It is said that if you are risk averse, don’t bother getting out of bed in the morning. The structural engineering profession is no exception, which practitioners know all too well. In fact the Coalition of American Structural Engineers (CASE) was born out of the idea of risk management for structural engineers being an important thing.
Structural engineers are frequently asked by property owners to weigh in on whether their existing building or structure is safe. Sometimes in response to a specific event that has occurred such as a partial collapse or new cracks showing up. Sometimes on behalf of a buyer looking to purchase a building. Sometimes because of a directive or concern from a government authority.
Universally, what the client wants to know in hiring a structural engineer for an assessment is: Is my building safe? Can I continue to use the building. Is this condition dangerous? If a government entity has initiated the inquiry, they want to know whether to allow occupancy to continue or is public safety in jeopardy.
No pressure, of course.
My firm’s practice is primarily design work, but we try to service all our client’s needs, and sometimes those needs include condition assessments. So, we pick and choose which ones we take on while weighing many factors such as fee, workload, client importance, and having enough information (existing drawings) to do our job.
Recently I was asked by a municipal client for a second opinion on a parking deck at the local shopping mall. Parking garages in cold climates are notorious for having short lifespans due to freeze thaw cycles, the corrosive effect of deicing salts, value engineering during construction, and not enough maintenance. Consequently, parking garages are a frequent request for condition assessment. This garage was a poster child. At 35 years of age, it was at the end of its expected service life, and starting to exhibit problems requiring serious repair or replacement. Then one day, the wheel of a pickup truck punched thru the slab, and the municipality ordered the garage closed. The mall hired engineers and contractors to implement temporary make safe work. Problem solved, right? Not yet. The municipality wanted a second opinion that the make safe work the mall’s engineer specified did what the name implied: Was the garage safe for reopening to people and their vehicles? The municipality has a responsibility to protect public safety. No pressure, but by the way this was right after Thanksgiving during the busy Christmas shopping season!
Shortly afterwards, I got another call from a friend, whose house was hit by a tree. It hit the room they were in while watching football in real time. Talk about scary. We make it a practice to turn away most homeowner calls as they tend to clog our job list. But it’s hard to say no to a friend in a panic. Was his house safe for his young children to sleep in their beds at night? I would hate to make the wrong call on that one (so would he!).
Nationwide, there is an abundance of empty office space due to the pandemic and remote work (and even before that in some regions). Real estate investors call up wanting an assessment of an office building they are considering buying. Is this risky? May not seem so at first blush, but they are studies you’ll often have to do with limited information, limited time, and limited fee. If you miss something and the buyer’s profitable real estate investment turns unprofitable, they will turn to you to recoup their losses. Remember that report you wrote while being harassed by the client to turn it around in a few days saying the building was in good shape? The client won’t remember that they put pressure on you.
The word “safe” is a 4-letter word, like using the word “guarantee” or “highest quality” in one of your engineering contracts. If you do feel you can say something is safe, explain all the caveats that go with it. In the case of the parking deck, I had to explain to the municipality that the make safe work others had implemented was all about managing risks: eliminating the major ones, and mitigating the smaller ones. CASE 962-A: A Guideline Addressing the Preparation of Structural Engineering Reports for Buildings is a good resource which includes sample disclaimer statements which can go into a structural report.
Another consideration in assessing a building: should you include a structural analysis of the existing structural system? It depends on the project – often you can’t render an opinion on a building without crunching numbers. If you feel a structural analysis is warranted, yet the client balks at the scope and fee to do so, consider walking away. Understand that even when the client is amenable, you may not have enough information to analyze the structure, if the original structural drawings are no longer available – information you’ll want to know when writing your proposal.
Perhaps the biggest downside risk to conducting a condition assessment for a property owner is that you find real problems with their building and they choose to ignore your recommendations. Or even worse you are limited in discussing your findings due to a non-disclosure agreement. Engineering ethics and legal obligations may be at odds, but paramount is the engineer’s duty to protect public safety above all else.
Ultimately, a structural engineer will need to decide if taking on structural condition assessments are a project type that makes sense for their practice. Some firms prefer to stick to design work, why inherit someone else’s mess (and liability) when design work is more comfortable and controllable. Others choose to pursue building assessments as the main source of their livelihood. They understand and weigh the risks and have the skill and savvy to make those projects profitable and rewarding. These forensic firms don’t mind having to be a mix of private detective/crime scene investigator/fortune teller/mad scientist. In fact, they thrive on it. And the rest of the profession are secretly grateful we have their contact info to pass along to clients!■