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Structural Calculations & Specifications Along with the structural details, the engineer will provide a set of calculations and specifications, documenting the ways that person has come about their conclusions as to sizing of structural members, connections, etc. They will also specify standards for the quality and type of materials to be used. Sometimes plan checkers at building departments will also be licensed engineers and may scrutinize these calculations during plan check. A copy of these may be stapled to your official set of approved plans to be kept on the jobsite.
Keep in mind that structural engineering, though based largely on mathematical calculations, is not an exact science. There are minimum standards that engineers are supposed to account for, and there are also industry-wide minimum margins of safety. But each engineer may increase these margins at their discretion, and complex structural situations may have many more than just one solution. Each engineer's approach to any given building will differ at least to some extent. It is still up to the experience of each individual engineer to decide the design of the structure, how to go about it, the calculations are really secondary but may point out needed changes to the design.
Pricing for structural engineering may also vary wildly. This may depend on the size of the firm (liabilities, overhead, etc.) and also the individual experiences of that firm or person, and also to some extent on current market forces (supply & demand). But once you have a preliminary set of plans with floor plans, elevations, sections, etc., you will generally be able to obtain a fixed price contract for these services based on those plans. |
