AYS Engineers - Alex Sallah

Description of Work: Did structural analysis and calculation and provided drawings for Fairfax county building permit approval for replacing a 10' load-bearing stud wall in our basement with a steel beam

Description of Work: In the course of replacing and expanding the roofdeck on my condo, I retained Alex Sallah to create engineering drawings for submission to the Washington DC Dept. of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs for a building permit. I cannot recommend Alex enough for all of the help and support he provided during the process. Alex drew up the framing of our roof, the demolition of the existing deck, the anchoring of the new deck, and the access to the roof. Anyone who has dealt with DCRA knows that it' the definition of a bureaucratic nightmare when it comes to even the simplest permitting. Despite the fact that my project was nothing more than a small expansion of an existing deck, done with slightly different materials, I was nonetheless flagged for structural review, and told that I would need certain engineering drawings in order to obtain the permit. Alex was referred to me by my deck contractor. Alex was extremely flexible and punctual in arranging to inspect my roof and existing deck, and was very clear on price and date for delivery of the drawings originally specified by DCRA for the permit. Unsurprisingly, when I resubmitted my permit application to DCRA, it was sent to a different structural reviewer who asked for different structural details in the drawings, many wholly unrelated to the scope of work of the project. Nonetheless, Alex had me send him some photos of my condo, and at no additional charge, created the specified drawings and even met me at DCRA to present them to the second reviewer, in very little time. This happened TWICE more. Each time DCRA switched our reviewer and asked for different details, Alex provided clear instructions for the info he needed from me, quickly turned around new drawings, met me at DCRA, and spoke to the reviewer with me. And he never once charged me beyond the initial agreed-upon price. I sincerely doubt that even a contractor would have been this tenacious in getting a permit for the construction. My project could not have happened without Alex's help.