SCI is now officially 30 years old. Since we began, one of the key benefits we have offered our members is access to a team of expert technical advisors. The experience of that team is built on previous lives in practice, research backgrounds, involvement in code development, networks, and sorting out problems for people (last year we answered well over 1000 technical questions). For some time now we have distributed Advisory Desk questions and answers by email to subscribers, but it is interesting to go beyond the purely technical and think about the benefits of those answers. For example, the benefit of showing that a composite beam will work despite not satisfying the requirements of Eurocode 4 is not simply knowing that it is technically justifiable.
Sometimes the benefit of our advice will be valued in hundreds of pounds – a call to SCI that saves half a day of personal research. Sometimes it will be valued in tens of thousands of pounds – avoiding the need to take down, refabricate and reconstruct something, or avoiding the danger of getting it badly wrong by seeking advice in advance.
Click here for ten Advisory examples, all based on questions we have been asked, that show the benefits of SCI advice.
Benefits fall into a number of areas:
- Avoiding mistakes, that could necessitate redesign, reconstruction or in the extreme collapse
- Avoiding dispute, by getting it right, and by having ‘third party’ backup from an authoritative source
- Avoiding over-design, by having access to the best knowledge
- Saving time looking for the right answer
- Gaining confidence in a solution by talking to an expert
Membership of SCI can be compared to membership of a breakdown recovery service. When you buy the recovery service you may get a free magazine, but the real benefit is that somebody will help if your car breaks down. You hope you won’t get maximum value by having your car break down every week! With SCI you get more than just a free magazine, and whilst you also have the comfort of access to sound advice and support, you would probably rather not have to use that support too frequently. For more info, please email advisory@steel-sci.com