hiring an engineer - doing struct. fixes on existing house

Welcome to the forum

It depends on the state of the house as to which part of the structure will be, Demolished, Repaired, Replaced,etc
Cost is generally the main consideration.
Within the new plans to be submitted you will need to differentiate between, Existing (Original Structure) House, Modified House (illegal structure), proposed new Renovation.
The Modified House (Illegal structure) will need to be certified by your Engineer as fit for purpose, as it may not meet current Australian Standards.

The Council Building Surveyors Rely on the Engineers report, details & Certifications for structural matters.
You will need to hire other consultants. eg, energy,etc

How will you know the repair work and underpinning is structural and in who's opinion?
Please check with your Council Building Surveyors.
If your Old House Is non-compliant then you have 2 options
1.Pull it down and replace it with what is in the NCC and then have a building surveyor Certify it
2.Have an engineer recommend alternate engineered solutions and fixes, this approach may save you money and stress
BTW the engineer is the only person qualified and trusted to make that call, Underpinning is not covered in the NCC


Opinions are just that... someones experience, good, bad or otherwise and who's to say it's your situation?
You need data, costs and proofs for various methods,details,etc, make sure it's based on your design data.

My2c on OB, try to save money where you can and use the latest 3D Bim Design Technology, the more that you can do yourself (DIY), the more you can save
1.Measure your own existing House plan, I use the BOSCH Laser Measuring Tools it has Appsthat will document and dimension the floor plans for you
2.It also allows you to blue tooth the Photos, Dimensions and Data to you Engineer and Consultant
3.Once you have a 3D Model analyse the data, costs and compare it with 3 other trade/build quotes
4.Also, being able to send Photos and data comes in very handy, during the build stage, when owners have queries during their build
I will put up BOSCH_3D BIM examples when time permits...
Cheers
Chris

Hi spv
IMO, For a one off project it's not worth renting, buying and most are difficult to learn.
Find someone who can do your whole project Design, Engineering,construction quants & Data
they can give you access to the model via an app viewer and guide you.
The secret is to know what is a fair price here
1. Designers use BIM for basic design ( sucker colour Elevations, read on), no Bim engineering and charge 10-15% of the contract
2. Builders do the same and charge 3-5% of the contract. builders don't provide clients with data, nor disclose costs and hold copyright
3. Most Engineers don't use 3D BIM the cost for 2D Engineering is 1% of the contract so there's a disconnect
There are a few Designer Engineers ( who are flat out ) that do the complete AEC BIM stuff don't pay more than 2-3% as the AEC BIM process is now automated and linked to industry data

Start with an app or sketchup yourself export file
->, pick a revit or vectorworks user-> I personally would avoid archicad as the modelling Kernel and scripting language is antiquated.
Just remember if things have to be redone manually it costs more money, so the more you get right with the initial sketch the better.
Finally don't get me wrong, I started with coloured 3D elevations 20+ years ago, then moved to engineering BIM
where I've realised coloured elevations aren't that important, when your project is non complaint, falling apart and costly to re-engineer a fix. eg Opal Towers
So its important to get the engineering right in the first instance, i also use engineering 3D Bim to train trades on site, suits OBs, run simulations, etc,etc
It has many more advantages as well
hth

As you have pointed out correctly, all Bim software has strengths and weaknesses, if you are not a data base/family person try vectorworks as you can do almost anything straight out of the box, at half the price, no 3rd party add ons required, blah,blah,blah
Don't get too hung up and delayed by 3D coloured visuals, focus on the DATA, Costs (Build), Optimised Solutions and Proofs.
Just remember the software is unable to Certify your design/engineering, nor can it physically build your project, you'll need real Tools and skills for that. If you have questions on individual Bim software ask on their respective forums.
Please upload your model and data when you pass the coloured rendering stage
goodluck