Costs for structural survey for subsidence

[Monkey533]

nc as this will out me as its totally taking over my life at the moment but, can you all give me a quick reality check as to the cost for a proper strucutral survey by a structural engineer (as opposed to a home purchasers report)? The site neighbouring ours is being redevelopmed with a large residential unit. We believe this has caused some landslip/subsidence in our propoerty but our insurance states we aren't covered so we need to get our own research done first.

We are in London, and I wasn't expecting this to be cheap, but we are being quoted £200/hour and told t expect around 10 hours of work.

Does this seem right? And if so, is it too late for me to retrain?

Wow I am an Engineer I am thinking of moving to London based on that . I don't know London costs sorry but I guess it depends on the scope of the works. My suggestion is get 3 prices and if 2 are close then that is the going rate. Best of luck.

I wonder if your case is anyhow special. When I was looking for structural surveys, the prices was around 800-1000 pounds. South London.

I think the case is somewhat special and a certian level of expertise is needed. We are having trouble finding other specialists to quote as most seem to do just hte standard property reports and not have the strucutural subsidence expertise we need. :(

Really Monkey that is surprising. I would have thought most small structural engineer practices who engage in smaller projects including work on one off houses would be engaged in this kind of work. It does not sound very specialist but it would be work done by a structural engineer and not a building surveyor which may be who you are asking. It sounds like you suspect that your neighbour's work undermined your foundations. Have you spoken directly to the contractor about your concerns? Building control in your local council might be worth a call if you are getting no luck.

Most smaller Structural engineering consultancies should be able to advise on this. You could look at smaller Civil Engineering consultancies to see if they have a structures department. My DHs firm does, for example, but they are not London, although they are at the "northern" end of the Metropolitan line! Structural Engineers never do standard "structural surveys" they always do a report on particular areas of concern where a surveyor is not able to say what has happened or what needs to be done.

I think 10 hours work would include a site visit, possibly having your house monitored and a specification for the remedial work. If it is just for a visit and a diagnosis, 10 hours is a bit heavy. There are far fewer structural engineers than civil engineers, for example, because it is a more difficult qualification to acquire (MIStrcuctE). Look upon it as having a "consultant" surgeon look at your house. After years of training and exams, £200 an hour would be the going rate for any other top professional who has business overheads and a massive insurance premium to pay each year.

That is MIStructE!!!

Thanks Milly, glad to know it is the going rate. (Though, for the record, I have years of training, multiple degrees and certificates, business overheads and liability insurance in the millions, but despite being an expert in my field I'm not able to charge anywhere near that amount. Hey ho, as I said, maybe time to start retraining ;) )

I think we paid about £350 for a structural engineer (Cheshire) to come visit us privately.

We didn't have a proper survey done, and when we moved in DH walked around with a heavy heart, looking at all the cracks in the plaster, bow in the gable end wall and issues with the brickwork.

The SE was worth every single penny for the peace of mind he gave us. He was here for a good 3 hours or so. I found him by asking our builder for a recommendation.

Hope that helps