SMARTBuild Engineering x ClearCalcs

• Eliminates manual beam calculations
• Handles Australian, EU & Canadian codes
• Clear, traceable calculation reports

As Sameer Ramgoolam grew his business in Victoria, Australia, designing Class 1 and Class 1a buildings, he needed a more straightforward beam and column design solution than the high-end finite element software he had been using. He wanted a tool built specifically for the fast, preliminary structural checks SMARTBuild Engineering runs for architects and construction product suppliers, one that still complied fully with Australian building standards without the overhead of a full finite element analysis.

Sameer chose ClearCalcs for its simplicity and the clarity of its output: "What I really liked about ClearCalcs is its simplicity. It's simple and easy to use, and the output is also very, very clear. You can see all of the output results for enveloped bending moment, shear, and deflection." Because SMARTBuild's sustainable-materials projects often draw on internationally sourced products, ClearCalcs' ability to check designs against Australian, European, and Canadian standards from a single platform was also a key factor in his decision.

SMARTBuild Engineering's focus on sustainable, eco-friendly construction — using materials such as Structural Insulated Panels and Cross-Laminated Timber — meant its structural calculations often needed to satisfy more than one building code at once, since these materials and their suppliers are frequently sourced internationally. Finding a single tool that could reliably handle Australian standards alongside other international codes, without switching between separate software packages, was a persistent challenge for the practice.

The other core challenge was speed. Full manual calculations, or running everything through the same finite element software used for final design, took too long for the fast preliminary decisions SMARTBuild needed to make. As Sameer put it: "This [ClearCalcs] works fantastic because to do this manually will take too long. And we want to have very, very quick results to see whether it works or doesn't work - especially when we're doing preliminary sizing or costing to give the suppliers to say, can this work or not? We just want a yes or no answer."

Based on his strong finite element analysis and structural simulation background, Sameer Ramgoolam initially used SOFiSTiK, a high-end FEA analysis package well known for its bridge engineering design, for the structural work behind SMARTBuild Engineering's sustainable building and social housing projects. SOFiSTiK is well suited to complex, detailed structural modeling, but running a full finite element analysis for every early-stage beam or column check was more involved than SMARTBuild's fast-moving preliminary design process required.

That left a gap for the bulk of the firm's day-to-day decisions: rapid, code-compliant yes-or-no checks on beam and column sizing for architects and construction product suppliers, plus the ability to verify designs against more than one country's building code when SMARTBuild's sustainable materials, like SIPs and CLT, were sourced internationally. Without a lightweight tool built for that purpose, those early assessments either had to be run through the same heavyweight finite element software used for final design or worked out manually.

Adding ClearCalcs to its workflow let SMARTBuild Engineering move its everyday beam and column assessments out of a heavyweight finite element package and into a faster, purpose-built tool. By entering spans, load widths, and design intent, Sameer Ramgoolam can get a clear yes-or-no read on structural feasibility in a fraction of the time a full analysis would take, speeding up the preliminary design and costing conversations SMARTBuild has with architects and construction product suppliers on its 10 to 20 projects a year.

The tool's multi-code coverage also removed a recurring source of friction: rather than maintaining separate processes for Australian, European, and Canadian standards, SMARTBuild can check designs against all three from within one platform, which matters given how often the firm's sustainable-materials projects draw on internationally sourced products. Combined with ClearCalcs' clear, customizable calculation reports — which support the documentation SMARTBuild needs for Victoria's Regulation 126 Certification — the result has been a simpler, more transparent way to deliver fast, defensible structural answers to clients who are not structural engineers themselves.