Structural design for Mönchengladbach

Structural engineer for Mönchengladbach

We calculate the structure of your house from the foundations to the roof, and deliver checkable proofs, position drawings and the documents the site needs.

Send an enquiry Call us now+49 2432 907 93 00

Aerial photograph of a building site where load bearing walls and beams form a clear grid seen from above — **Cover photograph**Load bearing walls and downstand beams on the grid, seen from above

Office: Wassenberg, district of Heinsberg
Service area: Mönchengladbach and around
Qualification: Qualified structural designer
Submission: Authorised in North Rhine-Westphalia

01Scope

What you can commission

Almost every enquiry falls into one of these three groups. Tell us which one applies and we know at once which documents we need.

New build

Single and multi family houses from the ground slab to the roof. We design the structure, calculate every position and assemble the documents required for the building application.

Housing and small commercial work

Existing building

Wall opening, floor opening, added storey, extension. We first establish what carries the load today, then prove what carries it after the change.

Also without existing calculations

A single proof

One lintel, one beam, one floor, one foundation. We will calculate a single position too, when the site is waiting for it.

A single position is enough

Describe your project

02Services

What the engineering office does

The office designs and calculates in building construction and in structural engineering. You can commission these services singly or together.

Service	What it involves	Result
Design	Design of single and multi family houses, from the first sketch to the working drawings.	Design and working drawings
Building application	Preparation of the building application documents, so that the permit does not wait on a missing annex.	A complete application file
Structural calculation	Structural calculations and working drawings for every load bearing component, prepared so they can be checked.	Checkable calculations
Thermal protection	Thermal protection calculations for the proof of building insulation, and energy performance certificates.	Proof and certificate
Structural engineering	Design and calculation in structural engineering, including special structures.	Sizing and detailing
Finite elements	Finite element calculations and dynamic simulations for components a hand calculation does not describe.	Model and evaluation
Site supervision	Site supervision in building construction and structural engineering, with site management on request.	Site visit and record
Surveys and tenders	Measured surveys and digitisation of existing buildings, and tender documents for building and structural work.	Survey and bill of quantities

NoteNot every project needs every item. Which ones you really need is settled before the quotation.

03Nodes

The nodes where it is decided

A structure does not carry the same load everywhere. It carries at points. These six are the ones we look at first in any house.

View from above of a timber floor being laid over the upper storey of a new house — **Figure**Floor beams over the upper storey, shortly before the deck is closed

K01

Bearing

Where a floor or a beam meets the wall, the load presses on a small area. If the bearing length is too short, even the strongest beam will not help.

K02

Bracing

Walls that carry no load from above still hold the house in line. Without bracing panels in both directions the building has nothing to resist wind with.

K03

Openings

Every opening interrupts the load path. The lintel above it leads the load around the opening, and the wall beside it has to be able to take it.

K04

Span direction

A floor spans in one direction. Which one it is decides which wall carries load and which one you may move later.

K05

Foundations

Under every load bearing wall there is a foundation. How wide it becomes depends on the ground and on the load, not on preference.

K06

Roof connection

Rafters and purlins push outward. The connection to the floor below has to take that thrust, or the outer walls will move.

NoteThis guidance is general. What applies to your house is settled only by the calculation.

04Documents

What ends up in your file

Structural calculations are not a pile of formulae but a file that the checking authority, the builder and the client can all work from.

Document	What it is for	Format
Structural calculations	The proof for every position, from the ridge down to the foundations, in the order in which the load travels down.	PDF and paper
Position drawing	The plan with numbers. Each number points to its position in the calculations, so that nothing has to be hunted for on site.	PDF, A3 format
Formwork drawing	Dimensions, openings and levels of the concrete components as they are formed.	PDF and DWG
Reinforcement drawing	Position, diameter and length of the steel, with the bar schedule for ordering.	PDF with bar schedule
Thermal protection proof	The calculated proof of the building insulation, with an energy performance certificate on request.	PDF

NoteIf the checking authority asks for an addition, we work it into the same file.

Send an enquiry Call us now+49 2432 907 93 00

05Process

From the design to the working drawing

Six steps, in this order. What you contribute is written beside each one.

Enquiry

You describe the project. We tell you which documents we need and what the calculations will cost.

You describe

Basis

Design drawings, information about the ground and, in an existing building, a survey on site.

You supply

Structural concept

We settle which wall carries load, which way the floors span and where beams are needed.

We settle

Calculation

Every position is calculated and sized, component by component, from the top down.

We calculate

Drawings

Position, formwork and reinforcement drawings follow from the calculations, not beside them.

We draw

On site

On request we accompany the work with site supervision or site management.

Together

NoteIf the design changes, the calculations change. Tell us early and it stays a correction rather than a fresh calculation.

06Office

The engineering office

A young and growing design office from the district of Heinsberg, working in building construction and in structural engineering.

The Konrad Smoczynski engineering office works together with freelance staff, partners and building companies from North Rhine-Westphalia. Out of that an interdisciplinary network around building has grown, reaching from design to site supervision.

What is designed and structurally conceived is above all single and multi family houses. On request the office also takes on site management or site supervision. It is active in structural engineering as well.

Mönchengladbach is a short drive away. The nearest projects the office has accompanied stand in Jüchen and in Neuss.

Master of Science RWTH: Civil engineering, 2012
Ingenieurkammer Bau NRW: Voluntary member since 2017, number 730097
Qualified structural designer: Since 2019, authorisation number QT1542
Building submission NRW: Since 2019, authorisation number V3693
Professional indemnity: VHV Allgemeine Versicherung AG, Dortmund

EvidenceThe authorisation numbers are in the legal notice as well. You are welcome to check them with the chamber.

07Projects

From the project work

Photographs of sites the office designed and calculated.

Fig. 01 Load bearing walls on the grid New build, shell
Fig. 02 Floor beams laid New build, floor structure
Fig. 03 Closing the roof deck New build, roof structure
Fig. 04 Bearing on the masonry New build, bearing point
Fig. 05 Shell in the village centre New build, site
Fig. 06 Shell before the floor New build, stage of work

NoteThe photographs come from projects on the Lower Rhine and in the district of Heinsberg.

08Area

Mönchengladbach and around

The office sits in Wassenberg. Mönchengladbach is about thirty kilometres away, and the drive is worth it for a site visit as much as for supervision.

Where the office sits Leichweg 3, 41849 Wassenberg

Places in the service area

Mönchengladbach Rheydt Odenkirchen Giesenkirchen Wickrath Rheindahlen Hardt Neuwerk Holt Eicken Korschenbroich Jüchen Grevenbroich Neuss Viersen Willich Erkelenz Wegberg Schwalmtal Niederkrüchten

NiederrheinIf your project lies further out, ask us anyway. The calculating happens in the office in any case, and a way is found for the site visit.

NoteFor Mönchengladbach we deliberately name no reference project of our own. The nearest ones stand in Jüchen and in Neuss.

09Questions

Common questions

What clients most often want to know before the first enquiry.

What do structural calculations for a house cost?

That depends on size, number of storeys, whether there is a basement and the shape of the roof. Give us those four and you get a quotation instead of a range.

How long does the calculation take?

That depends on the scope and on how complete the design drawings are. We name a date once we have seen the basis.

Do I really need an engineer for one wall opening?

As soon as the wall carries load or braces the building, yes. Whether it does is rarely visible from inside. A look at the existing drawings or a site visit settles it.

The old calculations are gone. Is that a problem?

No. The office surveys the existing building, digitises it and calculates on from there.

Who checks the calculations?

Depending on the procedure, a checking engineer or the building authority. We prepare the documents so that they can be checked.

Do you handle the building application too?

Yes. The office prepares building application documents and is authorised to submit them in North Rhine-Westphalia, authorisation number V3693.

Do you work for building companies and architects?

Yes. The office works together with partners and building companies from North Rhine-Westphalia.

And when a hand calculation is not enough?

Then we calculate with finite elements. Dynamic simulations and special structures are part of the work as well.

10Enquiry

Describe your project

Tell us briefly what is to be built or changed. You get an assessment and a quotation.

Telephone: +49 2432 907 93 00
Email: info@ks-ingenieur.de
Address: Leichweg 3, 41849 Wassenberg
Main website: https://ks-ingenieur.de

This helps us straight away

Where the project is and what it is
Storeys, basement, roof shape
Any existing drawings as PDF
How far the permit has got
When you need the documents