Thanks for the excellent responses. An attorney informally advised me to have the partners hold stock in a LLC that in turn owns the engineering corporation.
Have any of you consulting engineering firm principals/owners placed your personal assets (home, investments, IRA, etc.) in a revocable trust as a mechanism to better shield them in the event of a potential lawsuit judgment exceeding your E&O liability insurance policy limits?
I know I am...
You will need to tranquilize your E&O insurer when you explain there are 150 sources of subpoenas for this one project.
A limitation of liability clause with your client(s) is a reasonable request here.
All the states where I am licensed require that all final drawings, reports, specifications, etc. constituting the practice of engineering to be PE sealed. The industrial exemption typically gives a pass on that, but a consulting engineer does not get that pass, even though their O&G client is...
What is the story behind the all the job openings for structural engineering forensic work? Is there really that much litigation and insurance activity? Are these firms typically sweatshops that have constant turnover of engineers?
It would seem that such a niche engineering market would not...
Consulting engineering must be done under the responsible charge of a licensed PE in that state. Stamping the drawings is simply tangible proof that this in fact occurred. What the client requests or does not request is moot in terms of the law.
butifarra - If you are the client, then you are probably exempt from practice of engineering requirements under the industrial exemption. If you are selling billable hours to an arm's length client then you are not exempt in NM and must follow all (not just some) of the laws. This includes PE...
If you billed yourself out to an arm's length client as "engineer" in your title and billing rate, then you must have thought you were practicing engineering. This requires a license, regardless of what you are designing. All final engineering deliverables must be PE sealed per this NM statute...
"additional engineering required due to contractor errors or omissions, as well as any contractor proposed design changes or contractor requested alternatives, shall be borne by the contractor."
This is a poor idea from an engineering ethics perspective, if the Contractor is not your client...
You may use a 2,500 lb point load if the person has a backpack decelerator fall arrest device. Joist still hay not pencil out for that in shear or bending.
Welding in additional web members at the truss panel point and having cross bracing to force partitipation of multiple joists would not be...
I would like the loads given in the nomenclature per Process Industry Practices (PIP) STC10105 - Structural Design Criteria, i.e. Empty Dead Load = De, Test Dead Load = Dt, Operating Dead Load = Do, etc. I prefer service level forces, except now wind and seismic are ultimate forces. PIP has...
I love wood as an engineering material but cannot stand working with the guys that construct with it, i.e. residential contractors, because:
- Residential wood butchers always know FAR more about structural engineering than you ever will.
- A contractor with "20 years of residential...
"Would it matter? After all it would be like us lissening to the other language radio station, noise, but no meaning."
That's what I think when I listen to my kids' music.
"...what is the best recommended proceedure to make sure the ceiling will support the weight of a bedroom?
Answer: Hire a licensed professional structural engineer to review the proposed modifications to the existing structure.
