A structural engineer's job is to make sure buildings stand up - and stay standing when you change them. In practice, for most homeowners and builders, that means three things: inspecting structures and explaining what's wrong (or confirming nothing is), designing structural work such as beams, openings and foundations, and producing the calculations that approvals depend on.
The three sides of the job
- Assessment - structural surveys and reports: inspecting cracking, movement, alterations or damage and giving a professional judgement on what it means.
- Design - sizing beams, columns, floors, roofs, foundations and retaining structures so they safely carry their loads, in steel, timber, masonry or concrete.
- Approvals - producing the calculations and details Building Control needs to approve structural work, and answering their queries until it's signed off.
How an engineer differs from an architect or surveyor
An architect designs how a building looks, flows and is used; a structural engineer designs how it stands up. The two work together constantly - the architect's drawings go to the engineer for the structural design that makes them buildable. A general surveyor (such as a RICS surveyor) reports on the overall condition of a property; when their report says 'refer to a structural engineer', it's because assessing the significance of a structural defect is an engineering judgement.
When you'd hire one directly
- Removing a load-bearing wall or creating a new opening - beam calculations
- An extension or loft conversion - structural design for Building Regulations
- Cracking or movement in your home - a structural survey and report
- Buying a property with a structural question - a homebuyer structural survey
- A builder or Building Control asking for 'an engineer's details' on anything
Paddick Engineering has done exactly this work across Leeds and West Yorkshire since 1981 - if any of the situations above sounds like yours, a quick phone call usually establishes what you need and what it costs.