If you want someone who will take care of you and be completely honest form the start, HUMZA CHOWDRY is the guy to go to. We had a pretty challenging project as we had a Deck construction that was initially started with a framework. THen we needed to have a permit in order to proceed.. The work was not good and the contractor who worked on our project went M.I.A. I got a few references to HC Structural engineering and I read all the YELP reviews and their reviews on the website. I also saw a youtube video of HUMZA and found out he was also a Professor at Santa Clara University. All those factors made me want to work with him even before we had a contract/agreement. He provided a reasonable quote for us after the initial consultation and everything was listed in the terms so you know exactly what you are signing up for. He is very busy since he's so good and he made it very clear that their work will take some time to do so he was honest up front. The other thing I will say is I was assigned the Senior Structural Engineer JAMIE GREENE. Jamie is awesome. He was very easy to work with and spent a few hours with us in a meeting explaining all the detail work he had done in his design for us along with the structural engineering calculations. He was very prompt and responded right away. He is just an overall great guy who is very smart and very calm and accommodating. We just got a permit issued which is also something JAMIE helped us out with by communicating directly with the city builder so that we don't get rejected for another permit request. With that said, I will refer anyone to work with HC Structural Engineering as I love their honesty, I love how prompt they were and how professional they were. Everything met my expectation above and beyond. read more

I worked with HC Structural on a backyard project that involved complex retaining wall work. Lalit was amazing, providing plans and updating them many times as needed throughout the process. He was extremely responsive and quick to turn around anything we needed. I definitely recommend HC Structural for your project, and working with Lalit specifically was awesome!! We'll be using them again for any future plans we need. read more

We had a small project to remove a couple of walls and do a seismic retrofit. It was a pleasure to work with the engineers and review the plans as many times as needed after reviewing with the city. We are very happy with the plans/calculations and hope to work with HC Structural in the future for other projects. read more

HC Structural Engineering came through and met our challenge: could they produce a structural engineering report for a rooftop 400 lb heat pump installation on short 10 day notice! Humza agreed to take on the challenge, since we were able to provide detailed architectural and site documentation. Not only did they come through and produced a detailed, meticulously crafted report but delivered it on the Memorial Day holiday, no less, to meet our timeline! Our city's planning department (San Mateo) must also have been similarly impressed; our plans with the structural engineering report sailed through review without questions! Thank you, HC Structural Engineering for providing the engineering expertise to enable this project to proceed. Well done! We enthusiastically recommend you! read more

Humza, and the rest of the team at HC Structural are a team you can truly trust and count on. I have worked with Humza here and there on some projects for a few years now and he is a stand up guy. The team really does a great job communicating with the clients and it shows in the final product. I always recommend my clients call this company and I always have had positive feedback. If you need structural engineering done right, you should call this company. You can't go wrong. read more

I needed plans for a deck rebuild project within a month timeline. Humza did a great job overseeing the project and Lalit was thorough with putting together the plans, discussing tradeoffs, and delivering the plans to the city in time. These are honest, reliable folks to work with. I would definitely recommend and would use them again. read more

Super satisfied with Humza and the senior engineer Lalit, they helped us prepare the engineered drawing, calculations of the retaining wall. We are surprised by how prompt Humza replies to our emails, I received many responses right away even at night and weekend. Humza and Lalit are very patient and professional. It's our first time to build retaining walls, they spent lots of time explaining the engineering and construction problems we have, they gave so much information and comments which made us very confident with our decision. Since Humza is a general contractor, he has the engineering team and construction team, I could say he definitely is an expert in this area and he is the person you could trust and rely on. Really appreciate Humza's and Lalit's hard work and kind help! read more

Structural Engineering 1. slow rate of response to a series of deficiencies found by the city 2. response to deficiencies that would have cost an additional $10,000 3. responses to our concerns with excuses of 'saftey issues' and that 10 different structural engineers would produce all different designs, even though our contractor located a different structural engineer within several days who made the appropriate calculations for an alternative cost effective design that was approved by the senior city engineer, without deficiencies. 4. We requested partial repayment, but he has refused repayment of any of the amount we paid initially, even though we had to hire a 2nd engineer to complete a safe and cost-effective design. read more

It is always important to read beyond the stars and see what both sides have to say on a Yelp review. If a business takes the time to respond to a review, positive or negative, that speaks to their customer service. I was in need of a structural engineer for a small job and chose this company based in their location. Wary of the review, I went ahead with contacting them due to their detailed follow up with a one star review. As you can tell from my rating, I was thrilled with Humza and his company. He came out and knew right away what I needed. He even recommended an excellent contractor for the work. His reasonable pricing, professional knowledge and ability, as well as his prompt and honest service are why I felt he deserved a five-star rating. read more

I called HC Structural for a project I was doing in San Mateo. I met Humza about 1 hour or so after I called. He was very prompt and professional. I was very impressed on how quick he was able to accommodate me even though he had a tough schedule. I am a general contractor and I really can appreciate honesty and integrity in the trades. You don't find too much of it but I really liked how Humza presented himself and how he followed up with exactly what he said he would do. Even when I was with the city doing some revisions he picked up his phone and answered questions that the city building dept had. I will continue to trust HC with my future projects and I know I have a good guy on my team. read more

I searched for a structural engineer to help with a foundation project for a house that my client bought. I couldn't believe how many structural engineers I called with no luck on getting a call back or someone who could accept new clients no sooner than a few months later. I was thrilled when I called HC Structural Engineering, Inc. and they came to view the San Francisco property the next day. Excellent service with reasonable prices. We received our reports and plans within a good time frame. I have not yet met another structural engineering company who can compare to their service. I have used them for properties all over the San Francisco Bay Area and I will continue to do so. Thank you HC Structural Engineering, Inc. for such great work!!! read more

I had an ongoing issue with the sunroom of my house which caught the attention of the city somehow. I was referred by a friend who had a great experience working with their HCE. Overall I had great experience especially in comparison to the other companies around who make you fill out an online request and then call you back after the project is complete. HC actually picked up the phone, scheduled the appointment and came out the very next week. Their pricing is not the cheapest in town, but you get what you pay still holds true especially when it comes to engineering and construction. The consultant who came out had some great ideas for supporting and reinforcing our 25 year old structure. read more

Humza and his team were extremely knowledgeable and experienced in structrual engineering, they seemlessly bridge the gap between the architect and developers and extremely responsive and prompt with their deadlines and communication. I would definately recommmend them to anyone looking for a sound licensed structural engineer. read more

We were referred to Humza at HCSE by an architect friend to replace a large balcony/deck. It was a rather tricky project as our house is on a hillside and the balcony is 3 stories above a sloped ground. But the real snafu turned out to be the City of Fremont's tight restrictions on how balconies are constructed in our area. It took nearly a year to get a permit from the city and we never would have gotten through it without Humza. He was INCREDIBLY persistent and patient and went back to the city numerous times with different ideas until they finally approved. Throughout the process we found Humza to be extremely responsive, informative and easy to work with. The actual construction of the deck went very smoothly with no delays or problems. The crew was prompt, efficient and professional, and they did beautiful work. We are thrilled with the outcome and very grateful to Humza for sticking with us. read more

My experience contained, many many RED Flags after the fact. I dealt with a gentleman named ( Humza Chowdfry ) over the phone, he told me his consultation fee of $375.00. I agreed with that, we set an appointment time, and he showed up 45 minutes late. The structural work that needed evaluation was within the crawl-space of the residence. ( Required entering the crawl space for professional evaluation.) Mr. Chowdfry stuck is arm with phone in hand into the crawl space access and took a few pictures. (Need to mention he was in a full suit and tie, and kept talking about his departure that evening for Hawaii.) It was unfortunate that his mind wasn't there on my project, over seeing so many structural issues. After 20 minutes of standing around looking around in the house, he spotted a blank check on the counter an asked me if that was for him. I was seriously floored that he would even ask. I reiterated the fee price of $375.00 and he said no, it's $500. I was so shocked about this firms representative's, lack of professionalism. I told him, that isn't what you told me on the phone and what we both agree to. He became argumentative. When I asked him why the increase of $125.00 in less than 24 hours, he then said, " Oh it's for the report". Never mentioning an additional fee for documentation over the phone. After having informed him of our original appointment time, he than says, ok make the check out for $375.00. This appointment was on a Friday late afternoon, do you think that really made a difference? Needless to say, he left and passed the photos and little information on to a gentleman in the office to write the report. I did receive the report that following week, with very little specifics. Not to mention, his report was completely incorrect about the structural issues. BEWARE!!!! All that shines, are NOT all Diamonds! read more

I found out late in the game of my residential project that I needed calculations for the City of Dublin's building department. After many many calls to equally as many firms, HCSE was the only one very willing to help me in my predicament when all the other firms opted NOT to take my business. Once signed on, the HCSE crew worked efficiently, maintained great lines of communication and adhered perfectly to their proposed time lines. HCSE sailed me through the permitting process which is never ever very fun. I give high marks to the HCSE team. I very rarely Yelp my experiences and save the occasion for when my experiences are on the distant ends of the spectrum of great and terrible. Proud to say my experience with HCSE was extremely positive. Thank you, -John read more

I had a pressing need to get wall checked to determine if it was load bearing or a partition, and I had a small window to have someone come in. HC was recommended to me, and though the job was small I was very pleased with the results. Not only did I get the sign off on the wall being OK to work with (which was all I needed), I was also provided with additional documentation on how to reinforce the upper portion of the wall in the event of sag. They were at my place at 6pm on Thursday and had the paperwork and documentation back within 48 hours, which was impressive. Highly recommend. read more

My first time dealing with engineers all together, and I must say my home-remodel was more than what I was looking for. I really liked how they made me feel super comfortable by answering all of my questions - and I could tell that they were truly in it for the great customer service rather than those other companies who are in it to rip you off. Well informed team, they know what they are doing, and hey, I even got a discount by referring them to a good friend of mine who is also looking to do a home-remodel. All in all, loved the experience with the HC structural engineering team. Way to go! Will use you guys in the future for sure. read more

Humza, the structural engineer and Ralph, the project manager are personable, straightforward and their bid was very competititve. What is most appreciated is they explained the engineering work being done during this 3 month long earthquake bracing project. Ralph's crew are the best, they cleaned up the area at the end of each day, they are a very humble, honest working crew. What started out as a very scary structural leaning problem turned into an earth-quake braced, strong foundation. Their work is very much appreciated by our complex's owners. Thank you Humza & Ralph and crew! read more

HC designed and delivered a site plan + structural calculations that the city approved for our permit. The scope of work was to remove a load bearing wall and add the proper support down to the foundation. Both Humza and Jamie were extremely professional, responsive, and diligent in giving accurate timelines of work and delivering exactly what was promised. They even went above and beyond to address a few concerns from our contractor who was implementing the plans. Definitely deserving of 5 stars for both their customer service and personal investment in our project. read more

Humza and his team are extraordinarily easy to work with and produce excellent work. They jumped in and rescued a project that was going south. We ran into a situation where our our contractor overcommitted to our backyard redesign project and was unable to deliver on producing structural engineering plans for a pergola permit. This required us to call around and find a structural engineer on extremely short notice. I cold called around a bit and talked to a few firms that might be able to help. I was disappointed with my discussions. When I called Humza, we connected immediately and I felt a sense of trust and empathy for our situation. Not only did he take on the project, his team delivered structural engineering plans that passed the permit plan within just a few days. He joined me on a trip to the city of Belmont and helped ensure that the plans passed plan check and that we were granted a permit by the city planner. Humza is a subject matter expert and rockstar in his field, and I felt like he was my wingman making what I thought to be a stressful process very easy. I *highly* recommed Humza and his team. Thank you, Humza! You saved the day for us. read more

After a horrible experience with a previous structural engineer, I decided to reach out to HC Structural Engineering when we needed to get something else approved by the city mid-way through our renovation project. Humza and his colleague came out to the property to meet with me just one day after I called the office and gave me an estimate almost right away. The job took only a few days to complete and I was able to get it approved by the City over the counter on the first try. I appreciate how well they communicated with me throughout the process and how they were able to get my issue resolved very quickly. Needless to say I am very happy with HCSE and will definitely use them again in the future. read more

We had Humza do a structural inspection for a house we were looking into buying and he was EXTREMELY thorough and helpful. He was able to meet us on short notice, arrived on time, and explained everything in detail so we could understand what the issues were. He was honest and frank, which we really appreciated. read more

HC Structural Engineering was asked to evaluate the structural integrity of an office building that was constructed in 1983 and that was upgraded after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Humza Chowdhry and his team were incredibly focused, understood what needed to be accomplished, completed their work on schedule, provided me with an excellent report with detailed suggestions and recommendations and they completed this project on budget. They promised a lot and delivered everything that they promised. I give them my highest recommendation. read more

Humza was able to come out and give an inspection on next to no notice. He walked thru the property with me and explained every recommendation fully. I look forward to working with him again when I remodel. read more

Since my initial yelp review, we have needed to ask HC Structural Engineering to help with changes that came up during our project. In both cases, they responded very quickly and provided the necessary changes in a very timely manner to keep our project moving forward. Thanks again, HCSE! read more

measured a few things wrong but went out of way to get plans done quick with an extra cost.