New projects
Steel frames, wood framing and reinforced block walls, engineered as one load path from the roof to the foundation and drawn so your contractor can build them.
- Coverage
- Miami-Dade & Broward County, Florida
At a glance
Not every structure is cast-in-place concrete.
Much of what is built in South Florida stands on concrete block walls with tie beams, carries a wood roof, or hangs from a steel frame. Each material has its own rules for wind, connections and fire, and the place where two of them meet is where most field questions start.
Owners building a house, a warehouse or a small commercial building · Architects and designers who need the structure behind their drawings · Contractors who need sealed details for a canopy, a mezzanine or a stair
When you need it
- 01The walls are reinforced concrete block and the roof is wood trusses or steel joists.
- 02A steel frame, canopy, mezzanine, platform or stair needs its members and connections designed.
- 03A wood-framed house, roof or floor has to resist High-Velocity Hurricane Zone wind loads.
What's included
- Structural steel frames, beams, columns, canopies, mezzanines and stairs
- Wood roofs, floors and walls, with their hold-downs and uplift connections
- Reinforced concrete block walls, tie beams, tie columns and lintels
- Wind, gravity and uplift load paths from the roof down to the foundation
- Connections between materials: steel to block, wood to block, steel to concrete
- Foundations sized for the structure and the soil report
What you receive
- Sealed structural drawings for the permit
- Structural calculations
- Connection and typical details
Next step
Send the architectural drawings, or a sketch if there are none yet, with the address. You receive a fixed-fee proposal for the structural design.
How the work runs
Read the project
Architectural drawings, the site and the materials chosen — or a recommendation when the material is still open.
Design
Loads under the Florida Building Code, members sized, and every connection checked.
Draw
Plans, sections, connection details and general notes, sealed for the permit.
Support
Answers to the plan reviewer’s comments and to the contractor’s questions during construction.
Questions & answers
Questions about steel, wood and masonry design
Do you build the structure or supply the materials?
No. We are an engineering firm: we design the structure, calculate it and issue the sealed drawings for the permit. A licensed contractor of your choosing builds from those drawings, and we answer the plan reviewer’s comments and the contractor’s questions along the way.
Concrete block, wood or steel: which one should we use?
It depends on the span, the use, the budget and what the architect has drawn. Block walls with a concrete tie beam are the usual choice for houses here; steel suits long spans, canopies and mezzanines; wood keeps a roof or a floor light. When the choice is still open we say what each option means for the structure before anything is drawn.
How do you handle hurricane wind in a wood or steel structure?
By following the load from the roof to the ground. The wind pulls the roof up and pushes the walls sideways, so every connection on that path — straps, anchors, bolts and welds — is sized for it and shown on the drawings, under the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone rules that apply in Miami-Dade and Broward.
Can you design just one element, such as a beam, a canopy or a stair?
Yes. A single steel beam that replaces a wall, a canopy, a mezzanine or a stair gets its own calculation and sealed detail, with how it bears on what is already there. Send a photograph and the dimensions, and we tell you what the design needs.
Good to know
What this design covers, and what it does not.
- We design and seal the structure; a licensed contractor of your choosing builds it.
- Trusses, joists and other pre-engineered parts are designed by their manufacturer; we set the loads they carry and check how they connect.
- The fee depends on the size of the structure and on how many materials meet in it.
A county notice in your hand, a building that worries you or a new project — describe it and attach what you have. A phone photo of the letter is enough. Our team gets back to you with questions or a free written proposal.