The renovation contractor stands at the wall, knocks twice and tells you there is no problem here and no need for an engineer. He is experienced, he has been building this way for years, and you want to believe him…
Two weeks later the file reaches the local planning committee, and someone there asks one question: where are the static calculations, and who signed them. At that point it becomes clear that when you need a structural engineer is not settled by the contractor, and not in your living room. It comes down to one thing - what the work does to the building frame.
A structural engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in the frame of the building - the foundations, columns, beams and slabs that carry everything else. In the Israeli Planning and Building Regulations the role is called “the designer of the building frame”.
The definition is precise: the frame designer is whoever is authorised to submit static calculations to a competent authority. Static calculations describe how the frame carries the loads acting on it.
Note what that definition does not contain: not seniority, and not an impressive degree. It contains an authorisation.
So the right question when choosing an engineer is not “how many years have you been in the field”, but “are you authorised to submit static calculations and to sign as responsible for the frame design”.
The frame designer’s signature goes on the permit application and its appendices, and it carries two responsibilities rather than one:
That is why a structural engineer who takes the job seriously will want to see the building before signing. They are not signing paper, they are signing a building.
A second role is often confused with it: the person responsible for executing the frame. That one is appointed by the contractor, and only before work begins on site. Two different people, two different stages - a full explanation of how the roles divide is on our page about structural engineer authority and responsibilities in Israel.
The duty to appoint is set by regulation 27 of the Planning and Building Regulations (Building Licensing), 2016: the permit applicant appoints the office holders, the frame designer among them.
Two things are worth taking from that regulation.
The first - the duty falls on the permit applicant, not on the contractor. The decision whether to appoint a frame designer does not belong to whoever carries out the work.
The second - there is an explicit exception: a permit application that “by its character or nature” does not require a frame designer. So the test is not the size of the project or the budget, it is whether the work touches the frame. And whoever determines which category your work falls into is not the contractor; that rests on an inspection of the building.
In all of these the starting point is the same: what exists today, and what the change does to the frame. The structural engineering services of B.R.N. Engineering cover that path, from first inspection to signature.
The output is not a one line “approval”. It includes the static calculations, the drawings derived from them and the signature on the permit application, as the person responsible for the frame design and for senior supervision.
At B.R.N. Engineering that is signed by a certified structural engineer, a civil engineer registered in the Israeli Register of Engineers and Architects. Michael Langer, our engineer, is a graduate of NYU in civil engineering, and inspections are carried out nationwide.
Before you close with an engineer, ask two questions: does the approval include the static calculations, and does the engineer come to the building before signing. Two positive answers save surprises at the committee.
In any work that touches the building frame and requires a permit. Regulation 27 of the building licensing regulations places the duty on the permit applicant. The test is the nature of the work, not its size.
“Structural engineer” is the common name for a civil engineer authorised to submit static calculations and to sign as the designer of the building frame. Not every building engineer holds it, and the authorisation, not the degree, is what counts.
No. The duty falls on the permit applicant, and the exception in the regulations is written in relation to the character of the application, not the opinion of whoever carries out the work. A good contractor will recognise that the work touches the frame, but the determination is not theirs to make.
Work that touches the frame does not get simpler when the inspection stage is skipped. One conversation with a structural engineer reduces the uncertainty, and usually the cost of fixing things afterwards.
