Selecting a Structural Engr.

[jhambley]

I'm thinking of building my exterior walls using a slipform stone method and wanted to see if the group had any suggestions for choosing a structural engineer. I'm looking for their help in design of the foundation as well as the wall reinforcement etc.
I'm building in a rural county with no building codes but don't want to take any chances.

Am I safe choosing any licensed engineer in my state or should I be looking at other criteria? What should I expect to pay for these services?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[glenn-k]

I would get recommendations from others- there are good and fair engineers and architects-- and there are very bad ones.  There are cheap ones and expensive ones and charges can vary widely - ask for estimated costs

A bad one can cost you thousands of dollars.  Some bad ones design by the brute force method-- meaning that if a small column will probably work then one 10 times larger will definitely work.  They collect from you - cover their hind end and you pay for 10 times the materials.  I wish I was exaggerating but I'm not.  I can think of 2 examples in the last 2 years - one that may have cost as much as
$500,000.00 extra.  (Commercial 2 story offices) -this one caused by a bad architect.

My friends got prices ranging from $4000 to $15000 to engineer a post and beam frame for an infilled strawbale house of about 1400sf -the local engineer being the cheapest and probably best qualified.