Call Your SE at Schematic Design, Not at Permit

There’s a pattern that shows up on projects of every size: the architect has developed a design through schematic and into design development, the owner loves it, and then the structural engineer gets called in. What follows is a negotiation between what was drawn and what the structure can actually do. By that point, changes cost real money.

It doesn’t have to work that way.

What Early SE Involvement Actually Looks Like

At schematic design, a structural engineer isn’t producing stamped drawings. They’re answering questions like:

• Can this floor plate span the way you’ve drawn it, or do we need a transfer beam?
• Where does lateral resistance need to go, and does that conflict with your glazing?
• Is this floor-to-floor height realistic given mechanical coordination and structural depth?
• What’s the right system for this building: post-tensioned flat plate, steel framing, precast?

These are questions with big downstream consequences. Answering them at SD costs a few hours of engineering time. Answering them at permit, or during construction, costs schedule and money.

The Coordination Problem

Structural depth drives everything downstream. A 36" deep transfer girder that wasn’t coordinated early can blow a floor-to-floor height, which blows the building height, which can trigger zoning issues or force a redesign of the façade. Mechanical engineers need to know where beams are before they route ductwork. These conflicts are avoidable, but only if the SE is in the room early.

Design-Build Makes It Even More Important

On design-build projects, the contractor is managing cost exposure in real time. Early structural input lets the GC begin pricing realistic systems, not placeholder assumptions. When structural information is delayed, GCs carry contingency. That contingency comes out of someone’s budget.

What You Should Ask For

An SE can provide a structural narrative at schematic design: a two to four page document describing the likely structural system, column grid, lateral strategy, floor depths, and any known challenges. It’s not a full set of drawings. It’s a roadmap that lets the rest of the design team make informed decisions.

If your current SE workflow doesn’t include this, it’s worth asking for it. If you haven’t been including an SE at SD at all, consider what that conversation would cost versus what a structural change order mid-CDs costs.

The structural engineer’s job isn’t just to produce drawings. It’s to make the building work, and that work starts well before the first calculation is run.

Ready to Talk Through Your Project?

Frontier Structural Engineering brings 20 years of commercial and residential design experience to projects across Colorado and California. Whether you're in schematic design or already in the field, we're available.