Residential Structural Drawings - Streamlining Workflow

[JohnnyB_]

Hello -

I was wondering how other residential structural engineers have been streamlining their workflows when dealing with the tedious detail drawings so I thought I would ask for recommendations.

Most of my time is spent ensuring the detail drawings, for connections primarily, are shown. This eats away at my budget and I was wondering if anyone had tips as to how they streamline this process?

Attached is a typical example of the end product with the current way I am doing things.

Thanks in advance!

 

[skeletron]

I think the workflow benefits most if you have standard details that are consistently used. That way the capacity is known, the application is specific, and you can adjust any spacings or connectors as appropriate for the project.

One way I've seen structural firms do the detailing is to use the house designer's layouts, markup in Bluebeam or sim, and then attach generic details. This is definitely the most "efficient" but I've seen some *huge* overlooks on the structural markups that could only be problem-free if regular (and probably more) field reviews are performed.

I'm partial to over-detailing residential only because it sets the standard for when you do your field review.

EDIT: I'm in seismic-land, so my preference is a result of what ought to be on a drawing in comparison to what used to be accepted.

 

[JohnnyB_]

Thanks skeletron.

Do you bid jobs on a lump sum basis or just do them per hour? I bid this last job at $1.50/sqft and after tracking my time I am close to $3/sqft using a flat hourly rate. Most of this time is in the detail drawings, but it sounds like it is needed.

 

[phamENG]

Are you using a draftsman or drawing it yourself? One thing I've found - there's no hope of meeting budgets if I draw my own stuff. But I'm a one man shop, so those budgets are mostly aspirational anyway. I know I need to make $X per month to pay myself, cover overhead, and store some away for a slow month or 6 in the future. So as long as I meet that, I'm okay. If I meet my budget numbers, I'm turning a healthy profit. If you consider the drafting hours at a drafting rate ($60-$80? Not sure what your market is) how do you fare?

I, too, have been looking for ways of streamlining this. As skeletron mentioned, having re-usable details is key. If you can keep most of your drafting to changing annotations, it'll speed stuff up nicely.

My plan, if I can ever get there, is this (in a nutshell):

Receive drawing from architect.
Do lateral analysis to locate shear walls and identify chord forces that need to be transferred by beams/headers.
Do gravity analysis to size joists and beams.
Redline the architectural drawings. If issues (joists/beams too deep, lateral could be 10X more efficient if they went with a 3" small window, etc.), send it architect with explanation.
Send redlines to drafter/drafting contractor to start work.
Do detailed lateral (diaphragm) analysis. Redline standard details.
Design connections and redline standard details.
Sketch unique details (hopefully a small part of the job).
Send to drafter.
Review everything, send backchecks to drafter, etc.

With this system in place, good architectural drawings, and a reliable draftsman, I could probably churn through at least 2 houses/week. As it is now - 1 every 2 weeks is more the norm.

Also, for the ones that have a lot of unique aspects and no "typical detail" library will ever prepare you for them - identify them early and mark them up. A lot. At least 25%.

 

[JohnnyB_]

Thanks phamENG, that outline is extremely helpful.

I think I do need to hire a draftsman. I am in a remote location in SW Colorado so someone remote will probably be a better place for me to start.

With your standard details, are those not to scale so that you can specify/tabulate the dimensions of the various components?

 

[phamENG]

With your standard details, are those not to scale so that you can specify/tabulate the dimensions of the various components?

Correct. If I need them to be to scale (some jurisdictions can be pretty strict on that), I can adjust sizes fairly quickly. But the overall layout is the same. And every time you make an edit, save it to a central repository. Maybe a drawing file titled "floor sections" and within it have an area for sawn lumber, an area for I joists, an area for trusses, etc. Then within that, each permutation will manifest itself over time. 2x4 stud walls with 16" joists. 2x6" studs with 12" joists, etc. Deck is essentially always 3/4". After a while, it'll just be a matter of grabbing the right one and dropping it on the sheet.

 

[Aesur]

I have found that it really depends on the project. We do almost all projects on a lump sum fee basis and some we break even on, some we take a loss, but most we turn a profit (with the clients we focus on). When it comes to houses, I find that house size and architect matters. Fee wise, I doubt you will find many engineers on here who are willing to share the the fees they aim for, however I believe what you are getting is reasonable for a 6k+ sqft house. However you should consider adding a complexity and even an architect factor for certain architects. Smaller custom houses require higher fees because it's the same amount of work as a larger custom house many times. Sometimes you have to test a project with an architect to discover you can't do their projects for the fees they demand, in which case it's better to focus your energy on getting projects from other better architects - don't be afraid to say no if it just isn't working out time and expense wise.

Depending on availability and job load at the time, we will sometimes have the engineer do the CAD detailing and other times a drafter, however in all cases the engineer redlines the details as they want it. As we do more and more residential projects we save the new "custom" details in a CAD file to use on future projects, but, most of the houses we design are multi-million dollar custom homes so the details rarely get reused without many tweaks. The CAD portion does indeed take most of the time, I would estimate detailing takes upwards of 75% of the project time. On a typical residential project, we would have roughly 20 foundation details and 60 framing detail, which is a lot more than a commercial project typically requires.

As for streamlining, I too am trying to figure this out as residential projects takes much more time then commercial projects typically.

 

[skeletron]

My projects are almost exclusively fixed fee. I had to eat cost on the first few jobs. I find there's no real way to make money like a production shop unless you have a drafter. I don't use a drafter (a bit paranoid about giving all my details to some remote worker, and a bit of a self-work-enthusiast) and definitely pay for it. There's kind of a ceiling in the fee you can charge for standard residential. Field work helps to make up for any fee gaps, though.

 

[dik]

I worked with an architect's office about 30 years back in rural Ontario. We used to do a couple of stiffened slab foundations a month. The house plans were eithe rectangular or 'L' shaped... I had three drawing sheets basically on the same file... the first one being plan, notes and test pit, and the other two being notes and typical details... sections, corners, sawcuts, re-entrant corners, etc.

I could 'CAD' stretch the rectangular or 'L' shape to actual floor plan dimensions wich would automatically update, and do a quick offset to show the size of the slab stiffener. We charged a fixed fee for the plans, and I could 'knock them off' in 1/2 hr to an hour. The three drawings were paperspace models. The fee was good... and we would have the client arrange for a backhoe to dig a test pit, before we started. It was very lucrative work, and the method really worked... it started out with a template fee proposal... a template scope of work... drawing and note preparation, site inspections, extra site inspections, and final letter of certification.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Do you feel any better?

-Dik

 

[XR250]

I do most of mine pseudo hourly and do my own drafting. I have been doing it this way since 1997. I can run circles around most draftsmen. It saves a lot of back and forth. I typically don't detail the crap out of residential stuff (I am in a low wind and seismic region). There is a building code for a reason.
I also find that I get a better feel for the job if I am doing the drafting (i.e making sure loads align etc).

 

[phamENG]

XR - I'm with you on the last part. And in reality I tend to design as I draw. The problem is...I don't run circles around most draftsmen. I'm slower than molasses in January going uphill. Perhaps it will get better with time, but right now it's a severely limiting factor for me.

 

[KevinChez]

For a traditional residential wood-framed house I am comfortable with less detail. Using notes to explain connections (like Simpson hangers/ties) instead of a detail can suffice.

A modern house that incorporates a lot of steel for wide open rooms, cantilevers, and other irregularities it is wise to show the extra details. Hopefully you can command a higher fee for these types of projects.

I have reviewed a some mid century modern design construction out here in California and found the drawings to be very simple for the scope of work. The drawings were by hand and incorporated lots of notes to explain the intent of the framing, etc.

I draw my own plans and details. I ask the architect for their CAD to get a background for the more involved sections and details.

I have architects that want me to learn ArchiCAD so we can design in 3D. It is an amazing program but now I find myself spending hours spinning around a 3D model instead of doing any actual work! Trying to find that balance.

Another issue I have is no one really ever tells me my fee is too high. So don't be afraid to bump up your fee by a 1.15 multiplier or even higher and see what happens.

 

[JohnnyB_]

Thanks everyone, very helpful insight.