Where you place a column and how far you stretch a beam decide how long a building lasts. Nodaform automatically calculates the load on the columns and beams you place in your plan; it paints any inadequate member red on the plan, tells you why, and shows you what to do.
When you press the "Show structural results" button, the plan turns into a check sheet. Columns and beams are colored by utilization ratio, with the percentage written on them. Each column's tributary area is outlined with a dashed line; the centers of mass and rigidity are marked.
Columns are drawn solid with a cross, beams as a light band with dashed edges, so they stand apart from walls and from each other at a glance. In the 3D view, beams are also a different shade from columns.
In the Shell step, pick the Column (C) and Beam (B) tools from the Structure group. Columns snap to wall corners and beams to column centers; you can change their sections as you like in the right panel. When you copy a floor, the structural members come along too.
Press the button at the bottom of the Shell panel. The grade, the most loaded column and beam, and the torsion and seismic ratios appear in the panel; colors and percentages appear on the plan. When you move a column or delete a beam, the result changes instantly.
The list of findings also gives suggestions: "add a column underneath", "add an intermediate beam", "rotate the columns 90°". The grade rises as you fix things. When you're ready, print the tables and formulas with "Load calculation report" and go to your meeting with the engineer well prepared.
Load travels from slab to beam, from beam to column, and from column to foundation. The check follows this path and shows where it breaks or is overstressed.
Each column carries its share of the surrounding slab and of the load coming from the floors above. This load is compared with what the section can take; minimum column dimensions (30 cm side, 750 cm² area) are checked too.
Columns divide a beam into spans; a part with a free end is calculated as a cantilever. Bending, shear and deflection limits are checked separately, and the load of any secondary beam resting on it is added.
The span the slab covers between beams is measured, one- or two-way action is determined and the required thickness is found. The finish load is added per room (parquet, ceramic, marble); balconies are checked separately as cantilever slabs.
A column on an upper floor with no continuation below, a beam joint with no column underneath, a wall resting on a slab without a beam: every place where the load cannot reach the foundation shows up as a separate finding.
The center of mass and the center of rigidity are marked on the plan; the further apart they are, the more the building twists in an earthquake. Columns all facing the same way also leave one direction weak; both are measured.
The seismic force is roughly estimated from the building's weight and height and compared with what the ground-floor columns can resist. If the number or size of columns is insufficient, it warns you early.
How well a building stands up to earthquakes and time depends largely on where the columns stand, how far the beams span and whether the system is balanced in both directions. These decisions are made while the draft plan is being drawn, before an engineer is involved. If a column deleted to enlarge the living room, or columns all lined up in one direction, are noticed later, the plan has to change from scratch; if they go unnoticed, the building stays weak.
Türkiye is an earthquake country. That is why thinking about the architectural draft and the structural system together is not a choice but a necessity. The structural pre-check brings this thinking into the drawing itself: the moment you move, delete or resize a member, you see the result.
This tool helps you ask the right question at the start of the design; it does not have the final word. A building's safety also depends on reinforcement, foundations, soil and workmanship, and only a licensed civil engineer can calculate and sign off on these. A structural design is mandatory for permits and construction.
Nodaform doesn't hide this limit: every assumption and formula it uses is stated clearly in the report's "Method" section. Results are simplified to stay on the safe side; a green member does not mean "no calculation needed", while a red member must always be addressed.
Draw columns and beams, set their sections and see them in 3D. Structural results, the colored plan and the report are locked.
The full structural pre-check: grade, colored plan, list of findings, assumption settings and printable load calculation report.
The full structural pre-check, in the same project as Pro's DXF export, unlimited sheets and shared editing (Editor access).
The full structural pre-check, together with voltage and load simulation, BIM and the column–wiring clash check.
No. The pre-check tests the rough layout of the structural system at the start of the design: is the column enough, is the span too long, is the slab too thin. It does not calculate reinforcement, foundations or soil. A structural design prepared by a licensed civil engineer is mandatory for permits and construction.
The column axial load limit, minimum column and beam dimensions and seismic load are based on TBDY 2018 (Turkish Building Earthquake Code); slab thickness and beam shear and bending limits on TS 500; live loads on TS 498. Every formula used is listed in the report's Method section.
It starts at 100 points and drops according to each type of finding: an inadequate column, an unsupported beam or an unsupported slab costs the most, borderline values less. Members flagged for the same reason count as one group, so a single wrong assumption cannot wipe out the grade on its own. A system with an inadequate finding gets C at most.
A beam divides the slab's span and carries the wall above it. When it's deleted, the slab has to span further, the required thickness increases and the load on neighboring beams grows; the wall also rests directly on the slab. Each of these appears separately in the list of findings.
Yes. Concrete class (C20–C35), slab thickness, occupancy type (residential, office/school, commercial/storage) and seismic hazard are chosen in the panel; story height and slab thickness come from the “Project heights” card in the right panel (per floor). The moment you change them, the results refresh and are saved with the project.
Yes. Each room's floor finish (laminate, solid parquet, ceramic, marble, carpet, epoxy) loads the slab below together with the screed and ceiling plaster; finish loads are shown in color in a separate plan view. Balconies are checked as cantilever slabs: 5 kN/m² live load per TS 498, the railing load, a thickness of at least ℓ/12 per TS 500 and a beam along the supported edge. For containers, instead of the reinforced-concrete check, corner alignment when stacked, overhanging ends and side openings are checked.
The Plus, Pro and Ultimate plans. On Free you can draw columns and beams and see them in 3D; the check, colored plan and report unlock with Plus.
Open a free account and draw your plan and columns. With Plus, the same plan is tested in one click and weak spots are marked in red.
No credit card needed · No install · Paid plans are paid through Paddle