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Submitting Structural Letter with Manufacturer PE Letter?

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jmoles

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Does anyone have experience submitting plans using the rack manufacturer's engineer letter?

I submitted my building plans with the snapNrack letter and got it rejected with a comment saying all building plans are "missing seal and signature by professional engineer." I didn't include the span tables that the letter references.

I'm curious if any one has successfully used the manufacture's engineering- letters as their professional engineer stamp and any tips on how to do that successfully.

Thanks!
 
The letter has stamp, but says the tables are good. Sounds like permit office wants a stamp on the plans saying those are good (I guess the drawings could deviate from tables.) Maybe snapNrack can provide a drawing with stamp.

You could try again, maybe in person, present the drawing, tables, letter, and show they all comply.

I used Unirac which provide some engineering design, but I also sized mine as multiple arrays 6' apart so exempt from building permits.
City stamped it "no permit required". I paid more for a permit not to have a structural permit, than I paid for the electrical permit.
 
jmoles said:
Does anyone have experience submitting plans using the rack manufacturer's engineer letter?

I submitted my building plans with the snapNrack letter and got it rejected with a comment saying all building plans are "missing seal and signature by professional engineer." I didn't include the span tables that the letter references.

I'm curious if any one has successfully used the manufacture's engineering- letters as their professional engineer stamp and any tips on how to do that successfully.
Click to expand...
AHJ dependent.

Did you ask the plan drafter how much they'll charge to get the PE in the office to stamp the plans? It might be less hassle to pay up. Probably <$250 if you already had the plan drafted at a place that has a PE they can call over. But sometimes every structural related revision will need to be restamped with a fee.
 
Just got off the phone with the permit office. I had a hell of a time understanding the guy through his accent but if I understood correctly he basically told me to ensure my plans:

showed the spacing and size of my rafters (e.g. 24 O.C. 2x12), a copy of the tables, and a note on the plans about the manufacture letter and tables.

Sounded like if I did that they'd accept it.

I figured if I can use the cookie cutter letter and save a couple hundred bucks its worth 30 minutes of my time to pull it all together. From what I've seen the PE stamps are priced around $300 or so.
 
jmoles said:
Just got off the phone with the permit office. I had a hell of a time understanding the guy through his accent but if I understood correctly he basically told me to ensure my plans:

showed the spacing and size of my rafters (e.g. 24 O.C. 2x12), a copy of the tables, and a note on the plans about the manufacture letter and tables.
Click to expand...

Awesome. This is how it worked for me and my AHJ explained it to me thankfully in a super clear way too.

It’s potentially $300 multiple times so if your AHJ has this expedited process that is definitely the smart way to do it. I was sort of pointing out the $300 as an option if it was like half a week of work to figure out an alternative…
 
Green lancer say they will draw and restamp any modifications that are necessary for 6 months. Now obviously they cost quite a bit more but if your AHJ gets finicky to work with or you decide to make modifications, then it is well worth it.
 
Quattrohead said:
Green lancer say they will draw and restamp any modifications that are necessary for 6 months. Now obviously they cost quite a bit more but if your AHJ gets finicky to work with or you decide to make modifications, then it is well worth it.
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That is a good deal. I believe Unirac does it for drawings but not the stamps.
 
Hedges said:
I used Unirac which provide some engineering design, but I also sized mine as multiple arrays 6' apart so exempt from building permits.
City stamped it "no permit required". I paid more for a permit not to have a structural permit, than I paid for the electrical permit.
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What was your experience with Unirac? Was it a service you paid for or was it part of an equipment purchase package.
 
I did Unirac via an equipment purchase package. I didn’t interact with Unirac directly.

So whoever is doing the middle person in a setup like that will likely make a big difference in the end experience.
 
Equipment purchase from Real Goods.

My initial setup was 3 pole-top mounts (different brand), each holding 8x 120W modules. All 24 panels in series feeding one 2500W inverter.

Next system bought from same vendor was Unirac U/LA. The kit had rails, bottom clips, angle aluminum and U-bolts to mount rails on 2" pipe horizontals, brackets to mount horizontals on verticals, square aluminum tubes with brackets for diagonal supports.

I also acquired additional parts, and fabricated angle aluminum, to change the pole-tops to additional U/LA mounts.

They were supposed to have uprights set in concrete footings. Instead, I bolted to existing concrete and pounded additional uprights into the dirt.

Those used ground wires and clips at panels. There may be new panel clamping methods that serve as ground.

You can see the back view of one here:

diysolarforum.com

DIY ground mount

Keeping in line with the whole low-cost solar system, building my own braided bus bars, etc. I thought I would see what it takes to build a low-cost ground mount for those 500W 96 cell panels (1310mm x 1956mm). My goals were to make the whole thing simple to build, with minimal tools and simple...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com

UNIRAC LARGE ARRAY (ULA) - Unirac

HOME » GROUND MOUNT » UNIRAC LARGE ARRAY (ULA) FLEXIBILITY FOR ANY SIZE PROJECT UNIRAC LARGE ARRAY (ULA) supports a wider range of site and climatic challen ...
unirac.com unirac.com
 
For permit packages:

It is the plans the need a wet stamp, not just pieces of it as every design is unique, as well as a letter describing the framing / roof has been reviewed to be structurally sufficient for wind codes. Racking is only one part of the puzzle and Green Lancer is what I used for this and was ~300 as real bargain IMHO
 
Solar Guppy said:
For permit packages:

It is the plans the need a wet stamp, not just pieces of it as every design is unique, as well as a letter describing the framing / roof has been reviewed to be structurally sufficient for wind codes. Racking is only one part of the puzzle and Green Lancer is what I used for this and was ~300 as real bargain IMHO
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you got these drawings for $300?
www.greenlancer.com

Solar Permit Design

See why over 4,000 solar installers have utilized GreenLancer's network of design professionals for quick, affordable, and high-quality solar permit plan sets.
www.greenlancer.com www.greenlancer.com

That is a great price.
 
This is what I ordered and paid for to get the required permits for my situation, 100% off grid in Florida with structural engineering.

Off-Grid Solar Permit Plan Set | GreenLancer: $500.00
PE Review & Stamped Structural Pages & Stamped Structural Review Letter - ROOFTOP : $338.00

"Structural and Electrical Professional Engineering reviews are not included unless purchased as part of a combination service with the Permit. These PE reviews are available as an additional service for additional fees."
 
Mike 134 said:
you got these drawings for $300?
www.greenlancer.com

Solar Permit Design

See why over 4,000 solar installers have utilized GreenLancer's network of design professionals for quick, affordable, and high-quality solar permit plan sets.
www.greenlancer.com www.greenlancer.com

That is a great price.
Click to expand...

It was for review and wet stamp only as I provided the full plan set myself using solardesigntool to build the permit package ( think is was ~$89 for this tool )

Quattrohead said:
PE Review & Stamped Structural Pages & Stamped Structural Review Letter - ROOFTOP : $338.00
Click to expand...

^^This is the service I paid for as well, but 3 years ago now!
 
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