Structural engineers “They’re Over-Engineering It” No, They’re Literally Saving Your House

There’s a sentence I’ve heard too many times on site and every time, it makes my blood boil:

“The structural engineer’s over-engineered it.”

Excuse me?

You mean the degree-qualified civil engineer who spent 3–5 years studying structures, loads, wind pressures, and material tolerances, and maybe even got chartered, is being told he’s wrong by someone who barely glances at the drawing and thinks his experience on the tools trumps actual university engineering?

It’s a joke. And a dangerous one.

🎓 Let’s Get Something Straight

Structural engineers don’t make stuff up.

They don’t over-engineer for fun.

They’re not sitting in their office thinking, “How can I make this roof truss more complicated than it needs to be?”

They design for:

• Load

• Span

• Wind speed in your region

• Roof pitch

• Snow drift zones

• Structural settlement

• Material performance over time

They do the maths so that your house stays standing, not just the day it’s built, but for the next 50 years.

But who discredits them most?

The same people who can’t read a truss layout and think “dead load” is just a heavy hangover.

🔧 Real-Life: The Wind Bracing Debacle

Let me tell you what happened on one of my jobs.

We were putting up roof trusses, and I was doing my usual inspection against the drawing, once the build stage was complete.

Straight away I noticed:

• One piece of wind bracing was completely missing

• The whole bracing layout was off, it needed a central zigzag, not two parallel timbers.

So I politely asked the carpenter to correct it according to the drawing.

And what did he say?

“Nah, I’m not f****** doing that.”*

Right. Okay.

So I said:

“No problem. I’ll just note on my progress report that the carpenter refuses to build to the engineer’s drawing, is delaying progress, and doesn’t understand wind bracing. We’ll see what senior management think.”

Funny thing happened overnight.

I came in the next morning and, poof, the wind bracing was perfectly installed.

Exactly to the drawing.

Suddenly, he figured it out.

🚨 The Real Problem? Ego Over Safety

What that carpenter did was overrule a qualified engineer’s design, because he thought he knew better.

That’s not just arrogant.

That’s reckless.

Wind bracing is there for a reason:

• It prevents lateral movement.

• It stabilises the roof structure under pressure.

• It transfers loads down into the walls.

When a storm hits, or heavy winds batter your house, you don’t want the roof wobbling like a folding chair. You want it locked in. Engineered. Braced.

But this man thought his opinion was more important than the drawing.

This is what’s wrong with so much of construction right now.

Too many people building homes don’t respect the people who design them.

🧠 Structural Engineers Are Not Optional

We need to stop this nonsense that engineers are just a “tick-box” or that their details are suggestions.

Their work is:

• Legally binding

• Designed for your safety

• Backed by calculations

• Aligned with British Standards

If your builder, carpenter, roofer, or whoever says “we don’t need that bit”, you need to ask them one thing:

“Do you have a chartered engineering qualification to overrule this?”

If not, they should shut up and follow the drawing.

🏠 Final Thought: Build What’s on the Drawing, Not What’s in Your Head

I’ve worked with brilliant carpenters.

I’ve also worked with some who treat every engineered detail like it’s optional, and that is terrifying.

Structural engineers do not over-engineer.

They calculate for worst-case scenarios, because your roof, your floors, your lintels, and your walls are not an experiment.

If you’re a homeowner, make sure your builder is actually following the drawings.

If you’re a tradesperson, remember: disagreeing with an engineer doesn’t make you clever. It makes you a liability. And you will have to sign that build safety act declaration to say you have followed the designs on any jobs with building control involved.

And if you’re on site and someone refuses to follow the plan, log it. Report it. Don’t stay quiet. Because when that roof fails, they won’t be the ones holding the clipboard. You will.

📹 I’ll be covering more drawing-related disasters on @TheUnfilteredFemaleSiteManager. Follow along — especially if you’re tired of ego over evidence in construction.

📥 Want a free checklist on how to inspect trusses and wind bracing? Let me know. I’ll make one.

Because this stuff matters. And the house you live in depends on it.