Pre-Permit Review for Structural Engineers

Why Structural Engineers Need Pre-Permit Review

Structural Engineers carry accountability for load paths, framing, connections, and foundation design. A common friction point: catching architectural or MEP changes that got made after structural drawings were already finalized, without a reliable way to flag the conflict.

Pre-Permit Review is meant to fix that. It gets applied before a drawing set goes to the jurisdiction for permit, with a specific goal: catch code and coordination issues that would otherwise turn into plan check comments and correction cycles.

What Structured AI Checks for Structural Engineers

For structural engineers running pre-permit review, Structured AI uses QA/QC Compliance Checks, run against the full code and compliance library before submittal. Every finding comes back with the exact page, location, issue, and fix. Findings are scoped to what this role is actually on the hook for, not a generic error list, but issues organized around load paths, framing, connections, and foundation design.

Structural coordination conflicts with architectural and MEP drawings are exactly the kind of cross-discipline issue Overlay is built to catch, aligning sheets across disciplines automatically so a missed beam-to-duct conflict or an unaccounted-for opening doesn't survive to the field.

Where This Fits in Your Workflow

Pre-Permit Review for structural engineers usually happens before a drawing set goes to the jurisdiction for permit. Structured AI works on .pdf, .dwg, .rvt, and .ifc files, and for Revit modeled projects, the Revit Add-In runs the same checks directly against live geometry with element level results, no export needed. Findings can be exported and assigned by trade or discipline, so the review step slots into the existing document workflow instead of adding a new one.

FAQ

How is pre-permit review different from a general plan check? Pre-Permit Review is scoped to what actually matters at this stage of the project and for this role: catch code and coordination issues that would otherwise turn into plan check comments and correction cycles. It uses Structured AI's deterministic checks rather than a confidence-scored, probabilistic flag.

Do structural engineers need special training to use this? No. Upload the relevant drawings and specifications, or connect the Revit model directly, and findings come back organized the way structural engineers already review work. Teams can also build Custom Checks in plain English without writing any code.

Can findings be shared with the rest of the project team? Yes. Every finding links back to the exact sheet and location, and can be exported and assigned by trade or discipline for team wide visibility and follow up.