Saving money on structural costs
Re-Structured’s James Nevin explains how a technical sense-check can help you avoid costly over-engineering
Taking on a home building project is a major investment in terms of time, energy and – of course – cost. When it comes to delivering value for money, the structural design phase is key. So, it might surprise you to learn that, traditionally, one engineering company will provide all of this important design work, and it almost never gets reviewed by a second engineer. For instance, on a £50,000 rear extension scheme, we identified overdesign issues that saved the client 700kg of steel. At £5 per kg, that worked out to £3,500.
The core structural elements of a project include the following: