Which first, Architect or structural engineer?

[Controllie1]

Hi there,

I am considering having a restructuring project undertaken, whereby I will be converting a seperate kitchen and dining room into one, resiting a down stairs toilet, losing half of an integral garage to make way for a new downstairs toilet and utility room.
The question I have is, should I consult with a structural engineer before an architect to find out if and where any steels will be required to allow the architect more chance of getting drawings correct first time, or should I present drawings to the SE for him to calculate how to make the project work?

Many thanks fro any suggestions.

 

[Possel]

Find the architect first, IMO - I would expect him to know an SE. If I had my time again on my project, I would put more effort into getting the right architect right at the start.

Also, make sure that your architect knows his way around with your local authority - as an architect mine was fine, but mine did not know how to handle the local authority when problems arose.

 

[Static]

Good architect first.. as said above will pay for itself in the long run and will avoid alot of problems..

 

[^woody^]

It seems pretty basic, so even an engineer should be able to do the design work instead of an Architect or technician

Or even a designer who could be able to do any beam designs ... if you actually need any designing

 

[tim00]

I go with woody on this: an architectural technician should easily be able to design such a project. The only knock-thro seems to be between the kit. and the din room.

A trusted builder could make a site visit and sketch up what you had in mind, then call the BCO and explain job and start date, and he/she would then allow it to proceed under Bldg. Regs. Any plan/design would be for site use only.