Here is a qustion for the ages.
Structural engineers provide professional services to their clients. These services involve taking specialized knowledge of material behaviors and applying them in such a way as to "turn ideas into reality."
The process in getting an idea put together that is strong enough, stiff enough, ductile enough, etc. and meets the required building codes involves the engineer using various tools. Traditionally, these tools have involved pencils, paper, calculators, slide rules, etc. Lately, computers and the internet have taken hold. All of these are simply tools that allow the engineer to apply his/her knowledge and create their true instrument of service - the design.
The way an engineer communicates this design is via drawings. The way the design is developed is via calculations. Calculations, I would suggest, are NOT the service an engineer provides. Calculations are NOT an entity that is sold to a client.
But today, it seems, calculations are required to be part of a "submittal" to cities, agencies, etc. as part of the compilation of services that need to be checked by a reviewer, usually an engineer-type working for the governing agency.
I would appreciate comments from you all out there as to your take on this. Are calculations something that should be "reviewed" or are they my own personal tool that allow me to organize my thoughts, develop my ideas, etc. Can a reviewer say, for example, that I need to format my calcs in a particular fashion? Are they stepping beyond their function to review plans for concurrance with a building code?
I guess my bottom line is that the calcs are a road map that show, perhaps, how I got from idea to design. But they (the calcs) are usually very much open to interpretation, confusion, etc. based on the way the engineer uses them to develop his ideas. Not everyone writes down or calculates things in the same way.
Thoughts on this?
Structural engineers provide professional services to their clients. These services involve taking specialized knowledge of material behaviors and applying them in such a way as to "turn ideas into reality."
The process in getting an idea put together that is strong enough, stiff enough, ductile enough, etc. and meets the required building codes involves the engineer using various tools. Traditionally, these tools have involved pencils, paper, calculators, slide rules, etc. Lately, computers and the internet have taken hold. All of these are simply tools that allow the engineer to apply his/her knowledge and create their true instrument of service - the design.
The way an engineer communicates this design is via drawings. The way the design is developed is via calculations. Calculations, I would suggest, are NOT the service an engineer provides. Calculations are NOT an entity that is sold to a client.
But today, it seems, calculations are required to be part of a "submittal" to cities, agencies, etc. as part of the compilation of services that need to be checked by a reviewer, usually an engineer-type working for the governing agency.
I would appreciate comments from you all out there as to your take on this. Are calculations something that should be "reviewed" or are they my own personal tool that allow me to organize my thoughts, develop my ideas, etc. Can a reviewer say, for example, that I need to format my calcs in a particular fashion? Are they stepping beyond their function to review plans for concurrance with a building code?
I guess my bottom line is that the calcs are a road map that show, perhaps, how I got from idea to design. But they (the calcs) are usually very much open to interpretation, confusion, etc. based on the way the engineer uses them to develop his ideas. Not everyone writes down or calculates things in the same way.
Thoughts on this?
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