RSJ Certification - Load Bearing Wall

Dont Be at It

Hi folks,

Is it mandatory to get an engineer's certification when breaking through a load bearing wall and putting an RSJ in place?
Pretty much all the advice in here is that you should. However an IT article from 2013 (ww.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/property-clinic-1.1316252) states that it isn't mandatory and that certification can be gotten down the line if the house is being sold (although maybe this has been tightened up in the intervening years?)
It's pretty much a non DIY (and hence relatively costly) job if certification is required at the time of construction..

Penn

Dont Be at It wrote: »

Hi folks,

Is it mandatory to get an engineer's certification when breaking through a load bearing wall and putting an RSJ in place?
Pretty much all the advice in here is that you should. However an IT article from 2013 (ww.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/property-clinic-1.1316252) states that it isn't mandatory and that certification can be gotten down the line if the house is being sold (although maybe this has been tightened up in the intervening years?)
It's pretty much a non DIY (and hence relatively costly) job if certification is required at the time of construction..

Certification isn't the big issue. The issue is design. How do you know the RSJ you're planning on installing can take the load? Have you properly calculated all the loads going onto the beam? Have you properly designed the bearing details and requirements?

Certification is usually for the design of the beam. The engineer certifying that they designed the beam and all associated details as agreed with the client. An engineer at a later date can check what size beam you put in and see if its sufficient, but chances are they'll look to create holes in the wall or ceiling to check the bearing details, and if it's not right you could spend a lot more remedying it later. You'd be far better getting it designed by an engineer now.

Dont Be at It

Thanks Penn.
The plan is to knock through the wall between the living room and kitchen (step or two down to kitchen) and insert a door opening. So the beam would be going into the wall at about a 2m height. The bricks between ceiling and top of steel beam would be staying in place.

From browsing this thread, a ballpark price for engineer, builder, materials, and works seems to be 2.5k for a job of this size. Does that figure sound about right?

Penn

Dont Be at It wrote: »

Thanks Penn.
The plan is to knock through the wall between the living room and kitchen (step or two down to kitchen) and insert a door opening. So the beam would be going into the wall at about a 2m height. The bricks between ceiling and top of steel beam would be staying in place.

From browsing this thread, a ballpark price for engineer, builder, materials, and works seems to be 2.5k for a job of this size. Does that figure sound about right?

If all you're doing is creating a door ope in the wall rather than essentially removing the wall altogether (eg. to make two rooms into one), then depending on the width of the door (single or double doors) and the width of the wall, you might not need an actual beam at all. A precast concrete lintel might suffice.

An engineer might just be able to assess same from just a site visit, which might negate the need for structural design and certification altogether.

Dont Be at It

Thanks, Penn.
Perhaps the 2.5k estimate is over-egging it so! I guess the next step is following up with an engineer, regardless!