Structural Calculations Drawings

[IronMike]

Hi 

 

I am based in Hertfordshire and have quoted £1500 + VAT for these drawings. 

 

This seems quite expensive. 

 

How much has everyone else paid for these drawings? 

 

Recommendations appreciated. 

 

Cheers 

[JohnMo]

We were £1200 +VAT in 2020.  Depends on building size and complexity.

[Miek]

How many calculations? ( should be on the architects drawings).

 

[nod]

We were 750 foundation design steels 

Floors and roof 

Happy to pass on 

Your SE doesn’t need to be local to you 

[Gus Potter]

5 hours ago, IronMike said:

Hi 

 

I am based in Hertfordshire and have quoted £1500 + VAT for these drawings. 

 

This seems quite expensive. 

 

How much has everyone else paid for these drawings? 

 

Recommendations appreciated. 

 

Cheers 

What are you proposing to build?

 

If you could provide more info you'll get much better feedback on what you maybe need to pay (fair rate) to get your requirements met.

 

It may be that your project is really simple, maybe one simple beam and some written specification. But if more complex then finding the right SE will often save you money in the long run. SE's do a lot more than just calculations and over mark drawings. Experienced ones (SE's) have a wide range of knowledge for example.. how different Builders work, they can pitch the design to make it easy for the type of builder that you maybe have in mind and this often results in an overall saving.

 

Remember that a good tradesperson will cost about £1200.00 per week each. An SE can easily save you that amount if they put the thinking time into your job. But if you have a race to the bottom then the SE will give you a low price, over design, caveat the drawings heavily and you will pay more later at the end of the day.

 

A point I always make is that a good SE who understands your project can often easily save you more than their fee, sometimes a lot more on top of that, if you get them in early in the design process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IronMike]

It is only for a chalet bungalow. 

 

I was also confused why not included with the architects drawings and needs additional drawings. 

[IronMike]

12 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

What are you proposing to build?

 

If you could provide more info you'll get much better feedback on what you maybe need to pay (fair rate) to get your requirements met.

 

It may be that your project is really simple, maybe one simple beam and some written specification. But if more complex then finding the right SE will often save you money in the long run. SE's do a lot more than just calculations and over mark drawings. Experienced ones (SE's) have a wide range of knowledge for example.. how different Builders work, they can pitch the design to make it easy for the type of builder that you maybe have in mind and this often results in an overall saving.

 

Remember that a good tradesperson will cost about £1200.00 per week each. An SE can easily save you that amount if they put the thinking time into your job. But if you have a race to the bottom then the SE will give you a low price, over design, caveat the drawings heavily and you will pay more later at the end of the day.

 

A point I always make is that a good SE who understands your project can often easily save you more than their fee, sometimes a lot more on top of that, if you get them in early in the design process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Gus 

 

Is a chalet bungalow. 

 

We not looking for the cheapest, just wanted to ensure fair price as didn't anticipate requirement for the additional drawings. 

 

Thanks 

 

IM

[Shire2020]

Mine was a little cheaper for a large extension, multiple steels etc. By a little, I think total bill paid was about £1400

[DevilDamo]

How does it compare to other quotes you’ve had… assuming you have done that?

[IronMike]

59 minutes ago, DevilDamo said:

How does it compare to other quotes you’ve had… assuming you have done that?

 

Only quote so far, hence why I was checking it was roughly the going rate. 

[Gus Potter]

On 20/06/2022 at 09:21, IronMike said:

 

Hi Gus 

 

Is a chalet bungalow. 

 

We not looking for the cheapest, just wanted to ensure fair price as didn't anticipate requirement for the additional drawings. 

 

Thanks 

 

IM

Hope this helps.

 

If it's a chalet bungalow then you may stand back in the garden, look at the roof and think.. hey there is not much load to hold up there.. and often you would be correct, thus a simple beam would be in order.

 

The vertical loads on a typical chalet of (normal construction) are easily calculated and the design is simple. As the loads are small then often you don't run into difficulty working out how to support the point loads from the end of a beam. All the SE needs to do is talk to the Architect to understand what is required, see if the drawings they have can be overmarked without requiring other details particular to the structure,  determine the vertical load, specify the beam say and over mark the Archictect's drawings. Maybe all done for £500-£750

 

But..the first thing the SE will do is to look at the size of any openings you propose to the external walls and see how they will impact on the sideways stability of the building. Next they will look at whether you are removing any internal walls and if these walls, although probably not load bearing (on a chalet the roof tends to span over the external walls) are contributing to the stability of the external walls (lateral restraint) and / or contributing to the overall horizontal stability of the building (racking / shear wall) .. so it does not blow over in the wind.

 

Last but not least. If you have a say masonry walls then perhaps on the rear elevation you have a window and a door at the moment. Quite often folk want to lower the window cill and put in French doors. This leaves a slender piece of masonry between the now the new doors and when you check this it often fails under horizontal wind loading. The concept here is that if you are turning a wall that is connected to a return wall (thus stiffened up one vertical edge) into a stand alone column then this needs close examination.

 

For the curious. Often when these houses were built say in the 60's they had good solid metal / timber window frames that stiffened the masonry and the original designers took advantage of this when designing the walls. These get ripped out and replaced with uPVC or Aluminium. The modern windows are isolated thermally and are fixed with slender brackets thus no longer stiffen the masonry. This means that you can't just use the original design assumptions of restraint to the masonry.

 

If horizontal stability is an issue the SE now has to do a lot more work and drawing. The £1500 can be justified in this way.

 

Hopefully this helps you form a view on the fee level.

 

All the best with the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IronMike]

Thanks for the detailed response Gus, much appreciated.