Commercial Building Structural Evaluation Online Course

This course teaches how to perform a structural evaluation of existing buildings. You’ll learn the fundamentals of structural assessment, including building design principles, commercial construction practices, structural types, and materials. The course covers design principles related to load paths, systems that resist forces to maintain structural integrity, Use and Occupancy Classifications, and live load calculations. You’ll learn how to trace load paths and apply this understanding to commercial property inspections.

This course focuses on understanding structural systems and how to identify them in the field. The common systems covered include wood and light-gauge steel framing, steel structures, bearing wall structures, cast-in-place and precast concrete, roof geometry, and concrete performance considerations like creep deflection, as well as wall cladding systems for structural and non-structural walls.

First, you’ll analyze common types of commercial structures, such as homes converted to commercial buildings, offices, industrials buildings, lodging establishments, warehouses, retail properties, and other property types. Then, through a series of practice exercises, you’ll apply the structural design and construction concepts covered. You’ll review photos of typical commercial buildings and identify each building’s occupancy type, wall type, visible materials, structural type, vertical and lateral support systems, and foundation type and materials. Answers are provided for each exercise.

Upon completion, you’ll recognize commercial structural systems and the engineering principles behind them, and be able to apply pre-inspection and on-site procedures to accurately identify and document property types in your reports.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• understand how engineers design structures to resist forces and loads, including load paths, structural deformation, and the effects of soil and water pressure;
• use IBC use and occupancy classifications and determine live loads for properties;
• identify commercial building structure type, materials, and construction methods;
• understand common commercial building types and their structural design, including converted residential, office, lodging, warehouse, retail, restaurant, parking garages, manufacturing, and industrial properties;
• apply key concepts of bearing wall structures, including how exterior walls function as the building envelope or support cladding systems, with common materials such as tilt-up concrete, precast concrete panels, cast-in-place concrete systems, masonry, and metal or glass panels;
• describe the role expansion joints and control joints in accommodating thermal expansions;
• perform a structural evaluation using the Simplified Structural Evaluation Checklist;
• implement pre-inspection and site observation methodologies related to structural evaluations; and
• implement company-wide policies for reporting on a structural assessment of a commercial building.