ETABS model check tool

sazeh is an online checker for ETABS models. You upload the .e2k text file that ETABS exports, and sazeh runs its own analysis and checks the building against the seismic, loading, reinforced-concrete and steel codes. ETABS does not have to be installed. The result is a calculation sheet, a 3D view that shows the status of every member, and, where a change of section can fix a failed clause, a corrected model.

sazeh is a check that runs beside ETABS and does not replace it. Its analysis engine is not ETABS, so a number can differ from the ETABS number. No formal comparison with a reference program has been made yet, and the limitations page says so.

How to export the file

In ETABS, use File, Export, Save Model as .e2k text. The file is plain text. It is read on the server, and nothing is run on your computer. The steps after the upload are on the workflow page.

What is read from the `.e2k` file

Units. The units of the file are read, and stresses are converted from the unit of the file. A model exported in kN and m stores stresses in kN/m², and treating that number as MPa would make every check pass, so a material whose values are impossible is rejected before analysis.
Geometry. Joints, frames, areas (slabs and walls), stories and diaphragms. Two nearby points that ETABS merges within its merge tolerance are merged here by distance.
Sections and materials. Only the materials that members actually use are examined, because an export carries the whole default library with it.
Loads. Load patterns, their type, area loads (including the uniform load sets that ETABS keeps in a separate table), line loads and joint loads, and the load combinations.
Seismic patterns. If the file gives no direction for an earthquake pattern, the direction is determined separately and a guessed one is printed in the import report as "assumed".
Wall piers. The pier label is the only way to attach wall forces to a wall, so a wall without a label receives no force and its row stays "deferred".

What is not read, and is reported

Everything that the import cannot use is listed in the import report, so that nothing is dropped silently:

Rigid end zones are counted and reported, but they are not modelled.
The self-weight of a steel deck sheet is reported and not modelled; the concrete over the deck is.
The penthouse is never guessed. You declare it, and the declaration changes only the height, the storey count and the mass irregularity exemption.

ETABS model checklist: what is checked

Item	What sazeh does
Mass source	Compares the seismic weight with the live-load share of the code table. A mass source that counts only dead load underestimates the base shear.
Seismic weight and base shear	Builds the equivalent static load and prints the weight of every storey.
Accidental torsion	Applies the 5% eccentricity of clause 3-3-7.
Storey drift	Checked at the diaphragm corner. See the drift page.
Irregularities	Torsional, soft storey and weak storey, from the analysis results. Six geometric clauses are not yet checked.
Overturning	Clause 3-3-8, with the condition and the source printed.
Beams	Flexure, shear, torsion and the stirrup spacing of the critical zone.
Columns	Axial-flexure interaction, biaxial interaction, shear, slenderness and the strong column, weak beam ratio. See the column page.
Steel members	IPE beams, box columns, local buckling and second-order amplification.
Shear walls	In-plane shear, flexure, reinforcement ratio and boundary element.
Design coverage	How many members were actually designed. A member that was not designed is never counted as passing.

What comes back

Every row of the sheet carries a clause number and one of five statuses: met, not met, deferred, not designed, or information. The sheet starts with the answer and counts in members, joints and storeys, not in rows. The calculation sheet is currently written in Persian; the web pages and the 3D view are available in English. The full list is on the features page.

Upload your ETABS .e2k model and get the calculation sheet.

Start the calculation