If you've ever been stumped by an engineering problem on the job, yet wanted to avoid the expense of hiring a qualified engineer, you should have this book.

Here you'll find engineering principles explained in non-technical language and practical methods for applying them on the job. With the help of this book you'll be able to understand engineering functions in the plans and how to meet the requirements, how to get permits issued without the help of an engineer, and anticipate requirements for concrete, steel, wood and masonry. See why you sometimes have to hire an engineer and what you can undertake yourself: surveying, concrete, lumber loads and stresses, steel, masonry, plumbing, and HVAC systems. This book is designed to help the builder save money by understanding engineering principles that you can incorporate into the jobs you bid.

Ever been trapped between an engineering problem at the job site and a budget that an engineer's consulting fee would blow out of the water? Then this is the book for you. Engineering is as much a part of building today as steel girders or wood rafters. This book explains, in nontechnical language, the principles of construction engineering. It's a readable, easy-to-follow reference for all the non-engineers in construction. Whether you're a home builder, remodeler, commercial construction specialist, a sub, an estimator or an apprentice builder, you need to understand basic engineering. This book offers an easy, non-technical way to learn basic construction engineering principles. The focus is solving a contractor's engineering problems:

• Codes and requirements
• Surveying
• Building permits
• Inspections and inspectors

Here you'll find engineering principles you can put to work on your next job. This handy manual follows the building process from the ground up, examining the engineering problems at each step of construction. Many plans examiners insist on an engineer's stamp only if the plans look questionable. The examples and tables in this manual are based on design standards widely accepted in the building industry. Follow the designs recommended here and you shouldn't need assistance from a licensed engineer:

• Concrete—Requirements for walls, beams, girders
• Wood—Grading, loads and stresses
• Steel—Connections, loads and stresses, preventing failure
• Masonry—Sizing footings, retaining and multi-story building walls
• Plumbing—Water and gas systems, calculating pressure requirements
• HVAC—Sizing duct and piping, calculating unit capacity

Still hesitating? Take a look inside. Instead of page after page of mathematical equations and formulas, you'll find a wealth of explanations, illustrations, charts, tables and diagrams. Plus some handy checklists that will help keep your jobs organized and on schedule. This is information anyone in construction can use.

Table of Contents:
1. Permits and Engineering; 2. Surveying for Construction; 3. Concrete; 4. Wood Basics; 5. Steel; 6. Masonry; 7. Plumbing; 8. Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning; Glossary; Index

About the Author
Max Schwartz has been in the construction business for over 50 years, working jobs from small residential developments to major industrial facilities, in locations ranging from California townsites to the Central American jungles.

Since serving in the Army Corps of Engineers in World War II, he has been a consulting civil and mechanical engineer, licensed in states across the country. He has lectured and written several books on building engineering, and has taught civil engineering at UCLA Extension for the past 20 years. Mr. Schwartz now specializes in forensic engineering and serves as an expert witness in proceedings involving building defects and catastrophes.