Engineering with clarity, grounded in collaboration and purpose.

About the firm, our experience, and how we work with clients across Florida and the Southeast.

• You were founded in 2024. How do we know you have the experience to handle a complex project?
  Fair question - and one we'd rather you ask directly than wonder about. Duran Structural is a young firm. The engineering experience behind it is not. Our founder and principal PE, Judian Duran, brings over a decade of structural engineering practice across residential, commercial, coastal, healthcare, historic, and forensic projects. The firm was started in 2024 because the right time to build something better isn't always when it's convenient - it's when you know how. Our multi-state PE licensure, ASCE and FSEA leadership roles, and MBE and SBE certifications reflect a professional track record that predates the firm's founding date. And because we keep our project load manageable, every engagement gets the level of attention that track record promises.
• You're a small firm. Can you realistically handle large or multi-phase projects?
  Size and capacity are not the same thing. A small team working with focused project loads, with a licensed PE assigned to every project, routinely outperform larger firms on coordination quality, responsiveness, and schedule adherence. We have worked across the full scale of structural engineering - from single-family residential to high-rise commercial construction. What we don't do is take on more than we can staff properly. That means if we accept your project, you have our genuine attention and our best work - not a junior engineer learning on your timeline. For multi-phase or particularly large-scale engagements, we're also direct about scope. If a project genuinely exceeds our current capacity, we will tell you before you've committed, not after.
• You're based in Tampa. How does working with a client outside of Florida actually work?
  We hold PE licensure in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Nevada, New York and the District of Columbia - which means we are legally authorized to practice and stamp drawings in all seven states, not just Florida. For projects outside the Tampa Bay area, the process is straightforward. The bulk of structural engineering work - analysis, modeling, drawing production, and coordination - happens remotely and digitally regardless of where the project is located. Site visits, when required, are scoped into the engagement and built into the project schedule. Our BIM-coordinated workflow means your architect and MEP consultants receive models and drawings that integrate cleanly into their process no matter where the project is located. If you're a regional developer or an architect working across the Southeast, one structural engineering firm that knows all seven states is simpler and more consistent than managing different PE fi
• How do you handle conflicts or projects that don't go as planned?
  Directly. We flag problems when we find them, not when they become unavoidable. Most structural issues that turn into expensive surprises were visible earlier in the process - a load path that wasn't fully coordinated, a foundation condition that warranted a second look, a connection detail that works on paper but not in the field. Our approach is to surface those issues during design, not during construction administration or, worse, after a permit comment comes back. When something unexpected does happen - because it sometimes does on complex projects - we communicate it clearly, explain the options, and recommend a path forward. Our clients don't learn about problems through change orders. They hear it from us first.
• Do you take on projects that other firms have already started or where something has gone wrong?
  Yes - and this is actually a meaningful part of our forensic and peer review practice. We regularly step into projects mid-stream: reviewing existing structural documents, assessing work that's already been built, or picking up a scope that a previous engineer couldn't complete. We also conduct forensic investigations into structural failures and distress - for property owners, insurance carriers, and legal counsel - where the starting point is understanding what went wrong and why. If you're in a situation where a project has stalled, a structure is showing signs of distress, or you need an independent set of eyes on work that's already been stamped by someone else, that's exactly the kind of engagement we're built for. Start with a conversation.