Structural drawings permits 4

[LJ_]

Hello~

what cities publish structural drawings with the permit set? I have read in this forum some engineers download them and have them as inspiration but I haven't been able to find one single structural set.

Thanks!​

 

[StrucPatholgst]

I've never heard of a city publishing any drawings, but they do store some drawings on servers, and every now and then when I do a search for something, I get a link to a town's server and a set of prints. Seems like random chance that the search bounces back a link.

 

[LJ_]

Sorry for the confusion, I do not mean the actual CAD or BIM drawings, but the pdf version of them.

 

[BAretired]

What makes you think that a city would publish drawings of any kind? I have never heard of such a thing. Drawings produced by architects and engineers are not intended for the public to peruse. And the city has nothing to gain by publishing drawings.

BA

 

[dauwerda]

In the US, building permits are public record, if the jurisdiction requires plans to be submitted as part of the permit package, they also become public record. In the last 10-15 years many jurisdictions have moved to filing everything electronically (either scanning in the permit package or having everything submitted electronically to begin with). Many of these jurisdictions also make this available on their websites, making it that much easier for the public to find. It is possible to find this for many major cities in the US by going to their building department's website.

 

[BAretired]

Thanks dauwerda, I did not know that. So, I wonder why structural drawings are not included in the package. Or are they?

BA

 

[dauwerda]

Yes, many do include the structural drawings. One example I know of for sure is the City of Arvada in CO. Their website with link to the permitting site (eTRAKiT) can be found here:

https://arvada.org/business/permits-and-applications/using-the-online-application-tool

Then you can search for permits based on a bunch of different criteria (address, owner, contractor, issue date, etc).

 

[epoxybot]

In California one cannot receive a copy of any building plans, unless the Architect, Engineer or any producer of plans has signed off and for what uses. One can view almost any properties building documents at the county or city building departments by request.

 

[LJ_]

Thank you @dauwerda, this is exactly what I was looking for. Do you know of any other cities that publish the structural drawings?

 

[LJ_]

That city did not show structural drawings or any type of drawings!

I am still looking. This is for a school project if anyone was wondering.

 

[CaliEng]

Google search: "residential structural drawing plan set filetypedf"
A couple full plans there.

 

[dauwerda]

Start here:

https://www.arvadapermits.org/etrakit3/Search/permit.aspx

Change the "search by" to permit number, then search for this permit number:
RES18-00332

Click on the permit that pops up and you will be given links to pdf's for architectural, structural and truss plans.

If you want to see others, change the search to "by contractor and search for "Tri pointe" many permits will pop up. As these are subdivisions that utilize the same house designs over and over again, each site specific permit will only have site specific info - such as inspection information and the geotechincal report. But, there should also be a link called "parent permit" that gets you to the approved architectural and structural house plans.

(I am not associated with these plans or the contractor in any way)

 

[structuralCADspecialist]

I would really like to see examples of American concrete highrise design examples. Including drawings dating back to the '90's. If anyone knows how to find 'em let me know .

Two ways I've found structural drawing sets online (but read my caveat below):

1) Google search with keywords like "Reinforced Concrete Tender Set PDF" "Ground Floor Framing Plan BID Drawings PDF" (and similar). Most often you'll end up finding public works drawing sets uploaded for contractors to use for pricing (as you've probably already guessed).

2) Freelance websites have jobs posted (seeking services for things like estimating/drafting/and sometimes engineering) where they often attach the drawing sets to their job postings. Sometimes I'm not sure if they should be doing this (hence my caveat) but there they are... If you make an account and search for jobs related to engineering, construction estimating, and so on, you'll eventually find something. Upwork is currently the most active freelance site for such things.

The caveat: Do your due-diligence as far as accessing things that should be private. Some drawings will state that they ARE NOT to be accessed unless for specific purposes. Just because you can access it doesn't mean it's 'okay' (for example, I'm not so sure that they should be posting the drawings they do on UpWork). Sometimes it IS NOT stated explicitly that you are not to download them. Save your soul and look into it a bit before downloading everything under the sun ;-)