Disclaimer & Waiver of Liability

1. Informational purpose only

All technical material published on this website — including code and standard references (IBC, CBC, ASCE 7, ACI 318, AISC, NFPA, IEEE, ICC-ES AC156, HCAI/OSHPD publications), equations, coefficients, tables, worked examples, sample reports, drawings, database listings, and online calculators — is provided for general information and educational purposes only.

This material is not engineering advice and is not a substitute for a project-specific engineering analysis performed by a licensed professional engineer for your particular equipment, structure, site, and jurisdiction.

2. No engineer–client relationship

Use of this website, its calculators, or its downloadable content does not create an engineer–client, contractual, or fiduciary relationship with PANACHE ENGINEERING INC. Engineering services are provided only under a written, executed agreement and are delivered as PE/SE-stamped documents.

Unstamped output from this website may not be submitted to a building department, plan checker, HCAI/OSHPD, or any authority having jurisdiction as evidence of code compliance.

3. Codes, standards, and jurisdictional variation

Codes and standards are periodically revised, superseded, and amended by state and local jurisdictions. Excerpts and summaries on this site may not reflect the edition adopted where your project is located, and may contain simplifications made for readability.

You are responsible for verifying every value, factor, and requirement against the governing published edition of the applicable code or standard and with the authority having jurisdiction before relying on it.

4. Calculators, code snippets, and sample files

Online calculators, spreadsheets, code snippets, scripts, sample calculation packages, and example drawings are supplied “as is” and “as available”, without validation for your inputs or use case. Results are preliminary and unverified, and may be affected by input error, rounding, assumed boundary conditions, or software defects.

Any output must be independently checked by a qualified licensed engineer before it is used for design, fabrication, procurement, installation, or submittal.

5. Third-party information

Listings referencing HCAI/OSHPD OSP, OPM, and PCS preapprovals, manufacturer data, ICC-ES evaluation reports, and other third-party information are reproduced or summarized from public sources for convenience. Those sources control, may change without notice, and are not warranted by us.

Always confirm current preapproval status, expiration dates, and conditions of approval directly with the issuing agency or manufacturer.

6. No warranty

PANACHE ENGINEERING INC makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, currency, reliability, or fitness for a particular purpose of any content on this website, and expressly disclaims all implied warranties to the fullest extent permitted by law.

7. Waiver of liability and assumption of risk

By using this website you agree that you access and rely on its technical content entirely at your own risk, and you waive, release, and agree not to assert any claim against PANACHE ENGINEERING INC, its officers, employees, and engineers arising out of or relating to that use.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, PANACHE ENGINEERING INC shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or economic damages — including loss of profit, project delay, rework, redesign, or plan-check rejection — arising from the use of, or inability to use, any information, calculator, download, or link on this website, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Nothing in this notice limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, and this waiver does not apply to services delivered under an executed engineering services agreement, which are governed solely by the terms of that agreement.

8. Intellectual property

Content on this website is owned by PANACHE ENGINEERING INC or its licensors. You may reference and link to it, but you may not republish stamped documents, sample reports, or substantial portions of the technical content as your own work product.

9. Changes to this notice

This notice may be updated at any time. Continued use of the website after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.