I agree with you completely. I have always thought that having houses
designed by engineers was a waste. Prescriptive design ( under 6400 sq
ft & 3 stories) seems to be good for 90% of the homes and small
buildings being built out here, that and regular inspections by the
municipality. I still get work on houses and small buildings because
some houses may have unusual designs, are out of the scope of the
prescriptive part of the code, or have long span beams or poor soil
conditions. But the big protection comes from being able to sue the
municipality or inspector which keeps them on their toes. Also there is
no where in Ontario you can build without municipal approval, except on
federal property and even they will notify the municipality as a courtesy.
Gary
Chuck Utzman wrote:
> Andrew
> Based on my 7 years of doing nothing but residential forensic work in
> the '90s in the San Francisco area I've concluded our construction
> priorities are upside down. In Marin Co. all structural analysis &
> design gets peer reviewed & final occupancy requires an Observation
> report from the EOR for excavation, rebar, structural framing, & LFRS.
> IMHO we could dispense with all of the above & replace it with
> compitent inspection of the building's waterproof envelope. Heck, we
> could fire all the structural engineers & come out way ahead if we
> just stopped the leaks.
> California is spending literally billions every year dealing with
> decay & the design community and Building Departments don't see to be
> at all concerned.
> Chuck Utzman
>
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>
>
>
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