Five things we are asked to do, done properly.
Every engagement produces the same three things: a survey you can rely on, an analysis a second engineer has checked, and a drawing pack building control will accept. What changes is the scale.
01Structural Surveys
Cracking, sagging floors, bowing walls, a survey flagged on a purchase, or a builder who has found something unexpected. An engineer attends, measures, and writes a report that says what is happening, whether it matters, and what to do about it.
- Defect and movement diagnosis
- Pre-purchase structural opinion
- Subsidence and crack monitoring
- Remedial scheme design and costing input
02Extensions
Rear, side return, wrap-around, loft and roof extensions. The structural question is almost always the same: what is holding the back of the house up once you take the wall away, and how do you get the steel in without the neighbours noticing.
Includes party wall award input, temporary works advice for your builder, and a steel schedule the fabricator can price directly.
03Planning Applications
Planning officers ask structural questions long before building control does, particularly on basements, listed fabric, and anything that changes a roofline. We supply the statements and evidence that answer them before they become a refusal.
- Structural method statements
- Basement impact assessments
- Feasibility studies before you commit
- Heritage and conservation input
04Roof Structures
From cutting a trussed roof about to make a loft usable, through to long-span timber and steel roofs over halls, workshops and atria. Green roofs and rooftop plant change the loading substantially, so we check the whole path down to the foundations rather than just the rafters.
Truss modification, purlin and ridge beam design, flat roof and terrace conversion, green roof loading, solar array support.
05Load Bearing Walls, Beams & Foundations
The core of residential structural work. Removing a wall, sizing the beam that replaces it, checking whether the padstone and the wall below can take the point load, and deciding whether the foundation needs deepening or underpinning before anything else happens.
- Wall removal and opening formation
- Steel and glulam beam design
- Pad, strip, raft and pile foundations
- Underpinning and foundation repair
What does a beam calculation cost?+
A single beam with a site visit typically sits between £450 and £750 plus VAT. Multiple openings, a loft conversion or anything involving foundations is quoted on scope after we have seen the drawings. Fees are fixed, not hourly.
Can you work from an architect's drawings alone?+
For simple work, sometimes. But existing buildings rarely match their drawings, and a survey is the cheapest insurance against a beam that does not fit. We will tell you honestly when a visit is not needed.
Do you provide a party wall award?+
We provide the structural information a party wall surveyor needs, and we can recommend surveyors we work with regularly. The award itself is served by the surveyor, not by us.
Will you visit site during construction?+
Yes. Inspection visits at foundation and steel stages can be included in the fee, and many building control bodies prefer it. Ad hoc phone advice while your builder is on site is never charged.
Do you issue models as well as drawings?+
On commercial work, yes. Native Revit models and IFC exports are issued for coordination, along with the STAAD.Pro analysis output where a client’s own engineer wants to review it.