Free Structural Engineering Website Revisited

[bridgebuster]

This was a thread that was posted two years ago

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=318731

There were some questions raised in the thread about the legality of the services. They're still in business and the inquiry I sent to the Pennsylvania board in March 2012 was never answered (which tells me they really don't want to know about it). I was just wondering if anyone who raised the question with their state board received clarification?

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Wow, that's absurd. I really, really hope this ends ASAP.

Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

He shows up on pearl.com as well:

http://www.pearl.com/home-improvement/small-1400-sq-ft-story-house-gambrel-roof-16

http://www.pearl.com/structural-engineering/need-help-structural-engineer-structural-engineer-pp

Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.

 

[jayrod12]

I doubt it will ever end. Ethically they are doing some very bad things. However technically nothing they are doing is outright against the law. The other link basically says everything that needs to be said about this including the response from one engineering board which would be typical of all. Ethically wrong, currently legal though. As unfortunate as it is without direct evidence no engineering board has any recourse.

 

[Bagman2524]

Just overload them with mythical problems so that can't possibly respond to them all

"Look for 3 things in a person intelligence, energy and integrity. If they don't have the last one, don't even bother with the first 2. W. Buffet

 

[Qrs]

It says he is licensed in PA, but in the post below he is clearly giving guidance on a project in Ohio...

http://www.justanswer.com/structural-engineering/8fb5h-hello-project-second-floor-living-space.html

What a joke.

 

[JAE]

In the “justanswer.com” terms and conditions they state these items:
[blue]The JustAnswer Site is a venue for informational and educational purposes to allow Customers to ask questions and Experts to answer them. Users of the Site, not JustAnswer, provide the content in Posts (defined below). The Experts determine which questions to answer; Experts are not employees or agents of JustAnswer but are independent service providers using the Site to sell their Expert knowledge to Customers and, as such, are along with Customers simply Users of the Site.
Answers of Experts on the Site are provided by Experts and are to be used by Customers for general information purposes only, not as a substitute for in-person evaluation or specific professional (medical, legal, veterinary, tax, financial, etc.) advice. [/blue]

So it appears that the site is disclaiming any and all liability as they are only a “VENUE” for outside users. They then claim that the “Experts” are only providing “general” info – not to be actually used by the users in real life. So based on this, the website itself can claim (perhaps correctly) that they aren’t violating the engineering laws.

However, the so-called “experts” who provide beam sizes, etc. when they answer questions (and get paid) could be held in violation of a state’s laws if they provide this engineering design service in a state in which they aren’t licensed.

How to find these anonymous “experts” would be the tough thing for any state board (with a limited budget) to do.

 

[TDIengineer]

I also dislike the just answer website.

I don't even think he gave them the correct design either... LMAO!
That looks like overkill to me, but I didn't run the numbers.

 

[EngineeringEric]

TDI, Governed by deflection and passes L/360 by 1% (d=0.92"). I had to check it as well before I saw your comment

 

[JAE]

I sent Pearl.com an email asking them (out of curiosity) how they managed to provide engineering in various states without licenses.

The response I got back was:

[blue]Thank you for contacting Pearl.com

I apologize for any inconvenience.

All of our Professionals go through a rigorous screening process. We use a leading third party verification service to confirm every Professional’s listed licenses, certifications, education, and/or employment history to make sure they have the expertise required for the category they are seeking admission to. In addition, Professionals must pass an exam to demonstrate mastery in their subject area before they are accepted onto our site.

Furthermore, answers of Professionals on the Site are provided by Professionals and are to be used by Customers for general information purposes only, not as a substitute for in-person evaluation or specific professional (medical, legal, veterinary, tax, financial, etc.) advice.

In addition, when asking a question on Pearl.com, the customer sets the amount that they are willing to pay to speak with a professional. The payment is collected once a professional responds to the question. 100% satisfaction is guaranteed so if the customer does not get the help they need, they may request a refund of their payment.

An overview of this process can be found on our How It Works page:

http://info.pearl.com/how-it-works

Please let me know if you need further assistance and I would be happy to help.[/blue]

This looks like a general automatic response email. I'm thinking of replying back to push the subject a little further. They are pretty tight with their anonymity.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Sounds very generic, not really sure what you could add to that to get anything else out of them unless you brought some sort of legal action against them.

Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Perhaps threaten them with a lawsuit of unfair business practices as I would say they are misrepresenting the services they're providing.

Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.

 

[TDIengineer]

Trying to understand the process... and who would really be liable?

If a homeowner does a remodel, doesn't hire a professional, uses a website for design information, and the structure fails, I would have to assume only the homeowner is liable.

Could you really go after the person that gave the response via a website if the homeowner made the decision to apply it to real life even after the website as all of its CYA notes?

Probably not is my guess...

 

[steellion]

I'm sure the website has probably had a lawyer review their practice and limit their liability. If individual engineers on the site are practicing outside of the state in which they are licensed, on the other hand, it is a clear violation.

 

[boo1]

you can get the same free design help at the lumber yard

 

[JAE]

boo1 - that is probably correct - for residential house issues. In a lot of US states, the practice of engineering is regulated only for those types of structures where a licensed engineer is required. In our state, houses less than a certain square footage don't require a licensed engineer to practice.

So questions posed online like this might not violate the engineering laws. However, the site has no limits on what sort of structures are being dealt with so in some cases steellion is correct that the out-of-state online engineers could be in violation.

 

[XR250]

I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[boo1]

My lumber yard has a truss shop, they provide stamped residential beam and truss sheets (no additional charge) when you buy their products.

 

[capeengineerma]

steellion: I wonder if the lawyer providing the services was from their own website? Ha Ha