Engineer Qualifications on foundation

[KatyHomeOwner]

I was able to get the license number of the engineer who designed my foundation, who is the same one who did the pre-pour inspection of the foundation, and the one who came out and said that the state of my foundation is normal. When I looked up his license number in the Texas Board of Profession Engineers, I found that the branch his license is under is ELE which is electrical or electrical and computers. Is this individual qualified to create foundation plans for builders or inspect foundations or give opinion on the structual state of foundations?

[Ross]

Here's a piece of the FAQ from the Board's site:

Can an engineer who is licensed as a civil engineer practice in mechanical engineering or similar disciplines?

A license holder may perform any engineering assignment for which the engineer is qualified by education, examination, or experience to perform adequately and competently. Refer to Board Rule 137.59(. Branches of competency can be found with the PE Search function.

URL is http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us/enforce_faqs.htm

[KatyHomeOwner]

Here's a piece of the FAQ from the Board's site:

Can an engineer who is licensed as a civil engineer practice in mechanical engineering or similar disciplines?

A license holder may perform any engineering assignment for which the engineer is qualified by education, examination, or experience to perform adequately and competently. Refer to Board Rule 137.59( . Branches of competency can be found with the PE Search function.

URL is http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us/enforce_faqs.htm

I find that disturbing. I don't see how someone with a license in electrical engineering can jump over and do foundation design and inspections. This engineer in question does all design plans and inspections for a large Texas builder. I know for a fact that his design for a foundation of the model home in my neighborhood was not sufficient and they had to go back and put in piers. This model is only several houses down from me and my house has the same floor plan and my home doesn't have piers.

Is this a Texas thing? Anyone can build a home and get away with building garbage? I called my warranty company and they told me if the foundation fails due to poor craftsmanship, which includes poor design, faulty inspection process, poor quality concrete, that they won't cover a foundation failure.

[TexasVines]

last I knew in Texas pretty much anyone can design and build anything two stories or under

[BryanS]

I was able to get the license number of the engineer who designed my foundation, who is the same one who did the pre-pour inspection of the foundation, and the one who came out and said that the state of my foundation is normal. When I looked up his license number in the Texas Board of Profession Engineers, I found that the branch his license is under is ELE which is electrical or electrical and computers. Is this individual qualified to create foundation plans for builders or inspect foundations or give opinion on the structual state of foundations?

That is interesting... The only way you are going to ever get an independent assessment of what the builder did (or did not do) is to hire a Professional Engineer... that is either Civil, Mechanical, or even Aerospace (with a specialty in structures) that has absolutely no conflict of interest with your builder.

It appears that once you have an engineering degree, and make it as a registered PE, you can practice in other areas, where you may not have a degree in - but have the necessary experience. Pretty much all engineers take the same basic classes the first two years of college... I guess that, with enough experience in any particular specialized field, is enough.

last I knew in Texas pretty much anyone can design and build anything two stories or under

...it appears that as long as the building is less than 5000 sq ft... you're right... Didn't know about this though:

Can an architect perform the engineering for a building that is over 5,000 square feet?

No. Engineering for buildings that are in excess of 5,000 square feet must be performed by a licensed engineer in Texas. Refer to the Texas Engineering Practice Act, Sections 1001.056.

...I really wonder... for all the McMansions that are in excess of 5,000 sq ft... do you think licensed engineers really designed those structures? - in ALL cases?

[TexasVines]

That is interesting... The only way you are going to ever get an independent assessment of what the builder did (or did not do) is to hire a Professional Engineer... that is either Civil, Mechanical, or even Aerospace (with a specialty in structures) that has absolutely no conflict of interest with your builder.

It appears that once you have an engineering degree, and make it as a registered PE, you can practice in other areas, where you may not have a degree in - but have the necessary experience. Pretty much all engineers take the same basic classes the first two years of college... I guess that, with enough experience in any particular specialized field, is enough.

...it appears that as long as the building is less than 5000 sq ft... you're right... Didn't know about this though:

Can an architect perform the engineering for a building that is over 5,000 square feet?

No. Engineering for buildings that are in excess of 5,000 square feet must be performed by a licensed engineer in Texas. Refer to the Texas Engineering Practice Act, Sections 1001.056.

...I really wonder... for all the McMansions that are in excess of 5,000 sq ft... do you think licensed engineers really designed those structures? - in ALL cases?

boy I would have to seriously doubt that

I worked for a designer in Denton that was designing houses easily over 10K sqft....he had an industrial technology degree and at the time he received his degree he could have gone and tested and become a licensed architect but he never did it and they changed the rules...he still would have not been an engineer

our plans were often not 100% dimensially correct we would just change the numbers on the arrows sometimes for room width ect.

the plans went right to the builders and I believe construction started....the only time he ever had to do a plan that was 100% correct on all dimensions was for a steel house company that did have an engineer or two working for them and needed plans that had all the walls at the correct widths and the toilets properly spaced from the walls ect.

[flipper]

If you are building in a municipality that has manditory inspections and plan reviews, the inspector has the right (to my knowledge) to kick something back and say that he or she thinks the engineer used poor engineering practice. I don't know how often that happens in the real world though.

flipper

[KatyHomeOwner]

Sooo.. I got the foundation plans from the builder and it doesn't match my house exactly. The sq footage of the entire slab is larger than what I have of course not just counting the livable space, the porch is in a different location, and the cables that I have that are near the surface of the concrete appear to be where my beams are, cracks along there as well and it doesnt look like my walls match up where the beams are at. I dont have as many tension cables as I can count in the plans and the spacing is off. My neighbor had his plans and we compared his house layout to his foundation plan and none of the beams in the plans match his interior wall. We noticed that the soil sample used as a reference is the same, from 2005. I know for a fact that the model home, which is the same plan as my house in this community required piers when it was independantly inspected. Not sure what all this means, I am waiting for an answer from the engineer I hired.

The interior beams of the foundation is where I have open space in the home. In this area I have sheetrock buldges everywhere that the builder refuses to address as well.

[Marksmu]

Sounds like its time to get started with your TRCC complaint. Do that as SOON as possible. Your builder will not do anything until you contact the TRCC, and as a lawyer fighting this fight for my own home. you should start that process as soon as possible. The TRCC is awful, but the faster you start the process the faster you can get something to happen. If you need any direction on this PM me, I have been in a constant battle with my builder for just about a year now. We are just now starting to get out from under the TRCC blanket of wait forever.

You cannot do anything to your builder till you do the TRCC complaint process. Mark on your calendar every day that you ever said anything to your builder. Keep all of their responses. Do NOT do anything over the phone. Make them reply to everything in writing. Copy yourself on every mail between you and them and save them all, and where the code says do it certified mail, do it certified mail, and keep copies.

If you have a real foundation problem like it sounds your house can become worthless and you have very little recourse. Your new home warranty is not worth the paper its printed on. You need to dot your I's and cross your T's or the builder will win this fight. As it stands outright, you already have the odds stacked against you. Try to prepare yourself now, while the builder isnt expecting it. They will say alot of things in email that would never say by letter or in person, and those can be great pieces of evidence in your suit if you end up having to file one.

Just be very careful, and concede nothing. Your in a bad spot, and its very hard to get out of it...you will need a lawyer eventually if it gets bad enough (I dont do this or know anyone so I cant recommend any, I only know this from my own house experiences that I am still going through)

Good Luck, you will need it.

Sooo.. I got the foundation plans from the builder and it doesn't match my house exactly. The sq footage of the entire slab is larger than what I have of course not just counting the livable space, the porch is in a different location, and the cables that I have that are near the surface of the concrete appear to be where my beams are, cracks along there as well and it doesnt look like my walls match up where the beams are at. I dont have as many tension cables as I can count in the plans and the spacing is off. My neighbor had his plans and we compared his house layout to his foundation plan and none of the beams in the plans match his interior wall. We noticed that the soil sample used as a reference is the same, from 2005. I know for a fact that the model home, which is the same plan as my house in this community required piers when it was independantly inspected. Not sure what all this means, I am waiting for an answer from the engineer I hired.

The interior beams of the foundation is where I have open space in the home. In this area I have sheetrock buldges everywhere that the builder refuses to address as well.

[BryanS]

Before you start lawyering up, and saving all your emails, and sending certified letters, and gaining 50 lbs, sleepless nights... and spending months, perhaps years, trying to sue your builder - all while driving the property values down in the whole neighborhood in the process... before you consider all this... why not just sell the place? Get out, now, while it

[Marksmu]

At this point, selling is no longer an option. His problems are now known he has had an engineer look at them, had the builder look at them, and he has documented it. He goes to sell the place he is requried to disclose the problems to any potential buyer. Nobody in the world is going to buy into a foundation problem.

But maybe he just doesnt say anything, that will work right? No way, the new owner will eventually find all the same things this guy did, and when they goto the builder to get the warranty work, the builder will say, Im telling you the same thing I told the guy who you bought it from, sod off. So, now the buyer knows, he sues for fraud, wins, your stuck with the house back, and a big ole punitive damages award. Thats not a good idea.

I attempted to get the builder to buy back my place, but even a builder wont get near owning a place that really just needs to be knocked down and rebuilt.

He is left with few options. And starting to cover his rear now, is one of the only options he has left.

Before you start lawyering up, and saving all your emails, and sending certified letters, and gaining 50 lbs, sleepless nights... and spending months, perhaps years, trying to sue your builder - all while driving the property values down in the whole neighborhood in the process... before you consider all this... why not just sell the place? Get out, now, while it's easy. Some of the best battles won, are those not fought.

I'm all for fighting the big guy, and righting wrong. I threatened to take State Farm to small claims once - I sent them a sternly worded certified letter... and I won by default (they caved) - but I had to be prepared, and was, to go all the way to court, for months if needed. I was really peeved, so I had the energy, but luckily, they caved. Because my claim was under $5000 - you can do it all in small claims and didn't need a lawyer. It was worth it to me. However, over that amount... you could spend thousands on a law suit; one you could easily lose.

[cgallagher]

Let's wait to see what the engineer says. It soulds like the foundation plans that KatyHomeOwner were given, aren't the correct plans. If the perimeter footprints don't line up, it is highly likely that you have the wrong plan. I can tell you that if the foundation is off more than a couple of inches, then it throws off the entire home.

I'm sure KatyHomeOwner is going to post the engineering results to help ease everyones curiousity.