Snow & Rain Loads

How's it going all,

I have a structural question. Do you, fellow Draftspersons/Engineers/Architects, use an Engineer to figure your snow/rain loads for a roof? or do you do the math yourself?

You can email me privately if you want it to be kept confidential. I am looking through my Building code(s) and previously I was using an Engineer to calculate my truss' makeup, but I don't think it would take very long for me to figure out how the math behind all this works.

I do understand that I still need an Engineering stamp of approval, but instead of paying heavy sums of money (which they do deserve) I am thinking of doing my own calculations and letting them read it over to give me a lighter bill.

Something I heard not to long ago from one of my Engineering buddies, is that they use software which creates the truss for you. Now I never really thought of asking if the truss would be spec'd for a set load (dependent on locations) or if it would just be designed to look pretty?

Anyways, give me a shout back if anyone has a comment...

Reply to
John
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In most states this is not legal. In all states, I know of very few engineers who'd risk the liability of you doing the engineering.

Let me ask you this... What makes you think you're qualified to do engineering when an engineer has 1) serious schooling, 2) serious time as an "intern", 3) serious testing, 4) evaluation of all of that by a state licensing board and all of the experience that comes with the previous? In short, you've got to be kidding....

(you're the kind of client that usually gets charged extra)

Reply to
3D Peruna

Well, I'm not kidding when I say I want to learn how to Engineer my own stuff.. I don't see how setting-up a proper set of construction drawings can be illegal, I didn't say stamp my own drawings (which is the illegal part). But I am stating that if I were to spec my own sources, this could show more effiency in my drawings and thus increasing the popularity of my work.

I'm sure that sounds more like a dream than a reality, but for piece of mind I'd like to know that I did as accurate a job as I could possibly do.

Now as I mentioned before, I've had Engineer's work with me, and they've tried to teach me basic Engineering skills to create an easier atmosphere for themselves. Plus getting proper sizes gives the client a better idea of what their final product will look like.

Reply to
John

This is where you are wrong. An engineer or architect may not stamp drawings that are not under their "direct supervision." This is true in almost every state. Engineers, and Architects, can get (and have gotten) their licenses revoked if they just "stamp drawings."

This is true...

And this is good, too...

But, in residential design, rarely is engineering an issue, unless you're doing some off-the-wall things. 90% of my designs don't "care" what the engineering is...there is room to fit it in without compromise. It disappears... You're thinking too much about it.

Knowing what you're supposed to do is different than actually doing it. If you understand the loads and the load paths, then you can think about it when you design, but you don't have to design it. This will help the engineer when they size the members. Of course, they may have different ideas (sometimes better, sometimes not) of where the load paths might be, so then it doesn't matter, does it?

Do what you do best, and let the engineers do what they do best.

Reply to
3D Peruna

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