How to find a structural engineer?

[AlanRickmansRightFoot]

I need a structural engineer to assess a wall and confirm if it's load bearing (hoping to move it).

Any dos or donts when finding someone? I haven't been able to get any personal recommendations unfortunately.

There is some guidance on appointing a structural engineer here

www.istructe.org/downloads/general/engaging-structural-engineers.pdf

Members directory is here and you can search by area

www.istructe.org/finding-a-structural-engineer/members-directory

Given the nature you probably want a small one man band type of company with someone local. Larger firms will just be too expensive.

You could always call local architects and ask for recommendations too.

You should be able to tell if the wall is load bearing by looking in the roof and by lifting up the carpets and seeing if joists span on to the wall.

You could also look at the institute of civil engineers as they may have guidance too. If you use a small practice make sure they are chartered as they won't have extra people to check the calcs like you would in a larger firm MIStructE or MICE

L
Good luck

Thank you so much, exactly the sort of advice I was looking for.

If you've recently bought the house look at the floor plan provided by the estate agent, if the ground floor and first floor walls are in the same position it's usually load bearing. (Obviously there are are always exceptions).

This is a good site too:

www.findanengineer.com/

You can search by specialism (you'll want Domestic: Lofts/Conversions/Knock Throughs). Not everyone is on there but at least you can narrow it down to what you want.

How old is the house? Sometimes you get lucky and can find drawings from the planning application through the planning portal. Possibly a long shot but I know I've lucked out a few times in the past. If it's a newer build I might be able to help more if you PM me.

Thanks so much all, it's a 50s build Harrison, haven't been able to root out any info about it at all in terms of build, it's on a WW2 bomb site but that's all I've found. I got in touch with someone local through the link you gave and they've already given me the process, rough cost etc, so that has been great!

Hi all,
I am a Structural engineer, I may be a little late to the party but their is great advice here.
My best advice is use the institution of structural engineers search engineer;

www.findanengineer.com

The engineers and consultancies listed on here all have at least one Chartered or Incorporated Engineer in their practice meaning they have endured the Institution of Structural Engineers tough 7 hour exam and interview process.

If anyone has any questions feel free to email me

[email protected]

Hopefully this is helpful.
George.
Www.howestructuralconsultants.co.uk