A professionally registered structural engineering practice. We certify completed building work, inspect and report on property, and give independent evidence when a structure ends up in dispute.
Different structures fail in different ways, and the first thing most clients want to know is whether we have seen one before. Six of the types that come across the desk.
A roof truss from a real assessment, solving in your browser as the load builds. Watch the members change colour as the force in them reverses, and the frame settle under a solar array it was never designed to carry.
7.50 m span · 38 × 114 mm SA pine · trusses at 850 mm centres. The figures are solved live by direct stiffness, not animated from a recording. An illustrative model rather than a design.
"He provided me with a quote the same day I reached out to him. I received a report in timely fashion that is easily understandable but still highly professional."
Francois Kruger
"Contacted SI for a post solar installation roof load inspection. Pren is extremely responsive, on time for the appointment, communication is excellent."
Lynn Schumann
"Having strangers go through your home is uncomfortable, BUT not this company… and the service is fast. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM"
Xania Olivier
"Thank you for assisting us on such short notice with the inspection. The report you provided us was well structured and insightful. I would recommend Structures Initiate to anyone."
Johan van der Schyff
"The inspection was conducted thoroughly and professionally, with great attention to detail. The engineer communicated findings clearly, answered questions patiently."
Michelle Williams
"Structures Initiate delivered professional, high quality service with excellent client engagement and attention to detail and timelines."
Sean Foden
A sample of recent instructions. Clients and addresses are not named, so each is described by area and scope.
Desktop opinion · 2026
Independent opinion on whether roads, water pipelines, fencing, irrigation systems, topsoil and landscaping constitute a "building" for the purposes of section 13quin of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962. The opinion set out what makes a structure a building in engineering terms, being a permanently founded system with a continuous load path designed to resist imposed actions, and concluded that the asset categories in question are civil and site infrastructure works, distinct from building structures.
Auckland Park, Johannesburg
Assessment of existing timber roof structures for a proposed roof mounted PV system, requested by the solar contractor before installation. The roofs had been designed for lightweight corrugated sheeting and later re-covered with heavier clay tiles, with no evidence of any strengthening at the time. The calculations addressed that change in dead load before the question of the panels was reached.
Alberton, Gauteng
Design and detailing of a reinforced concrete retaining wall varying from 500 mm to 1 500 mm in height, faced in brickwork and tied through with galvanised butterfly ties at a minimum of four per m². Subsoil drainage with 75 mm diameter weepholes at 2.5 m centres, expansion joints at no more than 10 m, and a bar schedule complying with SANS 282:2011.
Midstream Estate, Olifantsfontein
Condition assessment of the hipped timber roof over a single-storey dwelling of 251.3 m², requested by the owner ahead of transfer. Solar panels run across seven roof zones, the largest cluster sitting immediately upslope of two trusses that also carry a kitchen extractor, its bulkhead and ducting on a retrofitted steel frame. The bottom chord of one of those trusses was found completely severed, with tearing at several nail-plated joints. Assessed as suitable with conditions, with props required beneath the affected trusses before any other work began.
Irene, Pretoria
Inspection of a boundary wall retaining soil off the neighbouring property, after cracking appeared through the masonry infill panels between its columns. Rather than rebuild, additional reinforced concrete columns on engineered foundations were specified between the existing ones, reducing the effective panel span from 3.45 m to about 1.7 m and with it the bending stress in the panels.
Blue Hills, Midrand
Structural assessment in support of an insurance claim, after cracking appeared through wall finishes and tiling within two to three minutes of demolition work by a neighbouring tenant. The horizontal cracking ran at a consistent level across separate rooms, tiles were cracked through their full thickness and debonding locally, and there was no evidence of settlement or progressive structural failure. Attributed to a transient disturbance affecting the building.
Noordwyk, Midrand
Visual assessment of the roof trusses, column supports and purlin configuration in order to document the findings and sign off Form 4. Three deficiencies were identified, at the column to floor connection, in the absence of longitudinal ties, and at the column to truss connection, each with the structural modification required to resolve it.
Also recently: moisture ingress and mould in an apartment, a complex perimeter wall, geyser and pool assessments, and foundation settlement in a dwelling. Temporary works and bridge projects are not listed here, because that experience was gained in previous practice rather than under Structures Initiate.
Three steps, whether it is a single geyser certificate, a condition assessment or an expert opinion.
Tell us what you need and where the property is. We will say up front whether it is something we do, what it involves, and what it will cost.
We attend site, inspect and measure what actually matters to the question you have asked, and photograph the evidence for the record.
You get the signed certificate, or the written report setting out what we found, the basis for it, and what we recommend you do about it.
Structures Initiate (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2019 by Pren Moodley, a structural engineer with close to fifteen years in the field.
He holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, is registered as a Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa, and is a member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering.
The practice works out of Centurion and takes on structural work across Gauteng, from a single roof certificate for a homeowner through to expert opinion in a dispute.
His temporary works and bridge experience, including jacking arrangements for bearing replacement, was gained in previous practice rather than under Structures Initiate. The practice offers that work; the track record behind it belongs to the engineer rather than to the company.
Every report and certificate is signed
Pren Moodley (BSc Eng, MSAICE, Pr Eng)
Phone or WhatsApp is quickest. If it is easier to write it down, the form reaches the same inbox.
