Engineering

Why and when you need an engineer can sometimes be a little confusing. A good rule of thumb is: if the design is working outside of Part 9 of the building code, you will need a structural engineer to sign off on the project.

With proper braced wall layouts and adequately calculated beam and joist spans a new custom homes can be designed without the need of an engineer as long as the design falls within the parameters of Part 9. This is a good thing for the developer or the first home builder because it can save you a lot of money on engineering. In most cases, a good designer will be able to design a new custom home without the need of an engineer. An engineer is needed if the design begins to deviate from the parameters of Part 9. Once a house becomes too unique in design an engineer will probably be needed. It is smart practice to alert the client of this when the design begins to head in that direction.

For the most part, an addition or renovation will require an engineer. This is because the existing residence will have been constructed during a time when a previous version of the building code was used. This means that the existing residence is not up to present day code and the parts being affected by the addition or renovation must be brought up to present day code. This is something an engineer must do.

Engineering is not something that AJB Home Design supplies. Although we have a structural engineer we use, he is a non-AJB Home Design party, is not part of our permit ready drawings and charges you separately. We usually use our structural engineer for all projects that he is required for but if you would like to use your own structural engineer, we are perfectly able to send your engineer our drawings to stamp.

Our drawings are permit ready, but an engineer, which is a 3rd party, must sign off on the project before taking it in for permit for certain projects. Much like other required information on top of construction drawings that is necessary to the building permit application process, engineering is a necessary piece required for obtaining a building permit in most cases.

If you receive your construction ready drawings and take them to the city to obtain a permit, for most projects, they will reject the application process because there is not proper engineering. This does not mean that our drawings are not permit ready, it simply means that one of the many pieces (construction drawings being one of them) that the city requires for the building permit application process is not presented.