For those who have self-built-what did your engineer do for his fee?

M

Mr Ed

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Hi,

We have rung 5 or 6 engineers for quotes for everything from planning/house design/site survey/stage visits etc. and we have received quotes ranging from 2K to 13K.... This is West Cork.

I only met with one so far and he quoted 7K for everything including pretty innovative house design. He also said he'd project manage a direct labour build for 10K extra. I have to say I was very impressed with him, he really seemed to know what he was talking about (from my perspective anyway!).

We're meeting another guy tomorrow who's supposedly going to cost around 2K so it will be interesting to see if he says he'll do exactly the same stuff for that price!

In the meantime anyone else's experiences would be very much appreciated!
 
Re: For those who have self-built-what did ur engineer do for his fee?

For those who have self-built-what did ur engineer do for his fee?

Sat in his office 8 miles away and signed the certs. It was like a night clinic. There would be a queue of fellas there with drawings. For last cert he called out to the house and had a cup of tea. 7 years ago and £300.

It has been discussed to death elsewhere about the pros and cons of each professional required at building stage, but IMO the best is a good architect (who will supervise and advise) and then your engineer to check drawings for spans/loadings, inspect foundation/finished product and of couse sign the mortgage release forms.
 
Re: For those who have self-built-what did ur engineer do for his fee?

For approx. €5,200 our engineer surveyed the land, drew up a new map based on a plot taken out of a larger field, drew up site plans, drew up our house plans, looked after the entire planning application, did a percolation test and is now signing off on each stage for the mortgage.
 

This may sound obvious, but don't even think of handing over seveval thousand to someone just on the basis of what they tell you and the impression they give.

At the very least, I'd expect:

- at least two references (i.e. satisfied customers) that you should check up on
- if you go ahead, a written agreement of some form, detailing the exact services together with their cost

Anyone competent and legitimate would be delighted to do this: if there's any hesitation at all, think very carefully.

By the way, I'm not suggesting in the slightest there's anything wrong with the person you spoke to, but especially as you don't know too much about this, I think you can't be too careful.
 
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