Strong demand for real estate purchases and renovation of existing buildings has resulted in a lot of recent calls for structural or foundation condition assessments. These engagements vary in scope depending on the purpose and the conditions to be assessed, but they typically involve a site visit followed by the issue of a report. Sometimes they are intended to assist the buyer of a property with due diligence either in response to an issue raised by an inspector or as a stand-alone structural condition survey. Sometimes they are to aid a seller in responding to a buyer’s concerns. Sometimes the purpose is to evaluate the cause of distress and to develop remedial options. And sometimes they function as feasibility studies for additions and other major alterations. Whatever the motivation, a portion of the increase in condition assessment calls has come from inexperienced prospects, some of whom have wildly unrealistic expectations. On multiple occasions, either during the initial call or after receiving the proposal, I have heard prospective clients express their assumption that the assessment they requested would require “just an hour or two” of professional services.
This assumption is wrong, of course, and reflects a common misunderstanding about how structural engineers solve problems. Much of the public, as well too many architects, civil engineers and contractors believe that structural engineers design from memory, like the general contractor on your favorite home improvement program who always knows what is and is not “code”. They expect the structural engineer to be able to look at a structure and make a pronouncement as to its adequacy on the spot like the contractor on television. Some do not understand the purpose of structural engineers at all since contractors supposedly have the same knowledge, but they can build the building as well.
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