Structures rarely fail in the middle of a member. They fail at the connection. Anchorage design is the part of a package that plan reviewers scrutinise hardest, and the part most often missing when a permit gets rejected.
In Florida the governing load case for most light structures is wind uplift, not gravity. A column that comfortably carries its vertical load can still be pulled out of a slab that is too thin, too close to an edge, or too lightly reinforced for the anchor being used. Anchorage design is where the structure meets what is already built — and what is already built is usually the part nobody has calculations for.
Forces a connection has to carry, and the dimensions that govern it.
Plate thickness, bolt pattern, weld or bearing detail, sized for uplift and lateral demand.
Epoxy and mechanical anchors into existing concrete, including embedment depth, edge distance and spacing.
Anchor bolts and embeds detailed with the foundation design.
How an attached structure transfers uplift and lateral force into the existing building.
Whether the slab or footing you already have can take the anchor at all, and what to do when it cannot.
Sealed calculations for a connection someone else has designed or built.
Yes. We are regularly asked for standalone anchorage or connection calculations on a structure someone else designed. Send the geometry, the loads and what the anchor lands in.
That is a common outcome, and it is better to find out on paper. The usual answers are a thickened footing at the anchor locations, a different anchor system, or a redistributed load path. We will tell you which applies.
We design to the published capacity of the anchor system you intend to use. If you have not selected one, we will detail the required capacity so you can choose.
Yes. Equipment anchorage — rooftop units, tanks, racks and similar — follows the same principles and we handle it the same way.
Geometry, loads, and what the anchor lands in. That is usually enough for us to scope it.