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Structural Engineering

Reliable structures

Structural engineering design and documentation

Structural engineers play a critical role in any building project, as they ensure structures are safe, strong, serviceable, durable, and compliant. A good structural engineer will deliver detailed designs, incorporate building materials, and propose construction methodologies that best suit the project and budget.

STA Consulting Engineers bring close to 30 years experience in the Australian market across a wide range of residential and commercial projects. We’ve delivered structural engineering solutions to nearly all types of structures and industry sectors. Our engineers are experienced with incorporating a large variety of construction materials to suit the unique variables that come with each building and site. When you work with us, you get access to highly qualified structural engineers who will tailor design and documentation to meet your project needs, while providing exceptional service.

Whether you’re an architect, developer, builder, manufacturer, or owner, we’d be delighted to help you bring your project to life.

Our structural engineering process

From initial reviews to final documentation, here's how we bring your designs to life
Review specifications Icon

Review specifications

We always start by understanding what you want to achieve and what type of build you have in mind.
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Check site and plans

Your building site's impact on your structure can't be overestimated! We take the time to review your site classification and any planned design elements for your building.
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Engineer structural designs Icon

Engineer structural designs

We recommend the best structural designs and materials, tailored to suit your site and building elements. We work with you to help you understand all the options available to you.
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QA check

Throughout the process, we perform multiple quality assurance checks and all work is carried out under the supervision of registered engineers, as appropriate. Before we hand our final designs over to clients, our team runs a final QA check to ensure the documentation is accurate and complete.
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 Reports and certification issued Icon

Reports and certification issued

Once everything's checked and approved, we email the designs, reports, and certification documents over to you.
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Why choose us?

Why choose STA for structural design engineering?

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Full service engineering

STA Consulting Engineers offers full service residential engineering. Conveniently work with one company for all your soil testing, geotechnical, foundation, and structural needs and enjoy a smoother, more efficient process.
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Experts in structural engineering

With almost 30 years design experience for thousands of Australian builds, we're trusted by hundreds of builders across Australia.
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Clear communication

From order placement through to job completion, STA makes it easy for you to track the status of your project(s) so you can plan your workflow and manage your team.
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Comprehensive reporting

Regular updates on projects are provided via weekly progress reports, so you always know how your design is tracking.

“We have been using STA’s Engineering Design Services for approximately the last 4-5 years and in that time we have found the quality of their work to be of the highest standard, with friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff.”

Pam Kitching // Contracts Administrator
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Get a quote for structural engineering

Request a quote and we’ll get back to you with a service proposal within a week. Or call (07) 3071 7444 (QLD) or (02) 4032 6450 (NSW) to chat with our team right away.

Get a quote
Our work

Recent structural engineering projects

These are just a small sample of the many structures we've designed over the last two and a half decades.
FAQs

Tell me more about structural engineering

Structural engineering is all about the bones of the building. It includes the internal, often hidden-away bits that form the shape and structure of the building to ensure it’s strong, stable, and performs as expected for the life of the building.

Structural designs are coordinated with architect designs and foundation designs, before being used by suppliers and fabricators, and then onsite by builders and project managers who supervise the work.

Structural engineers take a practical approach to design, considering goals, functions, available funds, the building’s structural elements, and available materials.

Structural engineering is critical to ensure a building is safe and fit for purpose. The structure needs to support the full load of the building (and any occupants) plus withstand external loading like wind, earthquakes, and ground movement. Every building and site is different, so structural engineers tailor a design to include the right materials and components that take into account all the relevant factors.

Ideally, structural engineers are engaged at the same time as your foundation engineering – often, you’ll find that the same engineering consultancy offers both services together.

Residential structures can be different from other projects in that they are generally smaller scale and typically use lightweight construction materials.

Design elements our structural engineers have worked on include:

  • Wall frames (block or timber)
  • Steel sub-floor
  • Suspended concrete slabs
  • Steel beam design
  • Wall bracing
  • Floor joists
  • Frame connections
  • Floor levels
  • Frame tie-downs
  • Load bearing lintels
  • Structural beams and posts
  • Roof framing
  • Portal frames
  • Concrete pools (including block walls)
  • Sub-floor bracing
  • Residential swimming pools

STA provides structural design services for residential projects of all sizes, whether standalone housing or large scale townhouse developments. Typical scope includes full structural designs, framing, and bracing, or alterations such as decks, extensions, and pool designs. We can do a full structural frame design that includes all the components, or clients can choose individual elements they want custom designed.

Aside from standard residential housing, we also offer design services for multi-residential projects with experience in designing structures up to ten stories high, in both reinforced concrete (RC) and post-tensioned (PT) concrete.

While STA are specialists in residential engineering, we’ve also worked on our fair share of commercial projects in the retail, industrial, health, and education industries. Our experience in light gauge steel and modular construction gives us the ability to provide a fully integrated design for commercial clients.

We’ve provided all the structural engineering requirements for:

  • Offices
  • Service stations
  • Fast food restaurants
  • Shopping centres
  • Panel tanks
  • Warehousing
  • Factories
  • Bulk storage facilities
  • Government projects (including health and education)
  • Modular classrooms
  • Multi-storey buildings

We’re highly experienced with government projects and understand the specific requirements that apply to such critical projects.

There’s more to structural engineering than just design and drafting. For example, STA offers the following services:

  • Site advice and compliance inspections
  • Concept design
  • Design coordination with other consultants
  • Review and certification services

This topic comes up a lot for our structural engineers. The team at STA continually strive to improve what we do and the solutions we offer our clients.

Timber frames have been traditionally favoured in Australia for residential construction projects, but light gauge steel is becoming more popular due to some of its inherent benefits, including better quality, more reliable straightness, termite resistance, and greater durability to the elements. Steel frames can be used for residential dwellings, commercial medium density developments, and other common applications in the construction industry.

We’re happy to assess your next project to confirm any benefits you might achieve by using steel frames as an alternative to timber.

And if you already know you want steel frames for your building, we’d love to help. STA Consulting Engineers provide solutions to builders integrating structural and light gauge steel, and we also offer design and review services for frame manufacturers. As one of the largest steel frame engineering companies, we engineer multiple frame systems throughout Australia. The frames are designed, engineered, and certified by us and we offer a quick turnaround, with a smart and optimised design service for all our clients.

Our in-house software includes:

  • Spacegass
  • Coldsteel 4600
  • RCB
  • PT3D
  • Hyne-Design
  • Smartframe
  • Rapt
  • Tedds
  • Clearcalcs
  • Checkwind
  • ScotSteel
  • Framecad Structure
  • In-house developed spreadsheets

Because our structural designs vary depending on the project size and whether there’s any custom work, timing depends on scope and your project program. When you contact us for a quote, we’ll provide an estimated turnaround time where possible.

Continual innovation is one of our key values here at STA. Which is why we’re passionate about providing research and development to our clients in a range of areas, including:

  • Stud capacities
  • K bracing capacities
  • Floor joist spans
  • Strap bracing capacities
  • Truss spans
  • Sheet bracing capacities
  • Fasteners and fixings
  • Modular/prefab construction

Sometimes the typical, done before, out-of-the-box solutions just won’t work. Maybe you need something different to fit your budget, you’re ready to evolve your standard design and innovate, or you want to try something new to give you a competitive edge. With real data and insights (backed by our decades of experience and field data), we can confidentially engineer a structural solution that’s tailored to your needs.

Got more questions about structural engineering and design?

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