Why you should not choose a SE based on price only:

My wife and I are having a ground floor kitchen extension built on our Victorian mid terrace house in XXX. I have attached the plans and structural calculations. The extension has involved a knock through with steel I-beams installed into the ceiling of the existing ground floor.

After the steel installation and load transfer was completed, I noticed that the bathroom floor (above the existing kitchen) had dropped by about 10-15mm, leaving a gap and causing the shower to leak. I felt unhappy about the work and called my structural engineer and building control. Building control have demanded that a structural report is completed along with a structural plan to rectify. 

We urgently require a survey so that we begin remedial works.  Our current structural engineer is unfortunately unwell so cannot attend. Could you please look at the attached and let me know if you would be able to come out as soon as possible to complete a report... 

The general title “engineer” is not fully protected in the UK. 

Clients should consider qualifications, relevant experience, professional registration, checking procedures and the quality of the proposed service—not price alone.

 Spending on quality structural engineering equates, in many cases, to saving the professional fee entirely if over-costs during later stages of the project are taken into account.

Some clients are not aware about the risks of modifying structural elements without thorough design checks and quality control.

Structural engineers will see the developing site and not much more.