I assume that it's not copy paste. I've also looked for standard NDAs online and it looks like half the stuff they've added themselves which says that we waive all our rights etc. It also includes that we indemnify them...
Anyone here use Vectorworks for 2d drafting? I never learnt autocad since the company I first worked for used Vectorworks, after coming from Minicad back in the day. It always seems far more intuitive than autocad and has python scripting built in.
Also, I would second PDF-XChange. If you buy...
Hi all,
We have a new client who wants us to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we are allowed to even see the building drawings to quote on the job. We've looked at the contract and it has all these other items inside, such as, we cannot hold them liable for any wrong doing or negligence...
