Frequently asked questions.

Most cracking in buildings is minor - thermal movement, shrinkage or settled making-good. The signs an engineer looks for are width and pattern: stepped or diagonal cracking, cracks wider than a few millimetres, cracks that keep growing, or cracking matched by sloping floors and sticking doors. A structural survey gives you a definitive, written answer rather than a guess.

No. A RICS homebuyer or building survey is a broad condition report on the whole property. A structural survey is an engineer's inspection of the structure specifically - it is usually the document a mortgage lender or surveyor asks for when they say 'seek advice from a structural engineer'.

We survey across Leeds and roughly 25 miles in every direction - Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Harrogate and the surrounding towns. If you're outside that area, ask; we regularly travel further for larger inspections.

It depends on the size of the property and the scope of the concern - a single-defect inspection costs less than a whole-building survey. We quote a fixed fee up front once we know the address and the issue, with no obligation.

Our reports are prepared by experienced engineers and are routinely used in property transactions. If your lender has a specific requirement - for example that the report addresses a particular defect raised in the valuation - send us their wording and we'll make sure the report answers it directly.

The survey is the inspection; the report is the written document you receive afterwards. In practice the terms are used interchangeably - either way, you get an engineer's inspection and a written report.

The lender's valuation is a brief check that the property is worth the loan; even a full RICS survey is a general condition report. When either flags a structural issue, they refer it to a structural engineer - that referral is this survey.

Yes - with the agent's and seller's consent we can inspect at any stage. If a property has an obvious structural question, an early answer can save you a wasted conveyancing spend.

They're closely related. 'Homebuyer' surveys are usually prompted by a specific concern raised during the buying process; a pre-purchase survey is commissioned proactively by the buyer. The inspection and report are similar in depth - the trigger is different.

Almost certainly, yes. Any extension involving new openings in existing walls, beams over openings, foundations or roof alterations needs structural calculations for Building Regulations approval. Your builder can't sign that off themselves - Building Control expects an engineer's design.

Yes - that's one of the most common ways projects come to us. We take the architect's proposed drawings and produce the structural design and calculations to suit, coordinating directly with the architect where needed.

It depends entirely on scope - a single beam calculation is a few hundred pounds; a full house structural design is more. We quote a fixed fee up front, so there are no surprises.

Yes - any structural alteration (new beams, wall removals, new floors, foundations) requires structural calculations as part of your Building Regulations application, whether it's full plans or a building notice.

Straightforward domestic packages are typically fast - we confirm the exact timescale when we quote, and we're used to working around builders' start dates.

Yes, this happens more than you'd think. We can inspect, design retrospectively where the work is sound, and produce the calculations Building Control needs to sign the work off.

Building Control will ask for calculations, so a guessed beam still needs an engineer to check it - and retro-checking an installed beam that turns out undersized is the expensive version. Getting calculations first is quicker and cheaper.

Yes - bearing design is part of the package. The beam is only as good as what it sits on, and crushed masonry under a beam bearing is a classic defect we see in surveys.

Yes. Trees and shrinkable clay are the most common reason domestic foundations get complicated. We assess the tree, the soil and the proximity and design a foundation (or justify an existing one) accordingly - often saving significant dig depth over a rule-of-thumb answer.

Yes. We submit the package, field the plan-check queries and revise details where required - through to approval. You (or your builder) deal with the site inspections as the build progresses.

Both. Local authority Building Control and registered building control approvers both accept our packages; if you don't have a preference we'll advise what suits the job. Paddick's long LABC relationship - including an LABC Partnership Award - reflects how much of this work we do.

You can apply for regularisation - retrospective approval. It usually involves opening up parts of the work for inspection and providing engineer's calculations for structural elements. We regularly inspect and produce retrospective structural justification for exactly this situation.

Timber-frame extensions need Building Regulations approval like any other extension. Carports are more nuanced - many open-sided carports under 30m² are exempt, but conditions apply, and planning rules are separate. Ask us before assuming an exemption.

Yes - a large share of our development work is small sites: a house or two on a garden plot, infill sites, small commercial units. The same disciplines apply at every scale, and small sites are often the ones that most need efficient engineering.

You'll need a build-over agreement, and usually drawings showing how the sewer is protected - often lintels or a design that keeps loads off the pipe. We produce build-over details regularly and can handle the application with the water company.

Only if the ground infiltrates - which much of West Yorkshire's clay doesn't. A percolation test answers it definitively. Where soakaways won't work, we design attenuation with a controlled discharge instead; planning authorities accept this where infiltration is demonstrably unviable.

As a rule of thumb from standard guidance: 1:40 for low flows, or down to about 1:80 where the run serves at least one WC. Flatter gradients are achievable with designed systems, but that's an engineering decision, not a default.

25mm of drop per metre of pipe run. Over 6 metres, that's 150mm.