Structural Assessment & Peer Review in Florida

• Structural assessment is applied to existing buildings. A developer evaluating an acquisition needs to know what the structure actually is, what condition it is in, and what it will cost to bring it to its intended use. A property owner with visible cracking, deflection, or deterioration needs an engineering determination of whether what they are seeing represents a maintenance item, a repair need, or a structural concern. An HOA board that received an alarming inspection report needs an engineer to interpret what the findings actually mean in structural terms and what, if anything, needs to happen next.
• Peer review is applied to design documents. An owner who hired an architect and structural engineer wants an independent assessment that the structural design is complete, code-compliant, and constructable before the permit set goes out. A developer who regularly builds in Florida's high-wind environment wants a second structural engineer to review lateral system design and load path documentation before construction starts. A contractor who received structural drawings with ambiguous details needs an engineering review before pricing the work.
• In both cases, the value of independence is the point. The structural engineer conducting the assessment or review had no role in the original design decisions, carries no bias toward a particular outcome, and has no relationship to protect with the prior design team.

• Existing building condition assessment. When visible cracking, deflection, settlement, or deterioration raises questions about structural performance, a condition assessment provides an engineering determination - not a general contractor's opinion or a home inspector's checklist - of what the condition represents, why it is occurring, and what it requires. We assess the structural system in the context of the observed conditions, the building's age and construction type, and the applicable engineering standards, and produce a PE-sealed report documenting findings and recommendations.
• Assessment for renovation or change of occupancy. Changing a building's use - converting office to residential, increasing occupant load, adding a rooftop mechanical load - often requires a structural assessment of whether the existing structure can accommodate the new demand. We evaluate the existing structural system against the proposed loading conditions, identify any elements that require upgrading, and provide the structural documentation required for permitting.
• HOA and condominium structural assessment. Board members, property managers, and attorneys working with Florida condominium associations frequently need independent structural engineering review of conditions observed during milestone inspections, repair contractor reports, or insurance claims. We provide structural assessments that give boards the engineering basis to understand what they are dealing with, what it costs to address, and how to prioritize action - without the conflict of interest that exists when the engineer doing the assessment is also bidding the repair work.
• Structural assessment for insurance and dispute resolution. When an insurance claim or legal dispute requires an independent structural engineering opinion on the condition of an existing building, we provide assessments formatted for that purpose - PE-sealed, methodology documented, conclusions defensible under challenge.

What we look for in a structural peer review

The most common findings in structural peer reviews are not catastrophic errors. They are gaps in documentation that create field ambiguity, load combinations that were calculated against an outdated code edition, connection details that are structurally adequate but difficult or impossible to build as drawn, inconsistencies between the structural drawings and the architectural floor plan that will generate RFIs during construction, and lateral system designs that are compliant on paper but have constructability problems that will surface at framing. These findings are most valuable - and least expensive to address - before the permit set is finalized.

Owner's representative peer review

Owners who are investing significant capital in a construction project and who want independent structural oversight - without replacing their engineer of record - use peer review as a risk management tool. We serve as an independent structural engineering resource to the owner throughout design development and permitting, reviewing documents at key milestones and providing the owner with a structural engineering perspective that is not filtered through the design team.

Peer review for jurisdictional or lender requirements. Some Florida jurisdictions, lenders, and project delivery structures require an independent structural peer review as a condition of permit, financing, or project approval. We provide peer review services formatted to meet those requirements, with documentation of scope, methodology, and findings.

Value engineering review

When a structural system as designed is over-budget and the contractor or owner wants to evaluate cost reduction options, we provide an independent structural review of proposed substitutions or design changes - assessing whether a proposed value engineering change maintains code compliance and structural performance or introduces risk that offsets the cost savings.

Independence without antagonism

A peer review that approaches the engineer of record's work as a target rather than a collaboration produces defensiveness and friction that delays resolution. We conduct peer reviews as constructive technical evaluations - identifying the issues that matter, communicating them clearly, and working toward resolution rather than building a list. The goal is a better set of documents, not a performance record of someone else's errors.

Structural depth, not just code-checking

An effective structural assessment requires engineering judgment about what the observed conditions mean in the context of the specific structural system, the building's age and loading history, and the applicable standards. A checklist inspection identifies what is visible. A structural assessment interprets what the evidence means structurally - which requires the same expertise that goes into designing structures.

Findings that lead to decisions

The purpose of a structural assessment or peer review is to enable a decision - buy or don't buy, permit as drawn or revise, repair now or monitor. Findings that are technically accurate but expressed at a level of ambiguity that prevents decision-making have not served their purpose. We communicate assessment findings and peer review conclusions in plain terms that support the decision the client needs to make.

A design firm doing assessment work

Because Duran is a practicing design firm, our structural assessments and peer reviews benefit from current design-level expertise - we are not an inspection firm that also does engineering, but a structural engineering design practice that also conducts assessments and reviews. That means our peer review comments reflect how structures are actually designed and built, and our assessment findings reflect what remediation actually requires.

Architects and design teams who want independent structural peer review of their engineer of record's documents - either as a quality control step or in response to an owner requirement - before the permit set is finalized.

Property owners and HOA boards who have received alarming inspection findings, contractor repair estimates, or insurance assessments and need an independent structural engineering opinion on what those findings actually mean and what response is warranted.

Attorneys and insurance professionals who need independent structural assessments of existing buildings to support claims resolution, dispute proceedings, or coverage determinations.

Lenders and project finance teams whose due diligence requirements include independent structural review of existing buildings or design documents.

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