Frequently asked questions

No. A Specific Structural Inspection (SSI) looks at one issue or one area, for example a single crack, a bay window or a porch. If the problem is limited to that area, the SSI is the right choice.

If you are not sure the problem is isolated, a General Structural Inspection is the safer option.

Full descriptions are in our client guide.

Usually a GSI. It covers the main structure and lets our engineer put the surveyor’s comment in context. If the surveyor’s list is long, or the house has a loft conversion, cellar or extensions, choose the CGSI.

We cannot diagnose from a photograph, but the when-to-call-an-engineer check on our home page gives a rough idea from the signs you can see. If in doubt, email us a photo with a ruler next to the crack and we will say which inspection fits.

Only the Mortgage Structural Inspection (MSI) is written for a lender. It answers the specific points the valuer raised, in the format lenders expect, and is reviewed by a chartered engineer. We regularly write them for buyers with Barclays, Santander, Nationwide and other lenders. The lender makes the lending decision; the report informs it.

An insurance structural report. It is a GSI or CGSI with the insurer’s questions answered: past movement and repairs, whether the house appears stable, and whether earlier works appear to have worked. It does not guarantee a lower premium; that is the insurer’s decision.

Every inspecting engineer holds a master’s degree in structural engineering; not all are chartered. A chartered structural engineer (MIStructE or MICE) reviews every MSI, and a chartered inspection or chartered sign-off of any report is available on request for an additional fee, confirmed in writing before the visit.

No. A RICS HomeBuyer or Building Survey covers the whole property, including services, damp and finishes. Our inspections are structural only, carried out by a structural engineer, and are what a surveyor means when they recommend “a structural engineer’s report”.

Your quote gives the exact price in writing before you book, and that price is the total you pay for the services it describes. As a guide, a Specific Structural Inspection starts from £380 plus VAT, a General Structural Inspection from £490 plus VAT, a Comprehensive inspection from £620 plus VAT and a Mortgage Structural Inspection from £840 plus VAT. Larger houses and some areas cost more. Current guide prices are on our prices page.

No. All prices are quoted plus VAT at 20%. The payment request shows the total including VAT.

Quotes are based on a standard three-bedroom house. Each additional bedroom adds £100, because a larger house takes longer on site and in the report. We also take account of how busy the diary is and the local property market, so two quotes for similar houses can differ slightly.

No. We are not the cheapest firm in London. Our fees allow the engineer proper time at each property and in the report, which is what you are paying for.

Occasionally we offer a time-limited discount to clients who have had a quote but not yet booked. If you have received one, the price and its expiry are in that email.

One site visit of 45 minutes to 2 hours, one written report (or email findings for an SSI), photographs, our opinion on the cause and seriousness of what we find, and recommendations on repairs, monitoring or further investigation. Repairs themselves are carried out by your builder.

Anything that needs opening up, lifting or digging; services, damp and drainage; roof coverings; areas we cannot safely reach; and detailed design or calculations. These are quoted separately if you need them.

No extra is ever added without telling you first.

Inspections are paid in full before the visit. Design projects (beam calculations, extensions) can be paid in stages, which the quote sets out.

1. Tell us about the property and what you have noticed, by email, phone (020 3983 5057) or the contact form.
2. We send a free, no-obligation quote with prices and available dates, usually within the hour during office hours.
3. Reply with the ten booking details below.
4. We email a secure payment link. Payment confirms your booking.
5. Our engineer visits on the agreed date.
6. You receive your report.

Billing name, billing address, phone number, property address, number of bedrooms, house or flat, leasehold or freehold, the level of inspection you want, a short description of the issue, and the estate agent’s name, phone and email if they will give access. Any survey report, valuer’s letter or photographs are helpful too.

Usually within a few working days; the quote lists the next available dates. Weekend visits are available for a small extra fee. If you need the report by a fixed date, say so when you book and we will tell you whether fast track is needed.

Yes, for a small extra fee (from £80 plus VAT). Weekday visits are at the standard price.

Yes. Once payment is received we send a booking confirmation with the date, the arrival window and a reminder of how to prepare.

We pencil the date in when you send your booking details and hold it until the payment is due. Payment in full is required at least 24 hours before the visit; if it has not arrived by then, the slot may be released to another client.

By card or bank transfer through the secure payment link we email you. We do not take card details by phone, and we never ask you to pay into a bank account that is not on our payment link or invoice. If you receive bank details that look different, call us on 020 3983 5057 before paying.

An adult needs to be present for the whole visit, or you can arrange for the estate agent to open up. If keys are to be collected and returned, there is a £35 key fee.

Yes, and this is the usual arrangement. Send us the agent’s name, phone number and email with your booking details and we will confirm the arrival time with them directly.

Usually 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the size of the property and the level of inspection. We give you an arrival window rather than an exact time, because visits earlier in the day can overrun.

• Unlock every room, side gate, garage and outbuilding, and tell us about anything that cannot be opened.
• Move furniture and belongings away from cracked walls. Our engineer does not move furniture.
• Make sure the lights work in every room, the loft and the cellar; a torch alone is not enough.
• For a loft: the hatch opens freely, a ladder is in place, and the boarding is safe.
• For a cellar: safe stairs, lighting and dry access.
• Keep pets secured and let tenants know we are coming.
• Tell us about hazards such as asbestos, unsafe floors or a long-empty property.

The full checklist is in our client guide.

Any RICS survey, valuer’s letter, insurer’s correspondence, earlier structural reports, plans or drawings, and photographs of cracks over time. For leasehold flats, the lease or managing agent’s details help.

No. Inspections are visual and non-intrusive. Nothing is lifted, opened up or dug unless agreed in writing beforehand, and we do not climb onto roofs or use ladders outside. Roofs are viewed from the ground, windows and the loft. We do not crawl into eaves or step on unboarded joists.

It is recorded in the report as “not inspected” and we are not responsible for defects there. A return visit to see it later is charged at £180.

If access is not available at the agreed time we arrange a new date. Waiting on site for more than 45 minutes, or returning because areas were not ready, costs £180.

Normally not, unless agreed in advance. The inspection covers your flat and what can be seen of the structure from it.

Yes. Our engineer will talk you through what they are seeing and will tell you on the day about anything that is an immediate safety risk. Detailed conclusions come in the written report, once the engineer has reviewed the photographs and any documents.

Usually within 5 working days of the visit, or 10 working days for a Comprehensive inspection. Fast track (48 hours) is available from £120. These are our normal timescales rather than guarantees; if we are waiting for information or access, or in a very busy week, we will tell you.

A description of the property, what we observed, the defects found, their likely causes and how serious they are, photographs, and our recommendations: repairs, monitoring, further investigation or nothing to do. A GSI covers up to the five most significant issues; a CGSI is not limited in number.

As a PDF by email to the address on the booking. Printed copies are available on request.

No. It is our professional opinion based on what could reasonably be seen and reached on the day. It is not a warranty that the property is free from defects, and hidden or inaccessible defects are outside its scope.

Yes. Email us and the engineer will reply; a short clarification is included. Reviewing new information that was not available at the visit, such as a drainage survey or what a builder found when opening up, is £120 per item, confirmed with you first.

You may share it with your professional advisers, and an MSI with your lender. Please ask us before passing it to anyone else, such as a buyer, estate agent or party wall surveyor; we may charge an administration fee and we are not responsible to third parties who rely on it without our written agreement.

Yes. A chartered structural engineer can review and sign off a GSI or CGSI report for an additional fee, which we confirm in writing. An MSI is always reviewed by a chartered engineer.

Crack monitoring gauges are fixed at a first visit and read over 12 months. If the structure is stable at the end, we issue a certificate. A certificate cannot come from a single visit and is not a guarantee or Building Regulations approval.

Further investigation (trial pits, drain surveys, soil tests) and detailed design are separate services that we quote for. Repairs are carried out by your builder; we can design the structural parts and produce calculations for Building Control.

Yes. Email or call us as early as you can and we will offer the next available dates at no charge. If the sellers or agent cannot give access on the day, we simply arrange a new date.

If you asked us to carry out the inspection within the 14-day cancellation period and then cancel, you pay for the work done up to the point you tell us.

By email to office@laytoe.co.uk or by post. You do not need to give a reason.

Tell us before the visit and we adjust the price up or down and send a revised confirmation.

Within 14 days of the day you tell us you are cancelling, to the card or account you paid from unless we agree otherwise.

If we have to cancel or cannot keep the agreed date, we tell you as soon as possible and offer a new date or a full refund of anything paid for services not yet provided.

Quotes are based on the bedrooms you give us. If the property turns out to be larger, we ask you to approve the additional charge (£100 per extra bedroom). If you prefer not to, we keep the £180 site visit fee and refund the rest.

Visits go ahead in most weather because the inspection is largely indoors and from ground level. If conditions make the external inspection unsafe we will tell you and arrange a return at no charge.

Contact us at office@laytoe.co.uk or on 020 3983 5057 and we will look into it and reply as soon as we can. Your statutory rights are not affected.

First a site assessment to confirm whether the wall is load-bearing (£380 plus VAT per wall; a written report of the assessment is £180 extra if you want one). If it is load-bearing, we produce the beam calculations and drawings that Building Control needs, at £250 plus VAT per support element. See wall removal and alterations.

For a chimney breast on its own, a site visit is £180 plus VAT and the calculations are £280 plus VAT per beam. If we are already assessing a wall, the chimney breast is measured on the same visit at no extra charge. Chimney breasts are almost always load-bearing, so support design is normally needed. On a party wall, a party structure notice must be served at least two months before work starts.

Yes. We visit (£180 plus VAT), prepare a retrospective assessment report (£380 plus VAT per wall, or £450 for a visual chimney-breast inspection and report) and, where support is needed, retrospective calculations at £290 plus VAT per beam. If the structure has been covered up, a builder needs to expose it first. See alterations without Building Control approval.

Yes, for the first visit on any alteration. The builder opens a small section of ceiling next to the wall so our engineer can see the joists and what the wall supports. If nothing has been opened up and we cannot check what we need, a return visit is £220 and the first visit fee is not refunded.

Stamped calculations and drawings, and a completion certificate once the work is done. These support, but do not replace, Building Control’s completion certificate. Steel fabrication drawings, temporary works, party wall matters and staircase design are not included.

We produce the structural package Building Control asks for and deal with their structural queries. Revisions requested by Building Control within 50 days are free, as are changes before calculations start; other changes are £180 per hour. Planning permission and the Building Regulations application itself are yours or your builder’s to make.

Yes. A freeholder consent report sets out the structure, loads, support, safe working and effects on neighbours, which is what most freeholders ask for before agreeing to an alteration. Building Control calculations are available separately.

Yes: steel beams, lintels, foundations, dormer structures, Building Control drawings and calculations, and support during the build. We assume traditional construction (masonry walls, timber floors); other construction is charged at £180 per hour. Drainage, site investigation, piling and staircases are excluded. See extensions and loft conversions.

A structural engineering practice based in Chiswick (W4), inspecting and designing across Greater London since 2016, with over 2,700 inspections, designs and consultancy projects completed. Meet the team on our about page.

Yes. We carry £1 million professional indemnity insurance.

All of Greater London and the surrounding towns inside the M25. Our areas page lists them.

Enquiries sent during office hours (Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5:30pm) normally get a quote within the hour. Enquiries sent in the evening or at the weekend are answered first thing the next working morning.

Yes. Reply to your quote with a good time and number, call 020 3983 5057, or message us on WhatsApp (07782 217612), and our engineer will get back to you to talk through what you have noticed.

Phone 020 3983 5057, email office@laytoe.co.uk, message us on WhatsApp (07782 217612), or use the contact form. Office: Gable House, 18–24 Turnham Green Terrace, Chiswick, London W4 1QP.

The client guide explains each service, how to prepare and our fees; the conditions of engagement, together with your quote, form the contract. Where this page and the conditions differ, the conditions apply.