The structural firm's own work
Can a structural engineer sell calculations and drawings?
Updated
The firm can license what it authored. What it cannot pass on without consent is what its clients told it in confidence.
Ask about our job files Copyright is rarely the obstacle for a structural firm; client confidences are. Describe the job files and we will answer in writing about your own work.
Calculations are copyright works
17 U.S.C. 102(a) protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, and literary works head its list. Section 3 of the UK Act defines a literary work as anything written, spoken or sung other than a dramatic or musical work, including a table or compilation. A set of calculations or a schedule of member sizes fits that description, and section 9 makes the person who creates a work its author.
Source: What a structural engineer may sell, by statute and code
The analysis software leaves them with you
- RISA
- Its licence says RISA obtains no right, title or interest in any of Your Content, a term that names construction drawings and engineering plans.
- SkyCiv
- Its terms say the subscriber owns all intellectual property and other rights in user content.
- StruCalc
- Its privacy policy says it may disclose aggregated information about its users without restriction.
Source: Structural analysis software on an engineer's data, vendor by vendor
Where the limit is
No vendor on the board says anything about training AI on an engineer's models. The limit comes from the engineer's own obligations to clients, set out on structural engineer confidentiality and client information.