Planning
Planning of detached and apartment houses, from the first outline sketch to the agreed floor plan.
Agreed design
Structural design for Hückelhoven
Your structural engineer for Hückelhoven, from the roof to the ground
We plan and calculate structures for new builds and conversions. You receive checkable calculations, clean detail drawings and one person who knows your project from the first sketch to handover.
- Scope
- Planning, structure, site supervision
- Field
- Building and civil engineering
- Authorisation
- Building submissions in NRW
Cover imageReinforcement on a ground slab, shortly before the pour
01Load path
The load path through your house
Structural engineering is not a collection of formulas, it is a chain. Every load that arrives at the top has to land safely in the ground below. We follow that path component by component and prove every stage of it.
Roof
Snow and wind
Self weight, snow and wind meet the rafters, purlins and bracing first. What happens here decides how much ever reaches the levels below.
Floor slab
Imposed load
The floor carries screed, furniture and people and passes all of it to walls and beams. Deflection and vibration often matter more than raw capacity.
Wall and column
Force flow
Masonry, concrete or steel take up the accumulated load. Every opening for a window or a door needs a lintel that carries the flow of forces around the hole.
Foundation
Bearing pressure
Strip footings or a ground slab spread the load over an area the ground can bear. Settlement is estimated here, not measured later.
Subsoil
Capacity
In the end the ground carries everything. What it can take is written in the soil report, and it governs every decision above it.
NoteIf the chain breaks at one point, the strongest floor slab is of no help. That is why we look at the whole path, even for small conversions.
Tell us what is being built or changed, and we will tell you which calculation it needs.
Describe your project02Services
What the office takes on for you
The range of services runs from the first drawings all the way onto the site. You can commission single parts of it or the whole thing from one office.
Building application
Complete building application documents, so that permission is not held up by a missing sheet.
Complete application file
Structural calculations
Structural calculations and detail drawings for every load bearing component, prepared so the checking engineer can follow them.
Checkable calculation
Thermal performance
Thermal performance calculations for new builds and existing buildings, with energy certificates on request.
Certificate and report
Civil engineering
Design and calculation in structural civil engineering, special structures, plus finite element analyses and dynamic simulations.
Calculated special component
Site supervision
Site supervision and site management in building construction, plus measured surveys and digitisation of existing buildings, and tender documents.
Supervised execution
NoteNot every project needs all of it. Describe briefly what is coming up and you will receive a proposal covering exactly the services you actually need.
03Documents
What you hold in your hands at the end
A structural design is only finished once the checking engineer accepts it and the contractor can build from it. These documents belong to it.
- Structural calculation PDF and paper
- The full proof of stability, position by position, with load assumptions, system sketches and design of every member.
- Position drawing Drawing set
- The overview that ties each position of the calculation to its component on the floor plan. Without it the site is left searching.
- Detail drawings Drawing set and PDF
- Formwork and reinforcement drawings the contractor can build from without asking questions.
- Bar schedules Schedule
- The lists used to order the reinforcement steel and to check it on site.
- Thermal certificate PDF
- The calculation for the building envelope, together with the energy certificate on request.
NoteEverything the checking engineer sees goes to you as well. The documents come digitally and, wherever a signature is needed, on paper too.
Do you need the documents by a particular date? Name it straight away in the enquiry.
Name your date04Critical points
Six points in a structure we look at first
These are the places that decide whether the load path holds. They are also why a conversion is rarely as simple as it looks on the sketch.
Lintel
Every opening interrupts the flow of forces. The lintel carries it around, and it needs enough bearing to do so.
Bearing lengthBeam
Where a wall is missing, the beam carries the floor. The permitted deflection often governs before the capacity does.
DeflectionColumn
Slender is elegant and prone to buckling. Length and restraint decide the section as much as the load does.
BucklingBracing
Wind pushes sideways. Without stiff panels and bracing a house becomes a house of cards.
Horizontal loadGround slab
It spreads the load and keeps water out. Both jobs at once have to be calculated.
Bearing pressureConnection
Two components only carry together once the connection between them can transfer the force.
Fixing05How it runs
How the work runs
Six steps, from your first message to the finished building work.
01
Enquiry
You describe the project. A floor plan, a sketch or a photograph is enough for a first assessment.
You
02
Proposal
We say which services are needed, what they cost and how long they are likely to take.
Office
03
Documents
Drawings, the soil report and details of the construction come together. If something is missing we say so early.
Together
04
Calculation
The structure is modelled, designed and documented position by position.
Office
05
Checking
The documents go for checking. We answer the queries directly, without routing them through you.
Office and checker
06
Execution
On request we accompany the site with structural supervision or site management.
On requestNoteDates depend on the checking authority and on the soil report. We tell you at the start which part is in our hands and which is not.
06The office
The office
The Konrad Smoczynski engineering office is a young and growing design practice from the Heinsberg district. What it mainly plans and calculates are detached and apartment houses.
The office works with freelance staff, partners and building contractors from North Rhine-Westphalia and forms an interdisciplinary network around building. For you that means one contact who also knows the neighbouring trades.
The range of services runs from planning through the structural calculation to site supervision. Site management is taken on as an option. The office is also active in structural civil engineering.
The work follows the professional rules for engineers, that is the engineering act, the chamber of engineers act, the professional code and the HOAI fee scale. Professional indemnity insurance is in place.
- One contact from the first conversation to handover
- Calculations the checking engineer accepts without queries
- Drawings the site can start work from immediately
- A clear answer when something will not carry
- Master of Science RWTH
- Civil engineering, 2012
- Chamber of Engineers NRW
- Voluntary member since 2017, number 730097
- Qualified structural designer
- Since 2019, authorisation number QT1542
- Building submission NRW
- Since 2019, authorisation number V3693
- Indemnity insurance
- VHV Allgemeine Versicherung AG, Dortmund
07Photographs
Photographs from the shell
Six construction stages in which the load path is visible, before the plaster makes it disappear.
-
Fig. 01 Basement wall and slabLoad transfer into the ground -
Fig. 02 ReinforcementTensile forces in concrete -
Fig. 03 Wall panelsBracing during construction -
Fig. 04 Floor slabImposed load and deflection -
Fig. 05 Opening in masonryForce flow around the opening -
Fig. 06 Roof structureSnow and wind
NoteThe photographs show typical construction stages of a structural shell and illustrate the services described.
From the first floor plan to handover, the same person stays responsible for your project.
Request advice08Area
Hückelhoven and the Heinsberg district
Hückelhoven is right on the doorstep. From the office in Wassenberg the districts are a few minutes away, and the same is true of the rest of the Heinsberg district.
Places in the service area
- Hückelhoven
- Ratheim
- Baal
- Doveren
- Hilfarth
- Brachelen
- Millich
- Kleingladbach
- Rurich
- Schaufenberg
- Altmyhl
- Wassenberg
- Erkelenz
- Heinsberg
- Linnich
- Wegberg
The reference projects of the office include a new detached house in Hückelhoven. Further projects are in Erkelenz, Wassenberg, Heinsberg, Neuss, Jüchen and Rothenbach.
We also work outside the district. Over longer distances we agree in advance how often someone needs to be on site and what that means for the programme.
NoteA site visit is not always needed. For a first assessment a floor plan, a section and a few photographs are usually enough.
09Questions
Common questions
What clients most often want to know before their first enquiry.
When do I actually need a structural engineer?
As soon as load bearing components are built, altered or given extra load. That applies to a new house as much as to a new opening in a load bearing wall, a loft conversion or an added floor.
What does a structural calculation cost?
That depends on size, construction and scope. Fees for structural design follow the German HOAI scale. You receive a proposal with the scope of services before anything starts, so nothing is left open.
How long does the structural design take?
The work inside the office can be scheduled, the checking by the authority only partly. We name a realistic window at the start and say early if something moves.
Which documents do you need from me?
Ideally floor plans, sections and elevations, together with details of the construction and a soil report. If any of that is missing we tell you what can be replaced and what is genuinely needed.
Do you also handle the building application?
Yes. The office is authorised to submit building documents in North Rhine-Westphalia and prepares complete application documents, including the planning of detached and apartment houses.
Do you work on existing buildings?
Yes. Existing buildings are surveyed and digitised so that the structure that is actually there is recorded properly before anything is calculated.
Do you also accompany the site?
On request we take on structural supervision in building construction and in civil engineering, and site management as well.
10Contact
Send an enquiry
Describe your project briefly. You receive an assessment of which services are needed and a proposal to go with it.
- Telephone
- +49 2432 907 93 00
- info@ks-ingenieur.de
- Address
- Leichweg 3, 41849 Wassenberg
- Main site
- https://ks-ingenieur.de
This helps us give a first answer
- Location and type of project
- New build, conversion or extension
- Floor plan or sketch, if you have one
- The timing you have in mind
- Whether a soil report exists