“Do I need a structural engineer for my project?” This is one question that every client seeking to start a construction project needs to ask him or herself. Whether commercial or domestic, the answer to this question is important.
While Kenya has established building regulations, the industry is still largely uncontrolled. Many people aren’t even aware that they need an engineer or choose not to employ one. Unsurprisingly, some people need help when it’s too late and nothing more can be done about their projects. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the value of hiring an engineer for your project.
What is the work of a structural engineer?
Structural engineers are trained professionals charged with the responsibility for ensuring that your structure is safe, stable. Using their engineering knowledge, skills, and tools, these professions can solve problems and make things work for your project. This is why it is essential to have them during the planning and construction of your project.
Whilst we are a third party supplier of precast flooring, we also have qualified structural engineers within the company. The work of our engineers is to assess and determine that the structure in place and our system are compatible and that the end result is fit for purpose. Hence our focus on this blog will be on the floor and slabs and why it’s necessary to have a structural engineer at your site.
The Legal guidelines:
Hiring an engineer? What the law says…
To ensure public safety, all building projects in Kenya must adhere to the building safety guidelines in the country that dictate all projects. Depending on the building standards, building codes can be used to estimate things like:
- The weight of the building
- How it can withstand the effects such as earthquakes, floods, wind.
- Imposed loads.
Once the loads acting on the structure are known, the structural engineer will analyze the structure to determine the effect of all these loads on the individual elements of the structure. Structures such as the floor system, columns, vertical supports, foundations, and other parts of the building
When planning an extension
Expanding your home or doing an extension is a popular choice among homeowners. It may entail adding a balcony, or a room to provide more space within your home.
You should always engage a Structural engineer before undertaking any project of this nature. Your contractor will put together and execute the plans. We on our part, when supplying our beam and block slab technology for your project, will send our engineer to evaluate the structural integrity of your existing structure. This is to ensure that the system is safe and compatible with your extension.
Prefabricated structures
The responsibility of the structural integrity of the building remains with the Project Engineer. However, we also ensure that what is proposed is suitable and works for the proposed design. Part of what our engineers do when assessing a job is to calculate and detail the load-bearing capacity of your structure. They take into consideration things such as live load and dead load when assessing your build.
structural engineers and beam and block system
Because most of the time we are consulted once the building is underway, our engineers provide inspection and assessment of a structure to see if the structure itself is structurally sound for our slab installation.
There are a variety of factors that will dictate why you need an engineer for your project. Factors such as foundation, adding an extension, planning a new build or even when using a prefabricated system, such as ours, are some of them.
If you are looking to build your dream home, you will need a great team of professionals to help you accomplish your goals. And this is where we come in, especially when it comes to using our beam and block flooring system. Our engineers will support you all the way until the installation is completed. Contact us today for a quotation.