STAAD Foundation Advanced 2026 (v26.00.00) Release Notes

Release Date: June 2026

Version: STAAD Foundation Advanced 2026

Version Number: 26.00.00

Download and Installation Instructions

Installation files for current and past STAAD Foundation Advanced releases can be downloaded from the Bentley Software Download page. After signing in, the STAAD Foundation Advanced installers can be located by selecting STAAD in the Brand menu and clicking Apply or searching for STAAD Foundation in the Product Search box.

This version of STAAD Foundation Advanced can also be installed through the CONNECTION Client update service or through the Structural WorkSuite Hub.

This version can be installed side by side with the previous versions.

Please refer to the Installation Guide for any help with installation. Please refer to the Systems Configuration Guide for system requirements.

New Capabilities

STAAD Foundation Advanced 2026 includes the following new capabilities.

Design to Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1:2004)

All the existing foundation types - isolated, combined, pile cap and mat foundations - can now be designed in accordance with Eurocode 2 Part 1 (EN 1992-1-1:2004). This enhancement enables a comprehensive solution for the analysis and design of foundations for buildings and other framed structures compliant with Eurocode 2.

This implementation provides the following key features:

• Design for bending and crack width.
• Checks for one-way and punching shear.
• Generation of both summary and detailed design reports.

Stability checks to Eurocode 7 (EN 1997-1:2004):

The bearing and sliding checks of shallow foundations - isolated, combined and mat foundations without piles - can now be optionally performed in accordance with Eurocode 7 Part 1 (EN 1997-1:2004).

The following are the key features of this implementation.

• Automatic selection of the partial factors for action, materials and resistance based on the user-specified Design Approach along with the generation of favorable and unfavorable load combinations for the checks.
• Automated calculation of bearing capacity in accordance with Annex D, based on the user-specified drainage conditions and properties of the soil.
• Generation of detailed calculation report based on EN 1997-1:2004, for the bearing and sliding checks.

 

Technical preview features:

STAAD Foundation Advanced now includes the following AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities as technical preview features.

Bentley Copilot:

An AI-driven assistant tool is now available to help perform modeling, analysis, and design through natural language user commands. The tool is designed to improve the usability of the application, especially for new and less experienced users.

Integration with other AI agents:

STAAD Foundation Advanced now supports a native MCP server that can be used to activate key functionalities—modeling, analysis, and design—through natural language commands via external agents such as Anthropic Claude. Like Bentley Copilot, this integration enhances the overall usability, especially for new and less experienced users.

Please refer to the following link for details on how to use this integration with Claude.

Enhancements: 

STAAD Foundation Advanced 2026 includes the following enhancements and minor changes.

• Updated flexure design report: The flexure design report has been updated to display the reinforcement information in the format bar_dia@spacing c/c, in addition to the already displayed reinforcement area per unit width format.

• Pile cap effective depth modification: The pile embedment depth is now considered for the effective depth calculation of pile caps and mat foundations with piles.

• Modified punching perimeter view 1: The application has now been enhanced to show multiple punching perimeters within a search radius, if they exist. Previously, the program displayed the critical punching perimeter only.

 

• Modified punching perimeter view 2: The view of the punching perimeters has been updated to show the perimeters of only the selected objects associated with the punching shear check. Previous versions showed the punching perimeters of all objects of a given foundation leading to visual clutter in certain cases.

• Resizable popup boxes: The popup boxes are now resizable. In previous versions, it was not possible to view all the information that was made available in the boxes as the size could not be adjusted.

Defect Corrections:

• Issues with reading pile-punching related information for mat foundations (with piles) while reading STAAD Foundation Advanced files. These issues prevented pile punching checks from being performed in previous versions.
• Incorrect shear stirrup spacing calculations for pedestals. This affected all pedestal designs.
• Issues in strip force calculations of combined foundations resulting in wrong forces being displayed in the strip force graph.
• Load reporting issue where foundation self-weight was not displayed in the analysis report. However, the load calculation was not affected.
• Issues with optimization of isolated and combined foundations resulting in unrealistic foundation thicknesses or application hang.
• Issues with program-generated meshing of foundation resulting in poorly shaped analytical elements in a few cases affecting analysis results.
• Issues in settlement calculation and reporting of allowable settlement values when imperial units were used. The reported allowable settlement values were significantly higher than specified.
• Issue with design force results being dropped without any warning message when the reinforcement diameter assigned to the foundation was unselected. This resulted in leaving the user unaware that results were dropped.
• Display issues with multiple properties in the design strip property window of combined foundations. These resulted in partial and confusing information about design results.
• Classification issue of load combinations as Service or Ultimate, imported with classification None. The edit window to classify the load combination was greyed out in a few cases preventing reclassification.
• Issue with Fix Level settings in the Configure page. The user choices were flipped when isolated, combined or pile cap foundations were created.
• Issues with changing mat specifications after an initial design.  The design was not performed after a redesign was attempted.
• Isolated issues that prevent saved models from opening.
• Issue with the Fix Level settings in the Configure page. The user choices were flipped when isolated, combined or pile cap foundations were created.
• Issue with the application preventing re-specification of net safe bearing capacity. The program issued an error when this was attempted.