Overheard a structural engineer say 'calcs dont account for bad framing' and it stuck with me

I was on a job site in Denver last week and this engineer was reviewing some load points on a deck we were building. He said it kind of offhand but it made me think about all the times I've seen guys rush through nailing patterns or skip hangers just to save 10 minutes. Has anyone else noticed engineers getting more picky about framing details lately?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ryan23d ago

The real issue is that most calcs assume perfect conditions and perfect workmanship, which never happens on a real job site. That gap between the math and reality is where all the problems live.

noahs8223d ago

Had a metal roof job back in 2018 where the trusses were out of square by almost an inch. The engineer's calcs said everything would line up perfect, but we had to field-cut every single panel. @the_ryan hit it right on the head, that gap between the math and reality is where we spend all our time fixing stuff. What kind of tolerance do you usually see on site before it gets bad enough to stop work?