PRICING & FEES

(Read together with our T&C’s)

DOMESTIC FREE QUOTES

These are only for projects with planning permission (when required), on properties you own, and for construction (not scheme) and allow for reasonable* time in assessing your requirements and deriving a fee, (this being typically* around one to two hours)* – all other quotes are considered commercial and time charged for their production as below.

COMMERCIAL QUOTES

Where potential clients require schemes to be tested for pricing or any other purpose, then production of such fee offers is chargeable at our discretion at our current hourly rate. Typical commercial quotes types as follows.

HOME PURCHASER – FEASIBILITY / MINOR* LAYOUT CHANGE QUOTES

(*) – Removal of one to two walls etc.

A review / scheme mark up of your proposed modifications from your supplied plans (estate agents or similar) Est £125 depending on extent / complexity – larger project review charges confirmed on receipt. In all cases  followed by a scheme  assumptions confirmation  visit (if required) – See Visit Rate Map below.  Note we are not able to offer this service for loft conversions and / or the addition of further floor levels without full architects plans / elevations or unless we have undertaken a full survey / produced similar drawings – see typical rate charges for surveys/plans below.

PRE-PLANNING REVIEW / QUOTES

To structurally review / price pre-planning drawings etc,  would always be time chargeable along with any associated inspection visits required.

GENERAL NOTES

Fee offers for the relevant services we offer are dependent on whether you have professionally produced to scale building plans, distance to the site should a site visit be required (see map below), and the number of structural items requiring design. We will identify all structural items we believe you will require substantiation for Building Control purposes. Or based on your request & at our discretion provide fee offers for partial services, this on the premise that as the client you have will have these items with other competent persons – see our FAQ’s page for direction on client responsibilities.

Please note however with partial instructions, that for items required later in a hurry once your builder is on site that we cannot guarantee to work to your program.

To determine a rough estimate of any formalised fee we might produce please refer to the rates on this page.

Prices at this time do not attract VAT and depending on the complexity of your project start from those listed below

STRUCTURAL INSPECTION VISITS

The following rates are based on our pricing / travel distance map (below) & apply to all categories of visit as listed. 

Rate 1 £150, Rate 2 £175, Rate 3 £200, Rate 4 £225, Rate 5 £250 – this allows for up to 1 hour on site, further time if required, for any / all additional matters such as, soil sample field testing, tree & planting assessments, & or re-use of existing footings is time chargeable at £100/hr pro-rata to the nearest completed quarter hour.

To Progress Foundation Designs.

After instruction & to progress these matters, with the site address, we will first undertake a desk study to determine from local records the likely soil type etc and then visit.  During the visit formation level soil samples may be collected and removed for assessment. The visit charges above include the pre-visit desk study & sampling. Following the visit we will provide a brief emailed report +£100 advising the observable soil type and where possible* an allowable bearing capacity for your foundation design. (*) Note when certain specific problematic soil types / ground conditions are found for which there is no published allowable bearing capacity, advice will be given as to how to proceed.  As per our Terms and Conditions – Opening up and Trial Holes – you should agree with us first where to dig any exploratory pits, & respect that all trial pits are to be covered / protected & kept dry from the time that they are dug until our arrival on site, and thereafter should you seek a second opinion. 

To Progress Design Calculation Matters 

If such a visit is required the rate is as listed above . Inspections will initially be non intrusive, which is often adequate for purpose. However, if opening up is found to be required you will be advised at that time, and advised to book a return visit once the required structure is exposed. If production of plans is required, this is additional to the visit charge with surveying and drawing undertaken again at the rate of £100/hr – for typical prices for your property size see Surveys and Plans below, other buildings by specific agreement.

USE CONTROL WITH + or – ON YOUR KEYBOARD TO ENLARGE / REDUCE THE MAP.

CALCULATIONS – Where you have professionally produced to scale plans showing wall construction, or plans produced by us as below.

Single beams including bearing pad stones check – picking up internal walls / first floors only etc – 1st beam £200, subsequent beams £100ea

Single beams including bearing pad stones check- picking up external walls / floors and roofs etc – £200 (can be 2 beams in external cavity walls)

Masonry pier checks where concentrated beam loads arrive at reduced areas of masonry, i.e. walls between openings etc – £90

To allow you to roughly estimate design costs the following rates for additional items are used

Additional Elements per item , columns, beams, masonry checks, £100ea, specification of manufactures lintels for applied loads £55ea

Frames are sometimes required where bracing* walls or large portions of them are removed, first frame £375 subsequent frames £275ea (* these are walls that resist gravity loads as well as sway loads such as wind  – for an image click the following link – Example goal post frame

DEFECTS STRUCTURAL SURVEY VISITS / REPORTS 

(Note these are not offered as home buyer reports, although  you may choose to use them as such at your discretion).

Establishing your brief for pricing – Your brief can generally be determined if you can supply a floor plan with photos along the lines of the following link – see example

If you are unable to relay your brief to us, then please book a one hour visit (prices same as map above) for us to come out & determine your requirements & then quote .

When the brief is established, and where possible we do this pro-bono from your photos. Then defects reporting falls into two categories as follows.

1. Simple Cracking / Single location /localised  defect / ground level – Examples of simple cracking would be single location ground floor /dpc  low level cracking that can be readily identified as attributable to a singular identifiable cause (such as a tree or drain), and where the original build remains unchanged, i.e. no extensions, wall removals or any other structural modifications.

Non intrusive structural survey visit, fees are as stated for inspection visits as above, based on your stated brief, we will confirm the visit duration time in our quote. See the Terms and conditions page for levels of indemnity for the survey visit types.

Fees for Simple Cracking Reporting = Initial non intrusive structural survey visit only with verbal advice on site – time charged as stated for inspection visits, post visit supply of typed site notes +£100 or if a formal report is required for  insurer/lender etc single defect report charge  +£320

2. Complex Cracking  – Complex cracking being all cracking outside that defined above for simple. For example multiple low level cracks attributable to subsidence other than by the local causes listed above, or high level cracks  tracking through the structure caused by dilapidation etc, and/or negligent building work or alterations or any other contributory factors etc, etc.

These instances require more detailed structural survey and reporting.

Fees for Complex Cracking Reporting  = Initial non intrusive structural survey visit on site – time charged as stated for inspection visits + post visit supply of report  prices start at – £450*

(*) TBC when extent of brief established, Additional reporting or when requested obtaining 3rd Party specialist prices is chargeable at £100/hr, add approximately one  further hour for every further defect location after the first requiring inclusion in any reporting

In both categories (Simple & Complex)

• Any further work following the initial structural survey, report and singular debrief to any professional receiving our report, for example to progress an insurance claim or house purchase, or assist your builder further to the debrief, would be additional and time chargeable as above.
• If any additional defects to your stated brief are found at any stage, we will notify you at that time, and the survey visit / report extended only by mutual agreement. Extended survey visits time charged as above, as is reporting.

Fee offer example* – Complex Cracking – 2 Defect Locations, Area Rate 1 Cheltenham, 1.5 Hours on site.

Survey/Visit charge – 1st Hour £125, + 2 Completed Quarter hours £50

Written Report Charge with remediation advice, first defect £325, + write up second defect £100

Total = Visit + Report (with one debrief to your builder / insurer) = £600

(*) – The above fee example  is a guide to how we price simple cases, complex cases however are considered on a case by case basis.

Links to Example Reports follow-

Ex. Area Rate 1 Complex Cracking reports follow at the hyperlinks below, fee estimates for multiple defect reports are based typically  on 1 hour  to document / explain each defect, its likely cause(s) with recommendations as to how to proceed.

Typical Single Defect Report                      Typical Two Defect Report                   Four Defect Report – Partially intrusive