Engineering Services

Building codes define the various requirements and minimum construction standards for structures and associated non-structural components to withstand loads from various natural events, such as wind, snow, floods and earthquakes. Our restraint system design and engineering team use these codes and other industry guidelines to determine lateral and vertical design forces on non-structural building system components.

During strong seismic or wind activity, building system equipment will be subjected to lateral and vertical loads which could cause floor-mounted components to slide or tip over and suspended or wall-mounted components to break their supports – possibly injuring occupants or being damaged beyond repair. Appropriate restraints and attachments to building structures are determined through analyses and selected by our engineering team to match both the building construction and equipment type.

Mechanical, electrical and plumbing distribution systems in buildings located in areas prone to seismic activity often need to be braced to prevent excessive movement during earthquakes. Building codes allow certain systems under specific weights and sizes to be exempt from bracing but navigating the various rules can be challenging. Our seismic engineering team is intimately familiar with North American codes and industry-standard guidelines and can produce markup drawings that indicate bracing locations to ensure code compliance.

In many situations, standard solutions are not applicable and custom solutions must be determined, manufactured and installed to meet various requirements – often simultaneously – such as ensuring adequate strength to withstand design forces from extreme events while providing effective vibration and noise control during normal operation. Our design and engineering team has extensive experience with customizing support, attachment and vibration control solutions that help meet vibration and noise criteria and help non-structural building components to remain functional even after design-level events.

Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems for buildings create vibrations that can affect sensitive equipment and cause structure-borne noise, annoying the occupants. Vibro-Acoustics’ vibration isolation design team is adept in analyzing building systems and equipment installations and selecting appropriate products to provide effective solutions and to meet background noise and vibration criteria.  Our wide range of isolation products and expert staff are available to help you make the world a more comfortable place.

Mechanical equipment rooms located on upper floors above occupied spaces often need significantly more sound and vibration control than can be provided with standard floor constructions. Vibro-Acoustics can analyze the situation and design a floating floor – typically a concrete floor slab supported on neoprene vibration isolators – to provide an effective noise barrier to meet background sound criteria. In addition, Vibro-Acoustics can supply all products and oversee the work to ensure its proper installation.