What does a Structural Engineer do? And how they can help you when designing, building or renovating your home?
In this episode, we’ll learn all about how a structural engineer will help you in your project, and why you need one.
Josh Neale is a Structural Engineer. He’s also the NSW Office Manager and Structural Project Engineer for Westera Partners.
Westera Partners is a highly respected Australian consulting engineering firm that has been practicing on the Gold Coast since 1981, Brisbane since 1998 and Northern New South Wales since 2009, in both structural engineering and civil engineering.
The company has extensive experience residential housing, higher density projects such as townhouses, and apartment buildings … right through to factories, warehouses, aged care facilities, retail, office buildings and schools.
Westera Partners seek to provide educated and informed feedback to minimise construction costs and reduce construction times. Their service ensures every project is designed or supervised by a senior engineer with over ten years experience. So they are approachable, reliable and experts in their field.
Josh himself has 16 years designing diverse structural engineering projects. His special fields include the design of medium density and complex architectural housings, resort structures, complex and luxury housing, renovations to existing structures and various commercial projects.
Josh has a thorough knowledge of timber framing, steel work, concrete and masonry structures, with a particular interest in sustainable design. He provides consultancy services to architects, builders and developers regarding structural optimisation, cost effective materiel planning and construction techniques. Josh prides himself on presenting his clients with creative and economic solutions while maintaining a high attention to detail.
A structural engineer becomes a key part of your team when renovating or building your home.
The structural design of your home – basically how it stays standing and doesn’t move too much, deflect or fall down over time – is an important part of its longevity. And a big part of your budget can be spent on the structure of your home. So being efficient with it, and it being well integrated with the overall design, is necessary for getting it right.
It’s fantastic to get Josh’s help in explaining more about how structural engineers can work with you, your designer and your builder, to help your project overall.
And he’s also going to help us understand about some of the other information that’s helpful in your structural design.
This is about the WHO, the WHAT, the WHEN and the WHY of using a Structural Engineer for your renovation or building project.
Listen to the podcast now.
To learn more about Josh Neale and Westera Partners, head to here to connect with him
The National Engineering Register can be found here >>> CLICK HERE
There’s also the Association of Professional Engineers Registration list, which can be found here >>> CLICK HERE
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Lily says
This is an excellent podcast. Thank you for providing an overview on what structural engineers do. I enjoyed listening to it. The explanation was excellent and there is no way that my actual architect would take the same amount of time to explain what a structural engineer does. So I thank you for helping me to fill in my knowledge gaps and feel at ease with my first renovation project.
Amelia says
Hi Lily,
Thank you for such lovely feedback – I’m so glad you found this helpful! It would be awesome if you could please leave a review on itunes – it helps others like you find the podcast. Best wishes for renovating your home!
– Amelia, UA
Carla says
The link to this interview I see no longer there
Instead there is a link to a season 8 podcast
Amelia says
Hi Carla,
Thanks for letting us know – you should see the episode player now.
Regards
Team UA
Laura says
Hi Amelia,
Loved this podcast – thank you! We’re wanting to renovate but we’re not sure on how good our existing property is and whether it’s that’s a feasible option with the quality of our current house. We’ve been working out where to start, so this has helped us work out a starting point for our project.
One thing you both mentioned was a registration board or similar for structural engineers – I can’t seem to find the link in the show notes. Any chance you could post a link please? I got the impression that it was a national registration board, but rules varied from state to state – if it helps we’re in Victoria.
Thanks so much!
Amelia says
Hello Laura,
Thanks so much for your feedback – I’m so glad you found this episode helpful!
I’ve just updated the resources on this blog post with a couple of links that should help you find what you’re looking for.
– Amelia, UA