What should I include in a scope for a structural and civil engineer?

Summary: Designs the parts that hold the house up and manage water around it: footings, slab, framing, retaining and stormwater.

Why it matters: Structural design is a safety and approval requirement. Missing elements (e.g. retaining walls or steel beams) cause delays and variations on site.

Minimum scope by stage

• Concept: early advice on spans, steel, structural system, retaining and slope, to avoid redesign later
• Planning (if required): civil concept: stormwater, driveway grades, cut and fill
• Building approval: slab and footing design from the soil report; framing, beam, column, bracing and tie-down design; wind classification; retaining walls shown on drawings; stormwater design (if no hydraulic designer); design certificate in the form your state and certifier require
• Coordination: design checked against the designer's drawings (beam depths, set-downs, ceiling heights, penetrations, levels) before each issue
• Construction: responses to builder questions; review of truss and frame layouts and steel shop drawings; stage inspections the certifier requires (e.g. piers, slab steel before pour, frame or steel connections)
• Completion: inspection certificates to the certifier; civil works-as-executed drawings where required (e.g. retaining, detention tanks)

Options

• Driveway, crossover and earthworks design
• Suspended slabs, decks, pools, basements
• Duplex: fire-separating and party wall structural details
• Extra inspections, priced as a schedule of rates

Meetings and site visits: Coordination meeting with the designer before construction drawings; one visit per required inspection, priced per visit.

Watch-out: Engineer registration is mandatory in some states (e.g. RPEQ in Queensland, registration in Victoria). See state notes. Changes on site (e.g. a moved wall or larger opening) need the engineer's approval before building.