Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback, reading through the comments I'll check these off with the structural engineer.
One thing to point out, I made a major balls up here, the length is not 2.7 metre, it's in fact 3 metre knock out - meaning a beam requirement of 3.48 metre for 150mm bearing and 12.5mm x2 plasterboard etc.
Fortunately the correct details were specified with the structural engineer.
Would most of the comments stil stand with this new information? I.E Beam/pad size as mentioned in this thread.
Thanks for the support.