Engineer

fealeranger

Hi all, Great forum here. I am looking for advice on getting an engineer for my new house for which I have just been approved for planning. I have a guy who says he is all in for €XXXX. Should I find out what all in means exactly. I need him to draw the stage payments from bank for the mortgage and supervise the house construction. Should I get in writing if this quote involves vat and as many visits to the site as is required. Any help on this one as I have been advised to be very careful with this. The house will be a direct build so any pointers are welcome, Cheers,
Ray.:)

sydthebeat

fealeranger wrote: »

I need him to draw the stage payments from bank for the mortgage and supervise the house construction.
Ray.:)

there are generally 2 engagements

1. is for stage payment draw downs and consists of generally 5-6 site vists, and the provision of certification with building regulations at the end. it must be understood that this engagement is NOT to be considered supervision as it is only inspection of work already carried out.

2. is for a supervision role where the engineer / architect / technician actively is involved in the on site decisions of the build. this usually means either weekly or bi weekly site meetings to discuss work up and coming. There is a lot more responsibilty in this engagement which is reflected in the cost of this service


in general id advise that service 2 could be as much as 4 times the cost if service 1.

Temperance

sydthebeat wrote: »

2. is for a supervision role where the engineer / architect / technician actively is involved in the on site decisions of the build. this usually means either weekly or bi weekly site meetings to discuss work up and coming..

I would call it project management rather than supervision. And it does not come cheap. Whatever type of service you get from your engineer/architect, make sure he/she has PI insurance; get from him full cost breakdown, including anticipated number of site visits and not just "all included", sign a contract with him, detailing all services he is providing. Is he tenderring the job to various contractors?

fealeranger

He Won't be tendering to anybody. I ask because I have heard of people getting caught by guys saying that vat was not included in the price and that the drawing down from the bank is extra. I would be thinking that if the engineer is only going to call out 5-6 times it would not be a very supervised construction. I would be hoping he would take a look at least once every 2 weeks and make sure the builders are not cutting corners.

sydthebeat

fealeranger wrote: »

He Won't be tendering to anybody. I ask because I have heard of people getting caught by guys saying that vat was not included in the price and that the drawing down from the bank is extra. I would be thinking that if the engineer is only going to call out 5-6 times it would not be a very supervised construction. I would be hoping he would take a look at least once every 2 weeks and make sure the builders are not cutting corners.

have you construction drawings and a detailed construction specification??

if not then the architect / enginner has no idea about what "corners" that can be cut.
The minimum specification is compliance with the building regulations, but this certainly does not mean "best construction method".
For example architraves and skirtings might be glued to the based of plastered walls. This means that if they are ever changed or removed for whatever reason, big chunks of the plaster will come with them... so thats not a good construction method. However if there is no written construction to the contrary ie a detailed specification, then the architect / enginner has no power to direct the builder to the alternative better method.

fealeranger

I see where you are comming from. I'm not a builder so the technical bits will catch me and that is where I need my engineer to help me. I have told him what I want and there has to be some standard that the engineer will not accept. How many visits are usually needed by the engineer? If something goes wrong will he have to do extra visits to check if it was fixed after all that is what he is there for to make sure it is built properly or is he there a diffirent reason for him to be there?

fealeranger

Thanks for the advice guys. It is tough enough to do a self build and every little helps:). I got an engineer now who is going to do what I'm looking for and he was reasonable.