Contractor vs construction engineer

randomi15

Hi all,

I have got a construction engineer to do the calculations to support my chimney in loft while removing it from the first and second floor

Engineer charged me a decent sum and gave me a drawing which shows the model and type of still which should be used however not the legnth of the steel

Contractor is saying that is not my job and it should be on the drawing from engineers and vice versa

Do engineers need to specify the exact legnth of any beam etc?

Doozergirl

Our structural engineer doesn't put the length. I presume because the opening isn't exactly set until it's made and they can't be responsible for the builder's size of opening.

Building regs require a certain depth of overhang to comply so it's easy to work out if you know what you're doing.

System

where you are doing alterations beams are generally site sized - the engineer should have a minimum bearing distance (usually 150mm) for the beam but the length would measured by the contractor on site

brightontraveller

So are are they just removing first/ second floor of chimney breast but leaving below and above that’s a strange way to do it ?

teneighty

The structural engineer should have specified the "span" of the beam to do his calculations. The builder then just has to add the span (width of opening) and the end bearings to get the overall length.

It sounds like the engineer has not provided a copy of the calculations which you will need to submit to Building Control.

Mocha61

My daughter had this work done last year,the structural engineer did not advice the length of the rsj, he said this was for the builder to calculate, seems its normal practice.