How a proper structural engineer should work

So after wasted weeks of time and got no where close on the structural work, I have finally got a different contact from my contact for structural engineering – Ben Mashhadi of ABM Engineering Inc. Even from the first email, Ben sounded different. Ben indicated that he has reviewed the drawings and considered the extra load on the roof (My design calls for a partial green roof and partial paved roof deck.), the accumulation of snow, and additional snow drifts. They will design a steel frame and concrete footings. The total fee is $2500 which includes the city’s general review commitment, two site visits, and review of the steel shop drawing. Ben also indicated that they require 15 days to prepare for the structural drawing.

No compare this to what Ken Davis said in my “How not to hire a contractor” post. All Ken said was that they would charge $1400 + HST to provide structural markup for this type of project and site visits during construction are extra at $450 + HST. That’s it. Nothing about if he took a look at the drawings we sent to him on the drawing, nothing about about the extra load considerations, not even anything about what what his structural markup consists of, and no time frame required to get the work done. And you can see why I said that I think he tried to throw some fast/cheap quotes out and then later realized the complexity of my project and then decided to just hide.

Worst of all, if we compare the prices, we will see that K. H. Davis Consulting’s quote is not even that cheap. ABM Engineering’s quote of $2500 might sounded expensive, but it included the structural drawing, two site visits and a review of the steel shop drawing. If you use Ken Davis’ quotes, his price plus 2 site visits is already at $2300. So their difference is a mere $200. Had I know I wasted one week of my time for a $200 saving over an engineer who doesn’t really even do his homework, I would have never even considered K. H. Davis Consulting.

Well, good news is that structural engineering work is now underway and finally the Big Marshmallow House is moving forward.