Thanks Andy.

I agree with Stam, I would call NoFish. I am out of Olympia and IMO you are best served by hiring your engineers locally so that they know the building officials and current regs in the area. I have heard that NoFish's outfit is top of the heap in Kitsap Co. I would start there.

Gatorgetter - A consulting engineer's job is not to make things more difficult, it is to make things meet the code, and still be constructable (is that a word?). The code is the code (and it can sometimes be difficult to deal with), it is written by a bunch of nerdy proffessors, who never have to hustle up work, or worry about losing a job, or account to anyone, they are 'funded'.

If an engineer understands how things are constructed, they generally will design things that can be constructed. You should hire those kinds, and maybe your attitude will change.