Expertise
Services, sectors and methods.
What we do, where we have done it, and how we make sure the numbers are right.
Services
- Structural design
The structural design of new buildings in reinforced concrete and steel, from the first scheme to construction drawings and the submissions that go with them.
Deliverables: Scheme options with the structural system, member sizes and a cost view for each · Structural calculations, every check with its clause, demand, capacity and verdict · General arrangement drawings per storey and foundation layouts · Reinforcement drawings and bar bending schedules; steelwork drawings where the structure is steel · Specifications for concrete, reinforcement, steelwork and workmanship · Approval submissions and responses to the approving authority's queries
- Assessment and inspection
Finding out what an existing structure is, what condition it is in and what it can carry, before a purchase, a change of use, an extension or a repair.
Deliverables: Visual and measured inspection of the structure with a photographic record · Coordination of non-destructive and intrusive testing where the structure must be opened or probed · Assessment of load-carrying capacity against the intended use · A report with findings, their significance and the options, in plain language
- Strengthening and retrofit
Designing and supervising the strengthening of structures that must carry more, span further or recover from damage, with the least disruption the structure allows.
Deliverables: Assessment of the existing capacity and of what the strengthening must add · A strengthening scheme with the method, the sequence of work and temporary works requirements · Calculations and drawings for the strengthening elements and their connections to the existing structure · Supervision of the strengthening on site and a record of what was done
- Construction-stage support
Keeping the structure as designed while it is built: answering site queries, inspecting reinforcement before it is covered, and recording what was built.
Deliverables: Responses to site queries and requests for information, with revised details where needed · Inspection of reinforcement, formwork and bearing strata before concreting · Review of the contractor's proposals, method statements and temporary works · As-built records and structural completion reports where we are the engineer of record
- Forensic investigation
Establishing why a structure cracked, deflected, settled or failed, with evidence that can be relied on, and what should be done about it.
Deliverables: Site investigation with a photographic and measured record of the damage · Analysis of the probable cause against the design, the construction and the loading · A report that separates evidence, analysis and opinion, written to be read by non-engineers · Recommendations for making safe, repair or strengthening
- Structural review
An independent check of another engineer's structural design, for a client, an authority or an insurer who needs a second opinion before building.
Deliverables: A review of the design basis, the loading and the structural system against the brief and the codes · Independent calculations for the governing members and connections · A review report listing each finding with its clause, its significance and the response it needs · Confirmation in writing once the findings are closed
Sectors
Methods
The codes we design to, the platform we use, and how a calculation is checked before it leaves the office.
The codes we design to
We design to BS 8110-1:1997 for reinforced concrete and to the other British Standards still adopted in Kenya, and we follow the Kenyan National Building Code where it applies. Where a client requires a Eurocode design, we say so before we start and we design to it by hand and by checked software.
- BS 8110-1:1997
- BS 5950-1:2000
- BS 6399 (loading)
- BS 8004:1986 (foundations)
The platform we use
Today it models and analyses 2D and 3D frames (linear static, first order) and designs reinforced concrete beams, columns, solid slabs, stairs and pad and strip footings to BS 8110-1:1997, then produces the bar schedule, the drawing set and the calculation reports from the same model. It does not yet do second-order, dynamic or seismic analysis, steel design, Eurocode design, rafts, piles or retaining walls, and it says so on every report.
How calculations are checked
Every calculation is checked before it leaves the office. Our platform prints every step with its clause and every check with its demand, capacity and verdict, so the checker reads the working, not a summary. Drawings are reconciled against the calculations before issue.