The house plans called for a footing nine-inches tall, which is how I formed it. The building inspector came along and rejected it saying it had to be 12-inches tall, minimum. So I had to change it. These plans were engineered; can he legally do that?

Alonzo, Tracy, CA

Dear Alonzo,

In a word, maybe.

The first question to be answered is, what does code require? In the old days that was a pretty straightforward question. No longer.

To my knowledge, all of us in the U.S. must adhere to the International family of codes, specifically, the International Building Code (IBC), or optionally for residential construction, the International Residential Code (IRC). Both specify minimum requirements, meaning you can build stouter if you wish but not to a lesser standard.

Certain jurisdictions possess their own amendments to the International codes. For example, California has its own code, the California Building Code (CBC), which supersedes certain parts of the International codes. So all builders, engineers, and architects in California must know and adhere to two sets of codes.

But wait, to make matters worse, certain cities and counties have their own versions of codes and ordinances that supersede both the International and State codes.

How in the heck is a person supposed to know all those codes?

Particularly considering that the International codes adopt by reference some five hundred other industry codes, regulations, testing results, etc. (I tried counting them once but fogged over at 314.) Does any human, living or dead, happen to own, know, or even have a vague awareness of all the above? Show me that man and I’ll show you a liar.

What is the minimum thickness of a footing per the IBC? I don’t think there is one. Notice I said ‘think’. While I’m fairly handy with the IBC, I’m quick to admit that I don’t know all 500+ codes, regulations, ordinances, etc. Thus it is possible that there’s a footing thickness rule lurking somewhere I haven’t looked. I do know there’s a minimum width, 12” (IBC, 1809.4.) And there’s a table that allows various minimum dimensions for light framed construction (IBC, Table 1809.7.) But I don’t find a specified code minimum thickness.  Interestingly, Table 1809.7 allows 6-inch thick footings for one or two story stick-framed construction.

Alonzo’s footing was 9-inches thick. He said ‘engineered’ which indicates to me that a licensed engineer used science to determine that size.  I’ve personally designed many hundreds of footings and can attest that 9-inches thick for residential and light commercial construction is not unusual.

So what we know, believe strongly is that the building code does not prohibit a 9-inch thick footing and such thickness is normal for residential construction. What we’re unsure of is whether the local jurisdiction has an ordinance that supersedes the IBC.  The best way to find that out is to ask the building official.

Here is where things get sticky. Should Alonzo ask the question and risk provoking the building official? What if the answer is that this particular inspector just prefers a 12-inch thick footing but has no code to back it up? I can almost guarantee that’s the case. Do you risk hacking him off by pressing the issue, or just bite the bullet and build the more expensive footing?

If he wasn’t a building official, I suppose it wouldn’t matter that much whether or not Alonzo hacks him off. If he was a supplier or sub, fine, take the risk and if he can’t handle it, hire a new one. But you can’t hire new building officials. Break your pick with one and you run the risk of installing yourself on that person or jurisdiction’s blacklist. Navigating the regulatory quagmire is hard enough without painting a sign on your forehead that says “I am a jerk.”

I recently did the structural engineering for a residential remodel in Sunnyvale, CA.  During construction I got calls from the contractor asking for interpretations to the cryptic redmarks all over my structural plans. This alarmed me because I do not release for construction plans with redmarks on them. If corrections are to be made, I make them in the office and reissue the plans. What had happened was an overzealous city plans examiner took it upon himself to change my plans via redmarks and then issue the plans for construction without bothering to ask or tell me! True story.

Did you note that I just used an exclamation point? In my writing, that’s rare. I have high regard for the exclamation point and use them only in extreme situations. Well, the above situation is indeed extreme.

In changing my design, the city superseded me as the engineer of record and assumed all sorts of liability. If their risk manager ever got wind of that heads would roll. And roll they should.

What did I do about it? Nothing. Why? Because it is so bloody hard to obtain a building permit in that city, I figured if the only way to get one is via the building department redoing the design and assuming the liability, fine. Had I raised a stink, we still might not have the permit and I’d have bruised more than one important relationship. Anyone in this business who’s been around the block a few times knows that it’s about relationships. If you can’t nurture and maintain good ones you won’t last. That said, there is also a point where you’ve got to push back, but that’s another article altogether.

In summary, I think Alonzo had every right to question the building official. But he needs to weigh the cost before doing so. If there’s a good healthy relationship in place and the building inspector is a reasonable person, sure, ask the question. If on the other hand the inspector is a dark cloud just itching to rain on your parade, maybe let the issue pass and then at the end of the project bring it up to his superior.

Tim Garrison is an author, public speaker, and professional engineer. He welcomes correspondence via his blog at ConstructionCalc.com

Which brought to mind one of my seminar questions:

The Strength of a Compression Member:

a)      Depends only on the cross sectional area, i.e. the amount of ‘meat’, of the member.

b)      Does depend on the cross sectional area, but more importantly, depends on unbraced length.  The longer the unbraced length, the weaker the member.

c)      There is an unbraced length for any given compression member beyond which the strength is so low that the member is not allowed by code.

The correct answers are b) and c).

The point of the question is to introduce the concept of unbraced length.  But first, what is a compression member?

A compression member is any structural member that experiences compressive (squeezing) forces.  Posts and columns are prime examples.  Studs are also compression members, but if used in an exterior wall, studs also must resist bending stresses from wind loads.  For now, we’ll only concern ourselves with pure compression members, i.e. no wind loads or other bending stresses.

Take for example the temporary 2×4 posts holding up the subject porch.  How much compressive force can a 2×4, standing alone (no plywood sheathing attached) hold?  It depends a lot on length.  If short, say 2-feet or less, a 2×4 can hold approximately 4,500 lbs. – over two tons.  If long, however, the story changes dramatically.  That same 2×4, six feet long, can hold only 900 lbs.  If eight feet long, that same 2×4 can not be use at all per code!  In our porch example, the two ten foot 2×4’s standing alone were overstressed the instant they were installed.

This concept can be easily demonstrated using a plain piece of uncooked spaghetti.  Try to break a 1” long piece of spaghetti by pushing on the end.  Be careful you don’t bore a hole through your finger – that short column of spaghetti can take a very large load.  Now, take an 8” long piece and it will break with very little compressive force – it buckles in the middle.  Now, take another 8” piece and hold (brace) the middle with finger and thumb, restraining it from buckling (moving sideways).  Now you can apply a lot of compressive force again before failure.  By bracing the middle, you shortened the column’s unbraced length and in effect made two short columns.

Another way to determine the strength of posts, columns, and studs is by using computer software, such as ConstructionCalc’s Wood Column Calculator.  The loads determined above were found that way in about 15 seconds.

To summarize, the strength of compression members (posts, columns, and studs) depends on their size, but more importantly, on their length.  So if you ever see a long, slender, unbraced column, beware.  Buckling and failure may not be far behind.

“Yeah, Garrison,” he said, “they’re making me re-engineer this thing. Seems the wind loads got ratcheted up. Since I gotta do that I may as well make some other changes I’ve been thinking about. I want to widen the building 12-feet and move some doors around. I hope it don’t cost too much money. And, oh yeah, I was also wantin’ to raise up the shed rafters and add an 18” roof overhang.”

“Not a problem,” I said. “But it’ll take a few hours of my time. How much did I charge you for the original design?”

He gave me a, you’re not going to believe this, but… look and said, “Five hunnerd dollars.”

To which I replied, “Well, that certainly was a good deal. Unfortunately it’ll be at least that much again. I can’t tell you the exact amount until I prepare an itemized estimate, which I’ll do and email you later today.”

We exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting ways. He was sooo nice.

Back at my desk it became clear that I would have to redesign nearly the entire building – there was almost nothing I could reuse.

My standard contract is a one-pager, the top portion showing an itemization of tasks, time, and rates. I don’t recall what my hourly rate was in the ‘90s but as one would expect it was lower than today. The bottom line came to $775. I emailed this with a short explanation.

A day went by without reply which surprised me because Potroste seemed in a rush. The following day my phone rang. “Garrison, this is Potroste. I got your contract and I gotta tell you I’m shocked. You told me five hunnerd and now it’s up to 775. That’s too much. Just cancel the whole thing and mail me back my old plans.”

“No problem,” I said. “I’ll do that today. But the fact is, I did not tell you the cost would be $500. I said it would be at least that much and I needed to do a breakdown to determine the exact amount. I’m sorry if I was unclear.”

“I know what I heard, Garrison. You said five hunnerd, which in my way of thinking is a man’s word. I don’t like being jacked around.”

“Again, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I’ll mail your old plans today. Best of luck.”

I got off the phone and immediately addressed an envelope. My thoughts were along the lines of, good riddance.

Ten minutes later my phone rang. “Say, Garrison, Potroste here again. Y’know, I got to thinking and changed my mind. You can go ahead and do the engineering. I figger I could either pay your 775 or hire someone else and pay them a thousand. I appreciated that you were early to our meeting the other day and so I’d just as soon give you the business. Most engineer-types make me wait, and it seems they like doin’ it.”

I’m a big believer in true colors. I’ve written about it more than once: When someone shows you their true colors, pay attention. Potroste, ten minutes earlier, had shown me some of his. Essentially he had called me a liar. I am many things, but liar is not among them. In fact I go to great pains to ensure that I don’t even accidentally mislead someone.

Dilemma: Do I take the job or pass?

Knowing it was a gamble, I went ahead and took the job.

“Okay, sounds good,” I said. “I’ll get on that tomorrow and will be finished by end of the week.”

“Oh, you don’t have to bust a gut getting ‘er done,” he said. “The week after is fine. And by the way, I’m sorry if I came on a little strong. I just don’t like being jacked around and I thought you put it in concrete that the cost would be five hunnerd.

“I understand,” I said. “Again, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. Let’s just put that behind us and get this thing done.”

I think we’re all guilty of modifying our behavior to some degree depending on whether we want something or whether we possess the thing someone else wants. As long as I could provide Potroste with the revised design he wanted for free or nearly so, he was so nice. But when my needs exceeded his willingness to give, his mannerism flipped. In truth, there was nothing vague or confusing about my original statement as to fee, even though I let him save face by saying it was a misunderstanding. Maybe his first phone call was a strong arm attempt to coerce a cheaper price?

On a related note is the arrogant building official who has a monopoly on a critical thing I frequently need: a building permit. It’s not like I can employ someone else to provide one. No, we are all stuck with the staff our jurisdiction has hired. Few things in life are more maddening than an incompetent or conceited plan checker or inspector. Have you ever known a public employee who quits for a job in the private sector? It’s amazing how they adjust their disposition when their paycheck depends on being likable.

In summary, do you behave differently when you want something as opposed to when you have the thing others want? The “thing” can be tangible like a building permit or a set of plans. My teenage son provides another excellent example. He’s so friendly when he wants money – he’s been known to actually initiate a conversation when he’s broke. But when I want chores done it’s a different deal.

The “thing” can also be intangible, like a friendship. How about people new to an area going out of their way to put forth a friendly face, then after they’ve built a social base, become snooty?

We shouldn’t make being nice a matter of if.

I think our industry is, perhaps, ready to embrace these concepts. Change takes time, I know. But the longer we wait the more materials, manpower, and energy we waste. And when I say waste, that’s exactly what happens when we don’t build green. We might as well throw the unnecessary wood, steel, and concrete into a dump.

Here is the updated slide show

Hoolio here is asking for a heart-jarring zork. He should immediately:

A. Use only cordless drills when on aluminum ladders in pools.

B. Use only wooden ladders when operating power tools in pools.

C. Wait until the pool is empty.

D. Touch hands with his buddy, Joolio, because that way they’ll both be “grounded.”

E. Call OSHA and complain about his employer.

F. Put some shoes on. The rubber sole will retard sparking when the zork starts.

Why do I, after 10+ years, continue to serve on that same committee? I’ve put in my time for the greater good. There’s no pay nor stipend, and we members even buy our own lunch. Why should I continue? Why should the other long-timers on the committee continue?

Yet today’s meeting was the best attended in many, many years.

Is it because our committee is the backbone of SICBA, our builder’s association, and without us the whole shootinmatch might fold?

Not even. The educational events we sponsor and host are generally not door busters. In fact, over the years, we’ve had to cancel a number of them for lack of interest. A strong turnout for us is 8 – 10 attendees. That’s pretty lame for a builders association of 680 member companies. Yet we march on, always striving to improve.

For me, it’s about giving to get. Last year, 2011, was my best ever, which in this economy is saying something. I attribute a small piece of that success to active involvement in the education committee. By active I mean that not only do I actually attend the meetings, I also give seminars. Most are freebie, brown bag lunch affairs lasting 1 – 2 hours. I can put one together pretty quickly using Power Point, so it’s low cost, low time investment.

But the rewards are rich indeed: I get the satisfaction of helping fellow building industry folks; my reputation as an expert in my field is bolstered; and I get my face in front of dozens of people a year, hopefully earning their trust.

Trust. It’s the main ingredient in the hiring stew. It’s the first question you ask your friends about someone.

The people who come to my seminars, if I’ve done a good job, will tell their friends, thus spreading the trust I’ve earned even further. Talk about win-win. And, none of my competition does this – I own the local engineers-doing-seminars market.

But what about Armand? His roots are so deep and his reputation so good, he probably doesn’t need more clients. Armand brought his son, Elboe, to today’s meeting. Elboe is 20-something, and will likely take over Armand’s business someday. Certainly, Elboe could have come to the meeting alone, introduced himself, and enjoyed the status the Hand name has earned in our county. Yet his dad came too and did most of the interacting.

Here’s what I know about kids (anyone less than, say, 35.)

1.  They are not as confident as they want you to believe.

2. They are not as competent as they like to believe.

I make this bold observation based on many case studies, the most notable one being myself. I recall clearly my transition from wannabe-punk to semi-professional-who-might-actually-know-something. By age 25 I had earned two college degrees and was in charge of a small construction and engineering office for the U.S. Indian Health Service in Fresno. I can guarantee you that my clients, the American Indians living on federal trust land in the nearby foothills, could have cared less what my GPA was or how many framed pieces of fancy paper hung on my office wall. And rightly so. I didn’t know jack, and they knew it. It took about five years of flopping about, striving valiantly to appear competent before I actually started to become so. And when that transition took place, I noticed. Suddenly when I said something, people would nod in agreement rather than shoot me sidelong glares. It was such a shocker that I recall the first time it happened – it was in Tuolumne, CA, regarding a proposed community sewage disposal system I was to design. I was 27-years-old. It would be about ten more years before I truly felt like a journeyman engineer.

I won’t mention the names of the other case studies I’m familiar with. But you can take it to the bank when I tell you every one strictly adheres to the two points listed above.

So to answer my initial question as to why Armand bothered to attend, I think it was to nudge his son into the builder’s association, and to introduce him to a few well-established industry people. If Elboe is anything like my own son, without the nudge he would have found 15 excuses for not going.

Do you work with people under 35? If so, you’d do well to offer guidance at every opportunity, even if the fledglings don’t ask. It was Jim Sinegal, CEO of Costco, who said, “If you’re not spending 90 percent of your time teaching, you’re not doing your job.”

And I strongly recommend becoming an active committee member at your local builder’s association. It’s an investment that pays dividends on many levels.

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It’s positively numbing all that hustling. Driving by a public park, for example, the basketball backboards were ads for cell phones. On the beach, vendors were as common as sand. There were tip-grubbing jugglers performing during red lights in jammed intersections. A guitar man got on our bus, sang two songs, didn’t get tipped, then got back off.  Every flat surface yells at you in neon colors and bold font. Taxi drivers will throw you into a half-nelson to get you in their car. After a while one gets calloused and stops paying attention. It actually becomes anti-marketing.

My family just spent a week in Nuevo Vallarta and we had a bueno time – except for the inescapable, pervasive selling.

There was one instance, however, in which I didn’t mind the hustle – where I was actually eager to pay a generous tip.

We had been told by friends to be sure to do a zip line. So my wife, Cindy, signed us up with Vallarta Adventures for their Outdoor Tour. This consisted of a pontoon boat ride across Banderas Bay; a 4-WD open-sided truck ride up a river canyon on a dirt road; a mule ride to the top of a ridge; multiple zip-lines and rapelling down the river canyon; and truck and boat ride back. (Here are some pix from the Garrison family album: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Garrison-The-Builders-Engineer/283247798367205#!/pages/Tim-Garrison-The-Builders-Engineer/283247798367205)

It was an adventure to be sure with thrills and wows at every stage. But that’s not why I’m writing about it. Like other fun activities in which we partook, we paid a fair price for a product and we got it.

What made this excursion extraordinary were the guides. Our family of four was placed in a group of 14, the capacity of one truck. The guides made a conscious point of keeping family members and those traveling together in the same group. It would have been easy to just herd us like cattle to the trucks, landing where you may, but instead great care was taken to set up compatible groups.

How do you teach flabby tourists to ride a mule and to rappel and to zip line, especially when most have never done those things? And teach it quickly in a 2^nd language (the guides were all Mexican)? And teach it thoroughly enough so that no one gets hurt or killed? Truly each stage involved deadly risk. Then pull it all off flawlessly – converting happy participants into walking billboards for their company?

Here is how they did it:

Step 1: Have enough guides. Our group of 14 had six guides, plus two full-time photographers, plus a cowboy in charge of the mules. And that’s just the folks who took us through the jungle. There was also the boat driver, the truck driver, the guy at the boat landing who set up groups, the ticket takers, cashiers, and untold behind the scenes people.

Step 2: Use experts.  Each guide was in their late-20s to early-30s, was well-trained, and had been doing this gig for several years. “Expert” could be an understatement.

Step 3: Connect. This was probably the main key to my happiness at the end of the day. Each employee was genuinely cheerful and took personal interest in all participants. Between stages they chatted about themselves and asked about us. They eagerly answered my numerous questions concerning the locals, the seasons, the hydrology, the mosquitoes (none), the rainfall, etc. It would have been easy for them to play the familiar “No habla Englese,” card, but instead, using their best-attempt English, they did the opposite.

Step 4: Make clear the expectations. People were told plainly what was expected of them and what they could expect from their adventure. There were no surprises. Paying clients generally do not like surprises.

Step 5: Market appropriately. At the end of the adventure, after they had earned our trust and had provided an A+ service, we were asked to complete a feedback form and to be honest with both positive and negative comments.We were also asked emphatically that if we had a good time to please tell friends. Lastly, we were told that if we appreciated the staff, there was a hardhat into which a tip could be placed. Not only did I partake, I also purchased the CD of photographs of our adventure for $100, and went away feeling that I got a great deal on a life-memory day.

Is your business extraordinary? Tipworthy? Do you do the things that Vallarta Adventures does to ensure customers so thrilled they blog about it? Do you:

* Provide enough manpower, both in the office and the field, to get the job done efficiently and right.

* Use only top-tier people, including consultants, and subs.

* Connect on a human level with everyone who could make a referral. A good rule of thumb is this: Are you someone your counterpart would enjoy having lunch with? I would love to have lunch with any of our Vallarta guides. Can you say that about those in your organization who are in contact with the public?

* Make clear all expectations, both what you will provide and what you expect in return. Are you 100% crystal clear on the big three: work scope, timeframe, and money?

* Market appropriately. After you have provided an A+ service do you invite customers and anyone else on the job to provide feedback? To sing your praises? Are you conspicuous in how best to find you – website, Facebook Page, Yellow Pages, service club, professional organization, etc.? Will you follow up in a month to take care of any niggling issues? Would you be a pest if you did it again at the six-month mark? Remember, word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective kind; and it’s many times easier to land a return client than a new one.

Hustling is marketing and is crucial to any business. The trick is using the right amount and the right timing to build desire. Get it wrong and instead you build revulsion. I can think of a couple radio commercials, for example, that irritate me so much I immediately change the station. Most marketing attempts in Mexico work that way too. There are a few exceptions, however, Vallarta Adventures being one.

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it please “Like” my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Garrison-The-Builders-Engineer/283247798367205

Normally I avoid politics like the mall on Black Friday. Mostly because our political machine is so bloated, partisan, and broken it nauseates me. But for some reason I read this article, which I found so inspiring I’m passing along the gist. This is the first time I’ve ever posted something with a political bent and it may be the last.

Here are a few bullets:

* Fortuno was inaugurated 2-weeks before Obama.

* At that time Puerto Rico was in its worst recession since the ‘30s. Its budget deficit was proportionally worse that the US’s. The government could not make payroll, and had to take out a loan for that.

* Fortuno immediately cut his own salary 10% and trimmed his agency heads’ 5%.

* With that credibility he chopped overall government spending 20%.

* He cut corporate taxes, starting modestly, but by 2014 by 25%.

* He cut individual taxes, again starting modestly, but by 50% in six years.

* Here is the one I love the best. Pre-Fortuno, it took 28 permits and endorsements to build anything. You had to visit 20+ different agencies to negotiate the permitting maze. CHOP! Now you go to one agency and get your ONE PERMIT there. Or you can go to PR.gov and get it online.

* He scrapped capital gains and death taxes, and implemented a 5-year property tax holiday.

* Existing home sales are up 35%.

* New home sales have soared 92%.

* Honeywell, Merck, Nordstrom, Pet Smart, PF Chang, Saks Fifth Avenue, Victoria’s Secret are all either building new or expanding there.

* Puerto Rico was ranked 51st in 2009 in deficit-to-revenue. Now it’s ranked 15th.

* S&P actually UPgraded Puerto Rico’s credit rating, while it downgraded the US’s.

I wish to thank the article’s author, Deroy Murdock. Here is the link: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20111120/NEWS/111129970/-1/NEWS

If things like this inspire you, please pass this blog post along to your buddies and congresspersons.