get my own engineer for extn

RobAMerc

Hi folks,

I am getting in a couple of lads for quotes on work at the moment.
The first 2 lads suggested I have my own engineer spec out the steel and concrete and sign the work off.
One fella says he will deal with the engineer directly.

He also says he is happy for me to pay for materials directly and only pay him in stages for the work as its completed. No up front payments for anything I didnt get.

Does this sound normal ?

Fozzie Bear

RobAMerc wrote: »

Hi folks,

I am getting in a couple of lads for quotes on work at the moment.
The first 2 lads suggested I have my own engineer spec out the steel and concrete and sign the work off.
One fella says he will deal with the engineer directly.

He also says he is happy for me to pay for materials directly and only pay him in stages for the work as its completed. No up front payments for anything I didnt get.

RobAMerc wrote: »

Does this sound normal ?

Yes in a word.

I am in the middle of a full major renovation at the moment and what you asked above is exactly what I had to do and am currently doing. Builders wouldn't even quote me until I gave them spec'd drawings because of the structural works involved. Lots of steel and removal of supporting walls in my job aswell as re-wire, plumbing and velux windows.

Once I had my builder in place he said it was fine if I wanted to buy stuff myself such as doors, floors, kitchen, windows etc and if I wanted to, plaster board, insulation material etc. I could organise fitting myself or he would do for me. As it happens I left the building materials to him to source and buy while I bought the internal doors, floors, tiles, kitchen, windows, stove and I am doing the painting and decorating afterwards too.

I didn't have to give him any upfront payments either, not that I would have! He is about 5 weeks into it and only last week finally gave me his first invoice. There are about another 5 weeks work left so he said he will want one more payment before a final payment at the very end when my engineer has signed off on the works. My builder deals directly with the engineer too. No point having me in the middle if I'm not needed. Any smaller problems or questions the builder has he will ask me obviously. Otherwise he talks to the engineer.

For my engineer I paid 1200+vat to do a full survey of the house and site, prepare all the drawings etc for and sort out my planning permission.

For doing up the actual tender & spec drawings for the builders, unlimited site visits during works, prep of mortgage paperworks, and final sign off & cert of compliance cost 900+vat.

Gumbo

RobAMerc wrote: »

Hi folks,

I am getting in a couple of lads for quotes on work at the moment.
The first 2 lads suggested I have my own engineer spec out the steel and concrete and sign the work off.
One fella says he will deal with the engineer directly.

He also says he is happy for me to pay for materials directly and only pay him in stages for the work as its completed. No up front payments for anything I didnt get.

Does this sound normal ?

its your obligation as a home owner to engage the required professionals, be it an engineer, architect or surveyor, so that is completely normal.

You need someone independent from the builder, that will stand for you and will instruct the builder on any structural/detailed elements.

The last thing you want is the builders engineer coming in and saying everything is fine, pay the builder his next stage payment so that the builder can pay his engineer.

Independence is key here in my opinion.

RobAMerc

thanks folks.

Helpful as ever. kceire, you are not paid enough here !

umop apisdn

I thought the regs were being changed so that you don't need all this certification for one off self builds ?

Gumbo

umop apisdn wrote: »

I thought the regs were being changed so that you don't need all this certification for one off self builds ?

Not yet it hasnt.

And irrespective of the Reg change, if you require structural work done then you need an Engineer, doesnt matter how good a handy man you think you are, you are not qualified to design, inspect and certify structural elements on a new build or extension.

Certification will always be required, always, whether its for compliance with Building Regulations or Planning Regulations, you can be sure that at some stage in the houses lifespan, the cert will be required.