how much do structural engineers charge

lady123_2

Hi i want to knock through a partictian wall from my back reception/dinning area through to my small kitchen to make one big kitchen dinner, not sure if the wall is load bearing so need to hire a structural engineer, have been quoted £500 plus vat, does that sound correct?

sneekymum

That sounds expensive for a simple beam calculation.

It depends where you are (of course)

- and whether there's more to it than you think - perhaps you wanted to trim the wall back flush and not little wall lengths to carry the beam? ....maybe there are issues about the wall's foundations? ....perhaps there are extended liabilities - for example if there is a flat above which might suffer damage should the engineer get it wrong?

Get some more quotes.

belsh77

Hello lady123,

I am a structural engineer, the quote price does seem a bit steep although I am based "UP NORTH" suppose down south prices will be higher. If you have not spoken to you local council building control yet I would get in touch to see if they could advise you as to what extent of calculations they would expect for the building control submission. They you can have a clearer brief to give to a structural engineer to get a 'firmed up' fee.
Try this resource for structural engineers in your area, http://www.findanengineer.co.uk/
also a 'one man band' will be cheaper than a medium sized firm of structural engineers, but please make sure that whomever you employ carrys some 'PI' insurance to cover yourself if anything were to go wrong!

frostyspice

Get some more quotes, I paid £200 + vat in Portsmouth area last year for a report on strengthening the roof structure of a 200-year-old house.

windym_2

I paid £485 plus VAT for 2 sets of structural quotes for a roof and rsj support. I was billed for 8 hours work. I don't think this is too bad, this was in Cornwall.

martindow

The going rate here (Devon) is about £60 per hour which is charged for travel, time on site and writing up. We ended up paying nearly £300 for a half hour visit.

belsh77

I think that you should be able to get it done for £40 / hr, thats what we charge say a full days work i.e 8hrs £320 + Vat.
Have you got an architect on board? They should have some contacts!