Structural calculations in Newham

Flats, houses and what each needs

47.1 per cent of households live in a house, and only 30.8 per cent own their home, so much of the housing is rented and many homes are flats. Typical structural work includes opening two rooms or adding a rear room to a terraced house.

In a terraced house a common job is a wide rear opening where the old back addition meets a new extension. The calculation has to decide whether the existing flank wall can carry the new bearing or needs a pad. In a flat, the question is what the wall supports above.

Our survey records the make-up of each wall and floor above and below an opening, so the engineer can check loads on actual construction.

Flood level and ground floor structure

The council's local plan sets a flood-related rule for basement access, even though it asks for no basement impact assessment. The entry reads: Basement access/egress 300 mm above flood level.

A rule like that shapes what structure is sensible. Ground-bearing slabs, damp-proofing and the level of any new opening to the garden are decided with flood risk in mind, and our calculation records the floor level assumed. If your home is in a flood zone, mention it on the first call.

Newham's heritage and extension record

Newham has 9 conservation areas and 21 entries on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, and a listed house needs its own consent for structural alteration.

The council granted 6 larger home extension prior approvals in its latest return, and Green Belt covers only 2 per cent of the borough, so for most addresses the plot and the neighbours set the limits, not Green Belt policy.

Householder decisions in Newham

In its latest published year Newham decided 388 householder applications, granted 86.9 per cent and decided 97.2 per cent within eight weeks or an agreed extension. Our planning drawings in Newham set out the permission stage for a project that needs one.

Choosing who prepares the calculations in Newham

You have three options: the council's own engineers, a structural engineer you appoint yourself, or calculations prepared with your drawings by us and coordinated with an engineer. There is no wrong answer, but there are trade-offs.

An in-house service is convenient, because one department handles design and examination. Whoever designs a member, independent checking is good practice, and it is one reason a second technologist reviews every set we issue.

Preparing the calculation alongside the drawings has its own advantage. Every change to an opening is made once, in one model, and flows to the plan, the section and the schedule, so the beam in the calculation is the beam on the sheet. Whichever route you choose, ask for the calculations in writing before work starts.

Fee, package and revisions

For a Newham house we charge from £295 including VAT, a fixed sum after a look at the address and the work. The set consists of calculations, a schedule for the steel merchant and a layout sheet, checked by a second technologist.

Changes asked for by the examiner are revised at no extra cost, and the figures run straight into the building regulations drawings in Newham.

Close by

Newham's neighbour Redbridge has a different fee structure for the same jobs. For the borough overview see architectural drawings in Newham, and for national guidance on beam sizes read the structural calculations guide.