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4 years 7 months ago #202254 by Zuffen
Replied by Zuffen on topic Engineers
roKWiz that's interesting information on cladding.

How did weatherboard get approved for use in most pre-'70 Schools?

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4 years 7 months ago - 4 years 7 months ago #202255 by Zuffen
Replied by Zuffen on topic Engineers
Double post
Last edit: 4 years 7 months ago by Zuffen.

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4 years 7 months ago #202265 by geoffb
Replied by geoffb on topic Engineers
Engineers
Well back a while now when i was at Melbourne Water Originally Board Of Works on Mechcanical Installations we would be given a set of drawings and build said structure / pumping station etc . Then commission at the end was asked could please adjust / mark up drawings as to how it was built Had one instance that sticks in the mind a large aeration blower ( Like Gm ) at sewerage plant gets delivered to site crane off ( Complete electric motor blower on frame ) approx about 5 ton Question how to put inside building ? was suggested pull apart was the original idea all good but overlooked on thing the base plate won't even fit through door Mmm best rethink have to remove roof MMmm

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4 years 7 months ago #202266 by Lang
Replied by Lang on topic Engineers
Braggsy

Although engineers get a bad wrap I have found that there is a lot of common sense prevails when actually on a job.

It is impossible to predict all possibilities and on-site discussions often result in changes in everything from basic design to change of materials.

Most people do not realise that engineers are ideas people and the real physical designers are the draftsmen. This applies to everything from motor cars to high rise buildings. The poor buggers get a bit of paper with a thumbnail dipped in tar (or the electronic equivalent) from the engineers and are told to do the construction drawings for the rear brakes on a Lamborghini. They then go to their books (CAD systems have made all that so much easier) and work out sizes, angles, number of bolts etc, come up with the working drawing after talking to the production people and pass it back to the engineer who is supposed to check everything.

Unfortunately these, often brilliant, people sometimes do not know which end of a screwdriver to hold. Real life problems of access, construction methods and limitations of on-site equipment such as cranes have to be confronted daily. Most problems are solved by the workers without reference to the engineers but big stuff is solved by all parties. The builders are not immune and an engineer will often stop a job because the builder has hooked his crane to non-structural wall or decided to ignore the engineer's designated truck route onto the site and taken a short cut crushing all the water and sewage pipes.

The draftsmen are the unsung heroes but still make mistakes. Your example of not fitting in the door is the engineer's fault, not the draftsman who designed the platform.

Nearly every job has a new set of "As Constructed" drawings done at the finish to cater for the hundreds of daily small changes.

Lang

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4 years 7 months ago - 4 years 7 months ago #202267 by jeffo
Replied by jeffo on topic Engineers
Different class building, Class 1 (domestic etc) can have combustible wall material so long as minimum boundary clearances are still maintained.
Been in the building game most of my working life, have seen just about everything.
Many people still think their local council building inspector is God when it comes to approvals. Hasn't been that way for donkey's years. Councils are now simply repositories of paper approvals. You roll in with your bit of paper from the window manufacturer, same for the frame, sewerage drainage plan and on it goes. The final responsibility always lies with the builder, hence builder's registration in qld.
I've seen buildings on the wrong block, everything ticked off by the local building inspector and when push came to shove it all went back to the builder for not having the piece of paper from a surveyor. A builder takes responsibility for everything and passing on a site survey or misreading survey pegs is no excuse.
In qld the housing commission was the only true force to be reckoned with. They lent the $$ and their inspectors were old school. I think they got blended into another department (QIDC) or such a few premiers back.
Inspector knocked back a house for not having the door hinge screws all in line vertically, shipwright quality.
And yes Lang, I started as a design draftsman, Evans Deakin.
Last edit: 4 years 7 months ago by jeffo.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Lang, roKWiz

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4 years 7 months ago - 4 years 7 months ago #202269 by roKWiz
Replied by roKWiz on topic Engineers

jeffo wrote: Different class building, Class 1 (domestic etc) can have combustible wall material so long as minimum boundary clearances are still maintained.

Yes, the key words here are minimum distances. As so many new spec homes are built so close to each other well within the old 900mm exclusion of the past.
Zuffen,
You answered your own question with the mention of the time period.

Engineers I don't have a problem with, its the architects who tell me how to build a freestanding stone walls I laugh at.
One guy wanted a parapet wall with no means of attaching a skillion roof off of it.
He kept insisting that was the way its built until I had to explain to him that water would run down the face of the wall into the foyer built his way.

Heritage Stonemason
In order that the labour of centuries past may not be in vain during the centuries to come... D. Did
Last edit: 4 years 7 months ago by roKWiz.

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4 years 7 months ago #202271 by Lang
Replied by Lang on topic Engineers
Architects certainly take the cake.

When we were building stuff in the Whitsundays one large national architectural firm produced drawings that were like art work with those computer generated trees and people wandering across manicured lawns. Of course for the jetties and wharves there were always a few seagulls flying over.

We built the commercial barge ramp and wharf at Airlie Beach for Keith Williams with one of those seaside sketches. The architect/engineer came down and when we said we had no plans he said build it off the plans you used (from another company) for the wharf at Hamilton Island and we will draw the "As Constructed" plans when you have finished. No problem getting approval after the fact from Harbours and Marine as Keith Williams was on the board.

Most annoying was the annotation on the jetty "picture" of Gutsy Boulders as basically landscaping decoration at the start of the structure. When I asked if the boulders should be imperial or metric gutsy the architect could not see the funny side. Keith being Keith told us to get a landmark so I found a quarry near Bowen with a boulder slightly larger than Uluru and we had to get a float and a 50 ton crane to move and place it.

Lang

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4 years 7 months ago #202272 by geoffb
Replied by geoffb on topic Engineers
Architects
Now they are different. I get a call now and the word Architect is mentioned I suggest you try someone else

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4 years 7 months ago #202278 by jeffo
Replied by jeffo on topic Engineers
You get good and bad in any profession.
As for approvals, I have an engineer mate who works for the Saudis. No approvals nothing over there and huge $$$. But if something goes wrong you need a quick escape plan.
He pioneered lifting top lift domestic tilt panels using thick nylon rope instead of expensive patent lifters. Tie a bloody big knot in the rope and pour it in with the panel. Good for one lift then burn it off with the oxy.
You'd never try that here.

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4 years 7 months ago #202281 by dno
Replied by dno on topic Engineers

Chipping away, one day at a time.
Limited Access Excavations.
Find me on Instagram, or search deankummer.com
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