Anyone ever used www.expressplans.com ?

[ewans]

came across this site

http://www.expressplans.com

which looks like it provides a very competitive service. just wondering if anyone on here has any experience of using them?

i have a non load bearing butress wall seperating two rooms that i want to remove, replacing it with a steel channel and beam. i thinking that if these guys can do the nessessary calcs and drawing etc. i can submit the building warrent application myself.

ta
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[Ossy]

Never heard of them before now, but they seem to be alright.

The thing that worries me is the bit about "Certifier of Design".

I'm not too hot with the Scottish rules, but a job similar to the one you're proposing I would have thought could easily be carried out by an Engineer, with no need for any great drawings - a sketch would probably do. The price shouldn't be much different from the prices on that website, and you'd already have it designed by an Engineer, no additional costs.

If you go with them, let us know how you get on.

 

[ewans]

yeh i had an engineer take a look and advise on adding the steel to maintain stability once the butress wall is out, still waiting on his quote though and past experience suggests this will be around the £800 mark.

So £295 for the drawings and a filled out building warrent application that i just need to sign etc seems like a good deal, given that the job is really quite strightforward.

The thing that worries me is the bit about "Certifier of Design"

not sure what you mean by this? can you expand

 

[Ossy]

If you look at the section on costs and scroll down a bit, there's a bit about the possibility of having to have an Engineer certify the design (they don't seem to have any Engineer's in their company). If you're getting your own Engineer to do the calcs and just using the website for the plans and warrant then it'll be no problem.

 

[ScottishJ]

Hope you haven't instructed these guys, I wouldn't recommend them.

 

[Frances78]

Hope you haven't instructed these guys, I wouldn't recommend them.

Can I ask why?

 

[tony1851]

What is the point in having them draw the plans, if youre going to have to get a SE to do the necessary calcs?
Usually the SE will do a simple free-hand sketch showing the structural arrangement, together with the justifying figures. If you get that company to draw your plans, there will probably be a note saying " steelwork to engineer's specification" or such like.
Having said that, £800 seems a bit steep to me for the calcs. Is there a lateral stability issue with the project?

 

[denso13]

Hopefully the job's long finished by now

 

[Frances78]

I am actually interested in the guy behind express plans, a company now dissolved. He has done some work for me, but I have incurred in a few problems.

 

[^woody^]

Perhaps they weren't "express" enough from 2007?