Hi all, I have an unsupported chimney breast in my Victorian end-terrace. It has been removed on the ground floor, but no support has been put in for the first floor chimney breast and the chimney stack. The first builder I spoke to said we would need a structural engineer to calculate how big a steel beam was needed to support the weight, and that we would need to have the work approved for Building Regs. I've just had another builder over who has suggested we remove the chimney breast from the room, and support what is left of the chimney stack with a gallows bracket in the loft (we cannot remove the stack completely, as it is shared with next door - we will need a party wall agreement). He says that for this you don't need to worry about structural engineers or building regs, I can just fill in a form to the council for Building Control saying this is what we are doing, and pay a fee. This seems too good to be true, is he legit? I have looked on the council website (we are in Reading) and they do indeed have a form as he says, and the fee for chimney breast removal is £140 - but it doesn't specify anything about how you support what is left. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks all, Theresa
He's talking about a Building notice which means that you don't have to submit detailed plans for the job, which have to be checked by BC and then the builder does the job to these specs and gets it checked by BC. A building notice is a quicker method but the works are still checked by BC and the regs still apply. It just means that the BCO can tell you what he wants done and how he wants it done and you don't have to wait for the plans to be checked, although in this case they are likely to ask for the calcs upfront.
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