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How Structural Engineers Design Buildings

Structural design isn't a single step — it's a sequence, from understanding the site through to documentation the builder can actually construct from. Here's roughly how it goes.

1. Site assessment

We start with the site: soil classification, existing construction (for renovations), slope, access, and any nearby structures that could be affected by the works. For reactive clay sites, common across much of Melbourne, this step determines the footing approach.

2. Understanding the loads

Every element of a structure needs to carry specific loads — its own weight, the people and furniture inside it, wind, and in some cases snow or seismic forces. We work out what the structure needs to resist before sizing anything.

3. Structural analysis and sizing

Using the load information, we size the beams, columns, slabs, footings and bracing needed to carry those loads safely, with margins built in as required by Australian Standards.

4. Documentation

The output is a set of structural drawings and supporting calculations — detailed enough for a builder to construct from and for a building surveyor to approve for a permit.

5. Support through construction

Questions come up on site. We stay available to your builder and building surveyor through construction stage inspections and any queries that arise once work starts.

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