Our structural engineering process

What it costs

You see a fixed price for your project before you commit. There is no hourly rate.

Two things set the price: the structural work in your project, and the delivery date you choose. A later date costs less. An earlier date costs more.

Three things that can change the price

Here they are up front, so none of them arrives as a surprise.

1. Instant quotes are scope reviewed by an engineer.
2. One change request is free on every job. Changes after that are priced before anyone commits to them, and always cost less than a new quote.
3. Some findings cannot be priced up front. If the ground needs engineered foundations, such as piles or a raft, that design is quoted separately. Standard pad and strip footings are included.

It works the other way too. Building control may ask for a structural element we could reasonably have foreseen but did not quote for. If so, we provide it at no extra charge.

A site visit is not included as standard. You can add one when you order, and its price depends on where the property is.

When you get it

You choose the date. There is no standard turnaround: when you order, you pick the delivery date that suits your project, and the price follows the date.

Your quote comes first. Answer a few questions and an instant quote is emailed to you. Send drawings instead and an engineer prices them, with the quote reaching you within 1–2 working days.

What happens next

1. Getting started

Tell us about the project. Answer a few questions for an instant quote, or send your drawings for a manual one.

If you are not sure what you need, say so. If we don’t think the job will work from drawings alone, you hear that straight away.

2. Your quote

Your quote arrives by email, with a link to your quote page. It shows the price, what is included, what is not, and how the price changes with the delivery date.

3. Your date

Choose your delivery date, then order. You can pay by card or bank transfer, or split the cost with Klarna.

Your project hub opens when you order. It shows what is happening now, what is next and anything we need from you, with your drawings, documents and invoice alongside.

4. Your documents

An engineer is assigned to your project and introduces themselves. Before the calculations begin, you have a short video call with them to go through the design.

We work to the date you chose. Your calculations and contractor pack are emailed to you and kept in your project hub.

5. Your aftercare

Aftercare covers building control and the build itself.

You submit the building control application with our calculations. If building control has a question about the structure, it comes to us, not to you. Answering it costs nothing extra.

How long the decision takes is up to the authority. In England, an authority must decide a full plans application within five weeks. It can take longer if you agree to that in writing (Building Regulations 2010, regulation 14A(6)).

Our calculations are 100% approved by building control. If yours are not approved, you get a refund, as set out in our terms and conditions.

If building control asks for a change, or what is found on site is not what was drawn, use your free change request. Anyone working on the project can bring a structural question to us.

What you receive

• Structural calculations for building control: the full calculation document they ask for, covering beams, columns, joists, rafters, masonry piers and the foundations under them.
• A contractor pack for whoever builds it: a structural layout showing what goes where and what size, with diagrams they can work from on site.
• A ground conditions check for your site, built into the foundation design.
• A video call with your engineer before the calculations begin.
• One free change request.
• Your project hub, with every document, your invoice and what happens next.

What is not included

Your quote covers the structural calculations building control should need for the work in your drawings. These sit outside it:

• Architectural drawings, such as dimensioned room layouts and window positions.
• The building control application itself. You submit it, and we answer the technical queries that come back.
• Elements a manufacturer or contractor normally specifies: pre-fabricated roof trusses, engineered joists, beam and block floors, balcony balustrades and timber-to-timber connections.
• Engineered foundations, such as piles or a raft.
• Garden and landscape retaining walls, which sit outside a building regulations application. We can quote for these separately.
• Details needed only for a water authority build-over agreement, unless we had the drainage layout and levels when we quoted.
• A site visit, which you can add when you order.

If anything on this list affects your project, ask us before you order.

The same process for every project

We are based in Manchester and work on houses across the UK. More than 9,000 projects since 2012 have run through this process, from a single wall removal to a whole new build.

How the work is checked at each step is on how we check.

Tell us about your project