Design vs. engineering question

[Alaskan Son]

Richard,

Thank you. You were partly right, just not in understanding my question. Alaska is interesting. I do work in a [B]very[B] wildly ranging place in the country as far as engineering and climate is concerned. For the most part when I work in Anchorage, engineering is a must and is the standard practice. 1 hour away where I live in Wasilla, residential engineering is almost unheard of. Since I moved here in 2004 I have never worked off of, or even seen an engineered set of residential plans. The good part is, its in a lower seismic zone, and most homes are simple enough to frame using prescriptive methods.