Services / Structural surveys and letters of comfort
Structural surveys and letters of comfort
When you need an engineer's view of a wall, beam, crack or completed building work, our structural team inspects, reports in plain English and tells you what, if anything, needs to be done.
- FreeInitial consultationA conversation about your project, and a first view of what's possible, before any fee is agreed.
- FixedFee for each stageEvery stage is priced in writing before it starts. No hourly billing.
- 3DSee the design firstYour design is shown in 3D before it's submitted, while changes are still easy.
- FreeResubmissionIf planning is refused, we revise and resubmit at no extra design fee. Conditions
What we do
Structural inspections
A site visit to look at cracking, movement, sagging floors or a wall you want to remove.
Structural reports
A written report on what we found, the likely cause, and the repairs or monitoring needed.
Letters of comfort
An engineer's letter on completed work, such as a removed chimney breast or knocked-through wall, often asked for by a buyer's solicitor.
Steelwork checks
Inspection of beams and steelwork installed by your builder, before they are covered up.
Defect and damage reports
Reports after leaks, impact or alleged party wall damage, with repair advice for your builder.
Subsidence and movement
Investigation of cracking and movement, with monitoring or underpinning recommended where it's needed.
Structural surveys
What's included
Priced once we know the property and what you need us to look at.
- Site inspection by our structural team
- Photographs and notes of what we found
- Written report or letter in plain English
- Repair advice your builder can price
Before you start
What we need, and what sits outside our fee
- From you: the property address, a few photos, and any existing drawings, planning approvals or surveys you have. We arrange the measured survey with you.
- Not in our fee: council planning and building control fees, and specialist reports a council asks for, such as a tree survey or flood risk assessment, unless your fee proposal lists them.
- Your fee proposal sets out exactly what is included for your project before any work starts.
Common questions
What is a letter of comfort?
A letter from a structural engineer confirming that completed work, such as a removed chimney breast or a new opening, appears structurally adequate. Buyers' solicitors often ask for one when building control sign-off is missing. It is not a building control certificate, so where sign-off is needed we can also help with a regularisation application.
Should I worry about cracks?
Most cracks are cosmetic, but some point to movement that needs monitoring or repair. An inspection tells you which, and what to do next.
Other services
- Free planning check
- House extensions
- Loft conversions
- Upward extensions
- Renovations and internal alterations
- Basement conversions
- Planning permission
- Lawful development certificates
- Pre-application advice
- Building regulations drawings
- Building control applications
- Structural calculations
- Flat conversions
- Lease plans and licence to alter
- Change of use
- New builds
- Interior design
- 3D visualisation
- Energy and retrofit
- Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)
- Accessible home adaptations
- Commercial fit-outs and shopfronts
- Design consultations
- Party wall surveys
- Build over agreements and drainage
- Planning reports and statements
- Amendments, conditions and regularisation
- Planning appeals
- Conservation areas and listed buildings
- Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
- HMO planning and licensing
- Feasibility and site checks
- Measured surveys
- Building surveys
- Drawing reviews and second opinions
- Location and block plans
- Tender and construction support
- Principal designer (CDM and building regulations)
- Cost management
- Project management
- Contract administration
- Design and build
- Turnkey projects
- Landscape design
Where we work
Structural surveys and letters of comfort across London
Local planning points for the boroughs closest to our Cricklewood studio: Ealing, Harrow, Brent, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Haringey, Enfield, Barnet, Camden, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea. See all 33 boroughs.