ᐅ Structural engineer not present for the reinforcement inspection—what now?
Created on: 17 Jun 2021 13:03
M
maxx004
Hello,
The construction project is progressing, and with it comes the next challenge:
The structural engineer was not present during the reinforcement inspection because he did not receive the appointment. The concrete has already been poured, so the inspection cannot be redone. My building inspector (construction supervisor) checked on my behalf before the concrete pour and found no issues, except that the structural engineer was not on site.
In the structural engineer’s earlier letter, it was stated that I should provide him with the contact details of the slab contractor so he could get in touch for construction monitoring purposes. I did this. About two months before the start, I sent the execution week schedule to the structural engineer but did not hear anything back except an acknowledgment of receipt.
The structural engineer naturally cannot and does not want to confirm now that the reinforcement was installed correctly (which I understand since he is liable for this) and is requesting an extensive liability release from me. There are only one or two photos of the completed reinforcement, which are insufficient for approval. My building inspector advised against issuing the confirmation, but the site manager said that without the structural engineer’s confirmation, a work stoppage is threatened.
The construction is located in Hesse (building regulations = HBO).
What should I do?
The construction project is progressing, and with it comes the next challenge:
The structural engineer was not present during the reinforcement inspection because he did not receive the appointment. The concrete has already been poured, so the inspection cannot be redone. My building inspector (construction supervisor) checked on my behalf before the concrete pour and found no issues, except that the structural engineer was not on site.
In the structural engineer’s earlier letter, it was stated that I should provide him with the contact details of the slab contractor so he could get in touch for construction monitoring purposes. I did this. About two months before the start, I sent the execution week schedule to the structural engineer but did not hear anything back except an acknowledgment of receipt.
The structural engineer naturally cannot and does not want to confirm now that the reinforcement was installed correctly (which I understand since he is liable for this) and is requesting an extensive liability release from me. There are only one or two photos of the completed reinforcement, which are insufficient for approval. My building inspector advised against issuing the confirmation, but the site manager said that without the structural engineer’s confirmation, a work stoppage is threatened.
The construction is located in Hesse (building regulations = HBO).
What should I do?
M
Martial.white19 Jun 2021 17:48Here in BaWü, the structural engineer is involved in every concrete pouring phase of the construction.
I’ve never heard of that either. The structural engineer creates a plan, and the shell builder gets started. If you’re lucky, they stick to it. Most houses don’t actually need structural engineering (it’s just a legal requirement); every experienced shell builder can handle those without a problem. It’s probably different for more complex structures. Is it like that where you are?
We have neither met the structural engineer responsible for the foundation slab nor the one for the house in person, and neither of them ever visited the construction site. The structural calculation for the foundation slab (which corresponds to a small booklet) included a reinforcement placement plan, and we all assume that it was implemented accordingly. The grounding was documented with photos.
H
hampshire19 Jun 2021 22:03maxx004 schrieb:
The construction manager said that without confirmation from the structural engineer, there is a risk of a work stoppage.This is the issue. How does the construction manager justify the potential work stoppage – is it because you have not accepted the work or because the confirmation from the structural engineer is missing? If it is the former: you can accept the work without problems if the construction company has built according to plan. You cannot really assess more than that, and the liability remains with the construction company even after acceptance.
Similar topics