Structural Engineers - They got it wrong!!!

cyclonebri1

RJS86 wrote: »

"Late Saturday evening it was the point of no return, the wall was down." - Sounds like they finished the job to me.

I don't see how the fact it was a "whole beam" makes that any less the builders fault. Surely it must have been easier to spot and flagged up before the whole wall is down. That's not saying it's not the SE's fault but in these circumstances some care should be taken by all parties.

To me a beam that runs over the top of the wall sounds peculiar. I'd expect a trimmer to perhaps be sat onto it, but a beam that passes over the top of a wall and sit onto the same wall making it load bearing makes no sense. I might be missing something but I don't think we know enough to go around calling them mickey mouse and co.

"The disgusting part was they said "They probably missed it as they just did a visual inspection . . . . E.G looking at the floorboards and saying "Yep, its fine" . . . I could have blimin' done that!" - what preparation / opening up was done prior to the SE turning up? Most consultants aren't going to turn up on site with a crowbar, screwdriver etc to lift the floorboards. If they are already loose then fine but they are not builders and probably aren't insured to carry out that work.

Obviously the engineers are still at fault but I think some of the criticism is harsh. I would recommend the OP takes it to the IstructE. The company should probably look at how they communicate with their clients to ensure they understand the limitations of their work and what they could do to aid their inspection.

That was my mistake I took the OP's statement;
"Late Saturday evening it was the point of no return, the wall was down. I looked over the area and something seemed a little odd . . . a fairly chunky beam was sitting where the wall had been."
to mean a longitudinal beam, infact it was the end of a beam as they detailed later, so that clears that up.
I do accept that someone should have spotted this but If you have ever taken a wall down, the end of a plaster encrusted joist looks very much like a brick end, especially when you have been advised all is fine.:A


There is another point I'd also make as it's unclear.
I thought from the 1st post the OP was doing this job him/themselves? the words "we had knocked the wall down" was used.
But later after it was discovered they state "So in the end I contacted builders to come around and check the beam who all said they are not sure and we really need to get it investigated asap"

Op didn't state they contacted their builder, and the words "all said" is a little confusing, it infers several people looked at it??

Not trying to cast any doubt on you OP, just trying to clarify the exact situation as RJS suggests.;);)