Structural Engineer

[Mike_scotland]

Hi group,

 

Can anyone reccomend a structural engineer in the east of scotland? 

 

Can anyone share there price for a structural engineer? For building warrant stage?

 

We got recommended millards from our architect but they seem like there over charging, they wanted 4k plus vat then we told them we have already had ground survey/site investigations carried out previouslu before we purchased the land and they agreed to use that report so I expected a slight reduction in price but they have said no.... so in my eyes there charging us for something that doesnt need doing.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Mike

[the_r_sole]

did they quote for Site Investigation in their proposals? Seems strange to reduce the scope and not the costs, they will still have to interpret the si report etc but if they're not physically going to site that's a strange one...

The fees for warrant vary a lot depending on the design so it's a bit of a finger in the air question there!

We usually get three quotes for clients from structural engineers so that they can compare the costs and timescales before making a decision - How far north are you?

I'd have a look at your local building standards portal and see who's the providing the SER certificates round about, although engineers seem to cover huge areas! 

 

[ToughButterCup]

Your caution appears well advised. 

Any reason why the SE should be local? Ours is in Cork, never seen the team. Email, phone, Zoom, MS Teams, snail mail, fax, WhatsUp..... 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by ToughButterCup

[ToughButterCup]

6 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

... 

We usually get three quotes for clients from structural engineers so that they can compare the costs and timescales before making a decision - 

... 

 

Best advice

[the_r_sole]

5 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Your caution appears well advised. 

Any reason why the SE should be local? Ours is in Cork, never seen the team. Email, phone, Zoom, MS Teams, snail mail, fax, WhatsUp..... 

 

 

 

They don't necessarily have to be local, but sometimes local knowledge and experience of particular building standards departments can be useful in my experience! 

You definitely want a scottish engineer for scotland, and one who is able to issue an SER certificate 

[ToughButterCup]

I'm sure Hillard Tanner has a sporran tucked away in a drawer somewhere. 

[the_r_sole]

23 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

I'm sure Hillard Tanner has a sporran tucked away in a drawer somewhere. 

 

Out of interest, how did you end up with them?!

[Thedreamer]

Our structural engineer has since retired, but if it helps the fee was £850 (structural drawings, certificates and inspection of ground conditions).

[Mike_scotland]

6 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

Our structural engineer has since retired, but if it helps the fee was £850 (structural drawings, certificates and inspection of ground conditions).

Was he SER?

[Mike_scotland]

I'm based in Dundee, Scotland.

 

Hopefully get a reasonable quote soon.

[Ralph]

Ramsay Chalmers £1,250 + VAT

[Mike_scotland]

54 minutes ago, Ralph said:

Ramsay Chalmers £1,250 + VAT

Thanks Ralph - inhave dropped them an email.

 

1250 seems very reasonable,  what did you have him do for you?

[Ralph]

Pretty much what you see above there for steelwork and foundation. The drainage report we already had from S A McGregor but I think Ramsay were looking at £500+VAT for that. 
We did get a price from Millards as well which was a a bit more expensive. 
I think Ramsay and Chalmers went a bit overboard with the amount of steel the were asking for as do the architect and builder but then they're the experts. 

There was an additional charge of £200 when they had to come out dues to a ground issue, basically we were trying to build the garage on an old stream bed so ended up moving it.

[ToughButterCup]

23 hours ago, the_r_sole said:

Out of interest, how did you end up with them?!

 

Consistently good reports about them on this network, and background reading. Hillard published a paper on Passive Raft Design (I'll dig it out if you want). I like that commitment to professional development. And one short sentence in an email he sent.

.... (paraphrasing) we did not have to use steel sleeved concrete piles as recommended by the soil investigation , and since they were so expensive, we should consider other piling types. 

So I did, long story short, saved about 17k. 

 

It was the fact that he bothered to engage with the wider problem (unnecessary expense) that tipped the balance. 

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

@Ralph, reading this thread a bit more carefully, I note that the quote from the SE appears to assume you could be a client under CDM2015.

 

I mention this out of caution. You might be a Domestic Client, in which case the rules are different.  

[the_r_sole]

22 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

Consistently good reports about them on this network, and background reading. Hillard published a paper on Passive Raft Design (I'll dig it out if you want). I like that commitment to professional development. And one short sentence in an email he sent.

.... (paraphrasing) we did not have to use steel sleeved concrete piles as recommended by the soil investigation , and since they were so expensive, we should consider other piling types. 

So I did, long story short, saved about 17k. 

 

It was the fact that he bothered to engage with the wider problem (unnecessary expense) that tipped the balance. 

 

 

 

That's interesting, be good to see the Raft Design paper if you have it handy...

It's good to hear about engineers who think through the implications of their design (we have different engineers for different projects depending on how much thinking is involved!) Shame they aren't SER certified

[Mike_scotland]

1 hour ago, Ralph said:

Pretty much what you see above there for steelwork and foundation. The drainage report we already had from S A McGregor but I think Ramsay were looking at £500+VAT for that. 
We did get a price from Millards as well which was a a bit more expensive. 
I think Ramsay and Chalmers went a bit overboard with the amount of steel the were asking for as do the architect and builder but then they're the experts. 

There was an additional charge of £200 when they had to come out dues to a ground issue, basically we were trying to build the garage on an old stream bed so ended up moving it.

Thanks for the info, I mean what did you have done a new build 4 bedroom two storey? Or an extension sort of thing.

[Thedreamer]

17 hours ago, Mike_scotland said:

Was he SER?

 

Yes.

[Ralph]

2 hours ago, Mike_scotland said:

Thanks for the info, I mean what did you have done a new build 4 bedroom two storey? Or an extension sort of thing.

Ah, got you. It's two story new build, 150 sqm plus garage. We should be done by end of the year. 

[Mike_scotland]

Thanks guys a few emails went out yesterday I will wait and see what they all say.

[Mike_scotland]

1250 plus vat for me too, I got a few quotes all various prices for the same thing.

 

Millards- 3385 + vat

Fair Hurst- 2400 + vat

D Narrow- 2800 plus vat.

Ramsay and chalmers plus vat.

 

I like the price of ramsay and chalmers but they said in there quote - "The drawings that we produce are not construction drawings but describe a specification that can be used and developed by a competent building contractor experienced in the type of work described by the Architect" ???

 

Any ideas what that means?

[Mike_scotland]

On 18/09/2020 at 10:01, Ralph said:

Ramsay Chalmers £1,250 + VAT

Said same to me but with an added statement - The drawings that we produce are not construction drawings but describe a specification that can be used and developed by a competent building contractor experienced in the type of work described by the Architect.

 

Not sure what it means.

[the_r_sole]

On 27/09/2020 at 13:29, Mike_scotland said:

Said same to me but with an added statement - The drawings that we produce are not construction drawings but describe a specification that can be used and developed by a competent building contractor experienced in the type of work described by the Architect.

 

Not sure what it means.

 

Basically the drawings they do are only meant for warrant purposes, if you want them to produce construction information that needs a bit more information and coordination than just the warrant info - it just limits their liability, you'll find that all issues of drawings from any consultant will say they aren't construction drawings until they issue the construction set

[Mike_scotland]

56 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

 

Basically the drawings they do are only meant for warrant purposes, if you want them to produce construction information that needs a bit more information and coordination than just the warrant info - it just limits their liability, you'll find that all issues of drawings from any consultant will say they aren't construction drawings until they issue the construction set

OK mate thank you.

 

Do you need construction drawings? 

[the_r_sole]

45 minutes ago, Mike_scotland said:

OK mate thank you.

 

Do you need construction drawings? 

 

from a professional point of view I can't say no ?

 

But i've seen a lot of projects build from warrant information in the past, it's just that all the construction details might not be ironed out and properly coordinated in the warrant set so there might be some unresolved bits (usually the contractor can overcome that)