Sophiae

But are they right for my build? The existing build is a single story bungalow with an accessible attic with nothing in the but roof on top. No conversion or intension to in the near or far future.

This was last year property maintenance services company. They provided management services to the build, so property owners didn’t have to worry about going through all of this. I’m a single parent to a disabled child. I live far from the site and I work in between to provide for us. I had and still have no knowledge of the different elements except from what I’ve read and learned these last couple of weeks with the blunder of the beam. I don’t have any money anymore to pay anyone as it was all spent last year and with all prices nearly doubled, I needed to make choices between working extra shifts to pay someone to communicate between people and overlook the builders, and buying materials that are now needed to adhere to new building regs (insulation). And other materials needed to complete the external shell of the extension so that it is closed and we can move in to save my rent money to carry on with the rest of the work whilst living there. I can’t stress enough that I am Neurodiverse (on the spectrum) and this has it’s own challenges.

I am the owner. There is no contractual relationship between the Architect and the SE. I employed both at different stages separately. Once the SE trimmed the 3m wall down to 110cm, I just worked off his instructions when it came to the walls. After all he’s the expert. And now everything is on hold when the SE tried to cover up for his mistakes. He wants us to take the steel down, rebuild those 2 side support walls and then bring it up. This is when I said stop and let me investigate why did we get here, and why did he change his mind about the support walls. And here we are.

What do these represent? The deal and live weights on the beam. How did he come up with these numbers?

So the client hasn’t said anything but to follow the SE’s instructions. The SE was asked by the builders whether the side supporting walls need to come down and rebuilt or does he find them adequate. He said they were good enough and asked for a pre cast 800mm pad-stone. That doesn’t exist, and it’s extremely heavy to lift, so how could the builders do it. When questioned, he said “I wrote or lintel” I said but there is no 800mm lintel either. Why couldn’t you just be clearer when you wrote your instructions? he made notes about digging for foundation, then he said there was no need and we can use the existing one. something doesn’t add up with this SE. I don’t know what is it.

No, employed by me. Which is why I am picking up the nonsense.

What does it mean? I trust you have gone through the thread, so reading all this, does it justify the design?

The design is the problem. The SE decided to ignore my presence in this relationship and make his choice. He picked what he said was “the cheapest” steel for me as he knew I was on a tight budget. No consult, no information, no warning of long span risks on head height, nothing. And now he is making us take down this monster because he is unsatisfied with the 7N blocks sitting underneath. he said he couldn’t tell from the pix. I asked him to please come to site as I already asked him before the beam arrived to make sure all measurements are in place. But he said he can’t. And then he changed his mind and wasting my time.

I completely agree. the builders were subcontracted from the management company. Initially the company wanted to install timber instead of steel. Building regs said no. They brought a SE design and I then said no and went to a 3rd party and paid myself. then all hell broke loose. this new team of builders are their own company, so their response was that they are not engineers to comment on the design and calculations, they stated the facts when the steel arrived and the SE was confident it would still give up over 2m head height till he discovered it was just 190.

So what does sheet 5 mean? Where did he get those from?

The SE attended and made a full survey before we sat down and talked about my desires and what was possible. He took full measurements and I made sure he knew there will be no near or far future to go up with the build, not even a loft conversion. There are few mobility issues, including steps, stairs, all dangerous around my son and I will not compromise his safety for more unneeded space. so are you saying that the extra block and brick and first floor dead and live loads all part of the appropriate calculations despite they don’t exist?

The idea was to create the largest space possible for my disabled son to avoid bumping into walls, posts and taking trips to A&E. He lacks dangerous awareness so it’s something we are working with. I didn’t specify anything at all. All I asked for the widest possible span but with a head height of 2.1m so I may be able to add any doors in the future should a need arise for it. i left it with him to do the maths. I wasn’t consulted on the design or the span or the height or the width, nothing. He simply handed this and asked for him money to be transferred to the company to give me an original copy. He didn’t even explain what anything means.

I agreed for them to be paid extra but the amount was over priced. I know it was a way to stop me from agreeing because they simply saw I am a small woman and can easily live under a 190 height. To be honest it wasn’t their fault, neither was mine, but I am the one spending money for other people’s fault. but how could they have not spotted the design fault before purchasing the steel?. now the project is on hold because they decided to cast the pad stone on site rather than a precast as per the SE’s instructions so BCO said he needs to get an email of approval. the SE said he can’t come on site to inspect the work so he wants them to break the supporting sides and rebuild again to his specs. someone is taking the **** out me here.

Yes. They have been greedy because the terms were agreed for the build and it stated any alterations will incur extra charges to be decided by the kind of change. These are different builders. Last year’s work is all coming down. BCO said it has to go. These guys only came for the job of taking down the load bearing wall, prepare for and installing the beam. I am doing a phased job due to finances. I just wanted to close the roof so I can move in.

Can anyone see that he is calculating a whole new masonry floor rather than just the loft space?

I asked the builders, they want to charge me around £3K for that. They said the beam is way too heavy to work around it. It has to come down and they need 5 of them to be safe, then work on the trusses, then lift it up. I know they’re overcharging because they simply don’t want to do it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I had a chat with another SE (friend’s husband) this morning. He agreed that SE will add a first floor in their calculations if the log is accessible. However he noted that the SE added more Block and Brick weight (doesn’t exist) which then gave him the much heavier load. whilst I understand I am not a specialist but surely you can’t assume what’s not there and then refuse to explain yourself. The SE has also miscalculated the total length of the beam and now it sits about 30cm longer on one side. Surely that defeats the purpose of balancing the weight. Unfortunately the SE is not on my side. The steel has cost me double the planned budget for it. Installing the steel has cost me double as the builders needed extra hands and tools on deck. They were not prepared for this much steel. The building has no irregularities to it. The loft is empty. I made it very clear that the budget is very tight and no future plans for expanding in any direction as there is no need for it. The builders want to charge extra thousands of pounds to lift the beam any higher as it is in excess of 550kg. They said the work on the needed to accommodate an extra 4cms isn’t worth it. The SE hasn’t offered to give me another design, his exact words were “I’ve given you the cheapest and everything else would me more expensive”. His solution was for me to negotiate my builders and reduce the £3K they’re asking. I didn’t understand a lot of your technical and scientific comments as I am mostly a visual person (neurodiverse) and find difficulty understanding things without diagrams. My frustration is beyond explaining to anyone. My heart is broken. I handed this task last year to a project manager who took money and all the new brick and block work has to go. I don’t know when is going to start. I have made it very clear, I have no issues taking anyone to civil court and point out major faults. I care for everyone I see at work. I treat them with dignity and respect. I spend time and go through the necessary information needed for them to make an informed decision. I expect everyone to do that same. We get complains all the time, we write statements and answer to our bosses, management and even our governing body. How is it that I am held accountable for all my actions, and the SE in my case needs to be petted? I feel so sad, so so sad. My son has missed out in joining a wonderful special needs school because of last year’s blunder and the way it’s going he will be missing out on joining this September too. He is going to year 3 and he still can’t do simple math addition. This is not fair.

I tried to remove it, it wasn’t possible 😞

They did. 2 Genie lifts. Oh no. I’ll remove it now. I am so upset i didn’t realise it.

I was under the impression that he did, but just discovered BCO said everything has to be redone from ground up. He only approved foundation.

Here’s his response to correct the mistake of leaving 190cm. Option 1 remove the timber plate 50mm, option 2 notch the timber above and push the beam up. can you imagine 5 big guys couldn’t life it up.

Nope, it’s not the architect that gave him the measurements, he attended to site, I was there, then he took the architectural plans, and took his own measurements. If you look at where he placed the beam, just under the roof. He even told me we can notch the trusses a bit to raise the beam up 4cm more when he was confronted with the disaster of 190cm height. I have an email and another revised drawing, so why would I need a steel this size under the roof if it wasn’t the only floor? Usually the steel will sit under the first floor. I confess I am autistic, but I am not stupid. Everything didn’t make sense since the beams arrived. When I asked him why did he present me with one option and didn’t give me choice, he said because it was the cheapest option as I was on a tight budget!!!!! He refused to take any responsibility for treating me like I didn’t deserve to think for myself and decide whether I can afford it or not. These 2 beams cost £4856 delivered.

Just ran them by a friend of a friend and he confirmed the SE has mistakenly added a first floor on top of the ground floor, hence all this mess we’re in. I am shocked, devastated, mortified. His reputation was very good and he is more than qualified not to make this colossal mistake. I feel frozen but will try and find how can I make him take responsibility for this. I am speechless.

On another note, would someone kindly turn to page 7 and tell me this “First floor” is meant to be there for a single story property? I had and have no near or distant intention to have a loft conversation or build anything above so not sure what to make of this. Or is it standard for the loft area?

The bitter sweet. All my appliances in the property were stolen by last year’s builders. I couldn’t get myself to report them to the police. I am keeping a diary and trying to find some sense through distant friends who have gone through the difficulties in their build as well. Thank you for supporting me here. I truly appreciate it.