Process FAQ
Do I need a separate structural engineer?
Almost always yes for extensions. We coordinate with a partner structural engineer; their fee is a separate ~£800-£1,500.
Almost always yes for extensions. We coordinate with a partner structural engineer; their fee is a separate ~£800-£1,500.
You need structural calculations for any work that changes load paths — which is effectively every London extension and loft conversion.
Removing or altering a load-bearing wall, forming a new opening, adding a floor in a loft, building an extension whose roof or wall bears on existing structure, underpinning, and excavating a basement. Building control checks the calculations against Approved Document A before approving a full plans application.
Load take-down from roof to foundation, beam sizing with bending and deflection checks, padstone and bearing design where a steel lands on masonry, connection details, lateral stability, and foundation design including any tree influence on shrinkable London Clay.
The output is a calculation package, structural drawings and a beam schedule the contractor and the steel fabricator work from.
Because the beam schedule and the construction sections have to agree. Where the engineer and the designer work separately, the classic failure is a steel sized for a load path the architectural drawings later changed — discovered on site, at the worst possible moment.
Once the layout is fixed. Starting structural design before the plan is settled produces rework and a second fee.
How do i need a separate structural engineer? plays out in Brent: London Borough of Brent (Brent Council) maintains 22 conservation areas, the Queen's Park Conservation Area and the Mapesbury Conservation Area among them, and an Article 4 direction is in force there, so permitted development cannot be assumed. Anyone dealing with do i need a separate structural engineer? at a Brent address is therefore working to a £548 householder application decided in 8 weeks, or a £249 prior approval over 6 weeks where do i need a separate structural engineer? still qualifies. are the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the GPDO 2015 and the Building Regulations 2010.
| Our structural calculations | |
|---|---|
| Governing document | Approved Document A |
| Checked by | Building control |
| Typical output | Calculations, drawings, beam schedule |
| Complete package | |
| Prerequisite | Fixed architectural layout |
No. They check calculations; they do not produce them.
Almost always, because opening the rear wall changes the load path.
You can, provided the calculations are coordinated with the approved drawings.
Pick a slot that suits you. No obligation and no sales pressure, just straight answers on your planning route.
