Calculations for RSJ

[Scraoer22]

I am planning to remove a load bearing wall (single brick wide) between kitchen and dining room. It supports 8"x2" timber joists for 1st floor with no load bearing wall above it only a 3" breeze block wall about 3ft away parallel to it.
The span of the opening will be 2.30m wide
I am preparing drawings myself (engineering draughtsman in former life) to apply for Building Regs approval . Can I do calculations my self ?
Will single brick wall be wide enough to support steel beam and what length of bearing will be necessary ? Building piers would be a problem due to proximity of services and kitchen cabinet layout.

Any help or comments would be appreciated

 

[Tipper]

I think you need the calcs to be signed off by a chartered engineer so will need to call in a favour!

 

[noseall]

Chartered?

You mean Insured.

 

[bpd]

I've just done a similar project for a friend who did the work under a building notice. But the BCO wanted structural calc's for the beam size and padstones.

I used this company for the calculations, hope it helps

http://www.quick-calcs.net/designs/

 

[Chukka63]

did a loft conversion not long ago and very strangely the BCO did some calcs on site for me as it didnt pan out how the engineer and architect thought it would.never seen that before and didnt ask him what he would want to be done.

 

[Tipper]

Chartered?

You mean Insured.

I mean Chartered. He will also be insured if he is selling his skills.

'Chartered Engineers' come in a variety of disciplines and are the top tier of professional engineers working in the UK.

The calculations can easily be done by a A-level student but will not carry the necessary assurance of an experienced appropriately qualified engineer.

 

[noseall]

Chartered?

You mean Insured.

I mean Chartered. He will also be insured if he is selling his skills.

'Chartered Engineers' come in a variety of disciplines and are the top tier of professional engineers working in the UK.

The calculations can easily be done by a A-level student but will not carry the necessary assurance of an experienced appropriately qualified engineer.

Will a chartered engineers calc's be better than a non-chartered engineers calc's then?

If so how will they differ?

Will the underwriters not insure a non-chartered bod?

 

[Shytalkz]

Will a chartered engineers calc's be better than a non-chartered engineers calc's then?
Regarding the various levels of qualified engineers, there is no reason why they should necessarily be so. There are plenty of incorporated engineers who are as good as, if not better than chartered ones, but either through lack of quals/time/interest haven't gone and got themselves chartered. Having held both qualifications, I know it from both sides of the fence; indeed working with some chartered engineers whom I considered to be complete turds was one of the reasons that pushed me to do my degree and get chartered.

If so how will they differ?
They wouldn't or shouldn't, beyond giving five different incorporated/chartered engineers the same question and getting five variations on a theme.

Will the underwriters not insure a non-chartered bod?
They will and do, but the premiums and/or excess will be greater for an incorporated engineer cf a chartered one. If you don't have any formal professional engineering qualifications, you can forget about insurance.

 

[noseall]

working with some chartered engineers whom I considered to be complete turds was one of the reasons that pushed me to do my degree and get chartered.

Eloquent, simply put, beautifully arranged, in a nutshell.

Cheers Shy.

 

[jeds]

did a loft conversion not long ago and very strangely the BCO did some calcs on site for me as it didnt pan out how the engineer and architect thought it would.never seen that before and didnt ask him what he would want to be done.

I think I would be tempted - just for a laugh you understand - to contact the BCO and tell him there has been a major problem and your insurance company is askling for his PI details. As I said, just for as giggle.

 

[Chukka63]

well he saved me a lot of hassle as the architect,who sorted the engineer/regs was a total tosser.so this stopped his pockets being lined for a phone call to his engineer.

 

[dave54321]

Just found this on the net:

www.beamcalcs.com/instant

I was thinking of using it, is it OK?

Cheers,

Dave

 

[Shytalkz]

Well he's not a qualified structural engineer [ABE like to masquerade as structural design experts when they are not] and he doesn't mention if he has PII. I'd be surprised if the structural solutions that he provides are the most economical for a given situation: for £50 a pop, not too much thought is going to go into it.

He has probably bought TEDDS or somesuch software to allow him to design the beams and, if he has a pc failure, he'll be completely fu<ked as to how to do it manually. In short, a number-cruncher. Comparing those and qualified SEs is like comparing apples and oranges.

He's not offering a services that's really any different from what any consulting structural engineer offers. It's ok for straightforward stuff, but even straightforward stuff can turn out to have problems, which are only solvable following a site visit. And a straight £50/beam can actually end up costing you more than would be the case for a few beams on a time charge basis from an SE.

Like most things, you get what you pay for; but, go use a monkey by all means.

 

[Scraoer22]

I found this site and had a look www.localsurveyorsdirect.co.uk

Put details of my project onto enquiry form and received a list of 6 local Structural Engineers by return.
Within 2 hours I received 4 estimates, ranging between £75 - £330 +vat
I spoke to all 4 and discarded the 2 cheapest as they didn't want to come to inspect the job before doing calcs.
I have an engineer ( Yes I did check - he is Chartered and has PII) coming next week to look at the job, and he is OK with advising on me preparing plans myself for submission and doing supporting calcs for £200 +vat.
Seems reasonable to me. What do you think?
I will let you know how it goes

Thanks for input

 

[Shytalkz]

I'm registered with them - but you're outside my catchment area .

Seems alright for a quick visit, measure up and a beam/bearing calculation.