Removing Wall - load bearing or not?

[firapara]

Hi guys,

I need to remove a non-load bearing wall (you can see that the brick on top was cut and no joists are sitting on the wall). My builder asked me to contact the council to confirm that the wall is non-loadbearing. But the council says they do not have this information.

What is the correct way to do this? Should council be able to officially confirm this?

Thanks,

 

[jeds]

The council won't help you. People normally get a builder to have a look. Maybe try another one?

 

[Alastairreid]

A decent builder or surveyor will tell you..if it is load bearing you will need a structural engineer to design a beam for you and local authority building regulations.

 

[^woody^]

A builder will tell you. You don't seem to have hired a builder.

It's nothing to do with the council.

 

[firapara]

A builder will tell you. You don't seem to have hired a builder.

It's nothing to do with the council.

I had two builder come and have a look, one said about the council another said that I need to open the ceiling next to the wall and check the joists myself. So, no, I have not yet hired a builder as I have no clear idea about what they need

 

[sxturbo]

Your posts are a contradiction.

How have you seen the bricks are cut so the joists don't sit in the wall?

If the plan is to remove the wall any way you will have to remove the ceiling around it, so may aswell smash a couple of holes in it for the builder to confirm.

That being said there does seem to be a few builders out their who would rather not say anything to remove responsibility.

A guy I work with had the same thing had 3 builders round and each one wouldn't say, in the e d he done his own research decided it wasn't load bearing mostly because the joists were not sitting on the wall, so he decided to take the wall down himself rather than mess around with dead beat builders who can't be arsed. (There is an awful lot of them about)

 

[firapara]

Your posts are a contradiction.

How have you seen the bricks are cut so the joists don't sit in the wall?

That is what the second builder told me, he said the bricks are cut and I need to open the ceiling to check the joists.

 

[sxturbo]

That is what the second builder told me, he said the bricks are cut and I need to open the ceiling to check the joists.

Oh ok,

Seems like you need to get the hammer out then to confirm

 

[^woody^]

I had two builder come and have a look, one said about the council another said that I need to open the ceiling next to the wall and check the joists myself. So, no, I have not yet hired a builder as I have no clear idea about what they need

Were they bargain basement chancers off a website?

You don't seem to understand this building lark. If you ask a builder to come to your home to quote on removing a wall and he can't or won't tell you if the wall is load bearing, then they are not builders and should be avoided.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I had two builder come and have a look, one said about the council another said that I need to open the ceiling next to the wall and check the joists myself. So, no, I have not yet hired a builder as I have no clear idea about what they need

Are you sure they were actually proper builders, rather than bodgers from the trusted bodgers web site?

 

[firapara]

Are you sure they were actually proper builders, rather than bodgers from the trusted bodgers web site?

The were from checkatrade from my area.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The were from checkatrade from my area.

Bodgers then - you need to find yourself a proper builder, there are few genuine tradesmen on those sites.