servin engineering

Nick Servin is a RCE (Registered Professional Engineer) of Servin Engineering, Inc., 2647 Gateway Road, Suite 105-500, Carlsbad, CA 92009, 760-533-6532, nickservin@gmail.com A little background: I never thought I would need a structural engineer to have a simple 16"x16' stand-alone Guest-House permitted. After fighting with the City of Vista over an addition to my main house, they reviewed my property to way before Vista even a city. Back to when this was just county land. They found the Guest-House on my property had not been permitted and were holding the main project hostage till I conformed and submitted. So, I had to provide blue-prints, drawings and calculations of the structure. I am an engineer by trade as well, so doing the drawings and title 24 docs and such were easy enough, but when it came to the deck above the structure, I was at a loss. The City of Vista said I needed a report from a structural engineer to ensure the structure was safe for people to use the deck. I sent out a plea for help. A helpful person sent it to an architect friend of his who sent it on to Nick Servin. Nick contacted me, we set a time to meet, he arrived early, saying something to the effect, “In business, if you are on time, you are late.” Nick thoroughly reviewed the building, took some measurements, pictures, a copy of my blueprints and agreed to do the Guest-House report. During his completing his calculations he was constantly in contact with me via, phone, text and e-mail, discussing options, variables and different approaches to satisfy the load-bearing requirements. He quickly provided the report, which had nine (9) pages; a signed and stamped cover, index, engineering assumptions, design criteria (listing codes), load calculations per load member (2x6, 4x6, truss…), footing needed, and a stamped framing plan. I submitted the plan the following day. The City had a few questions; which were easily answered using the report Nick had generated. The permit for the Guest-house and the hostage held permit for the original addition were granted the next day. I was amazed and extremely thankful at how quickly Nick was able to provide what I needed to appease the City, while ensuring a timely, cost effective solution for my structure. If I were ever to need a Structural Engineer again, I would choose Nick Servin; he works with his clientele, is very communicative, personable, patient and as a bonus, lives in “our” community; I like keeping my dollars local.