Wall removed without building regs! Terrified!

[Putdownthecake]

So I will start by saying me and my partner are useless and also clueless at all things DIY. We've just had a partial wall removal, around 3 meters width and 2.3 height? 30cm of wall left remaining either side and lintel at the top. Work is not yet complete. We went through a proper company, with a shop and read lots of reviews etc.

When quoted man said its not load bearing, there is no wall directly above it. His subcontractors turned up today. Removed part of the ceiling and said the beam needed was supporting floor joists. So was load bearing? I've had no building control or structural engineer come out. I had no idea I even needed them to as it was not said today. I am truly so scared my house is about to collapse. It is propped up apro posts at the moment and a lintel resting on the remaining bricks that weren't removed. I have tried to get through to the builders and can't. I will keep trying.

I even received a message earlier saying as lintel used was more expensive that one quoted for, I needed to pay an extra 480. Company quickly backed down when I said no.

Please advise

You can enlist building control yourself, it is dead easy. You fill in a form. Pay a fee, book a visit for them to attend.

Your builder sounds like he has made a massive error, the key is how he fixes it.

Pm me if you want more info/advice in building control. I do apps daily for my job

The acro props. Will be fine. They can hold a huge amount of weight for such skinny looking things.

Here’s some holding up a section of the roof on my house.
As long as they are installed correctly there is no need to worry.

@Terminallysleepdeprived thank you so much, I will tomorrow. I thought he'd made an error too. But I only realise today when speaking to others about the work done so far. I did consider if the extra payment he tried to get was to apply for building regs but disguised as lintel cost. I wish I wasn't so dumb with all things diy.

@chumleymouse I'm more worried about when they come down! :( thank you for the photo! I'll attach one of this tomorrow

They won't come down until the steel is installed? It'll be fine.

@GreyhoundG1rl but surely the steel should have had a structural engineer to confirm size and that type stuff??

If acro props have been installed correctly nothing will collapse now.

Before anything else happens you now need a structural engineer to assess the gap to see how big a steel you need to span the gap to support what’s above, and to plan how/check the steel will be adequately supported. As far as I am aware the steel calculations have to be done by a structural engineer to be compliant with buildings regs, but I could be wrong here. We have used a structural engineer both times we’ve done this to absolutely avoid any doubt.

The structural engineer will write a report which will tell your builder what size steel & what support it needs.

You do also need building regs, this is relatively easy to apply for yourself. You will need the structural engineer report first and they will want to inspect the work at certain points whilst it is being carried out in order to be able to sign it off.

No need to panic but you do need to have a clear talk with your builders about how to proceed before they do any more work.

OP, @IncyWincySpiderOnRepeat has said pretty much word for word what I was going to say!

Our structural engineer came round first and did the calculations/report - he sent it to us and we attached to our building reg application. I would say though - our building regs fee was about £800! So not cheap.

Our builder actually put our steel beam in today!

You can ring your local building control up and explain. It’s not been replastered yet so it’s fine.
Phone up some structural engineers and they’ll come out and have a look and give you a beam calculation
Don’t panic it can all be sorted.

You've been given absolutely the right advice here. Great that you'll be able to take action to rectify this. We had structural engineers report and building control involved in removal and support for a very large stone inglenook fireplace. Our builder was saying it wasn't necessary but my husband insisted. It was a vital part of proof for the full structural survey our buyers commissioned when we sold. It's a totally straightforward process, but you will have to budget for the extra costs.

Thank you all so much, I am worried sick but relieved it can be sorted. How on earth could they have allowed this to happen!? They've got a great reputation. The steel beam is in. Just not plastered over. I will keep trying to get through. I think their work phones are off but am due an electrician on Monday so I know they'll be in touch. There is absolutely no way this current work is compliant. I am so annoyed at this situation! I'll try attach a photo

Am I just supposed I know I need building regs/structural engineer? Surely the builders could have mentioned this and said book one in before the work. They didn't realise till yesterday it was load bearing. I explained I don't have much knowledge of home improvements etc. Just worrying if this is my fault

An experienced builder is probably perfectly able to get the size of lintel required right. However unless he's using a private building control firm to sign off on the work, you'll need to follow the advice you've been given upthread in order to get building control sign off from the council.

There's no point beating yourself up over this - just get it sorted.

Thank you so much everyone!! And what a lesson I've had!! Be an interesting phone call when I get through

Definitely take lots of photos, including where the lintel is sat on bricks. You'll hopefully never need them but they could come in handy (we had to get retrospective building regs some years ago so that was when they came in useful for us).

Some councils have preset steel sizes depending on the size of the gap-saves a lot of money on structural engineer costs. Phone them and find out.