Edinburgh • Building Warrants • Scottish Building Standards
Looking for a structural engineer Edinburgh homeowners and builders trust? We provide fixed-fee structural calculations from £150 for tenement alterations, wall removals, RSJ design, loft conversions and extensions. Building Warrant-ready packs for City of Edinburgh Council Building Standards. Turnaround 24 to 48 hours.
We cover Edinburgh, Morningside, Stockbridge, Leith, the Lothians and the wider Central Belt. All work is done remotely — no site visit required. Our calculations are written to Scottish Building Standards, not English Approved Documents.
Building Warrant packs from £150. Reply within 24hrs.
All Edinburgh structural engineering fees are fixed and confirmed before work starts. No hidden extras.
| Service | Typical Fee (Edinburgh) | What Is Included |
|---|---|---|
| Wall removal RSJ — single beam | £150 to £260 | Beam sizing, padstone design, Building Warrant pack |
| Loft conversion structural design | £260 to £550 | Ridge beam, dormer beams, floor joists, full pack |
| Home extension Building Warrant | £345 to £595 | Beams, foundations, roof structure, warrant pack |
| Tenement alteration (complex) | POA | Individually quoted — shared walls, party wall considerations |
| Chimney breast removal | £195 to £395 | Load transfer, support beam, padstone details |
| Structural report / condition survey | £400 to £900 | Cracks, settlement, pre-purchase, listed buildings |
We cover all common residential and commercial structural engineering across Edinburgh and the Lothians — all calculations written to Scottish Building Standards.
Wall removal and RSJ beam design from £150. Edinburgh's stone tenements, Victorian terraces and Georgian townhouses all need careful load path analysis. We design the beam, padstones and bearings for rubble and sandstone masonry and produce a full Building Warrant-ready pack.
Tenement alterations are one of our most common Edinburgh jobs. Shared internal walls, communal stair structures and party wall considerations in Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Leith Walk, Newington and Tollcross all affect how beam loads are calculated and transferred. We know Edinburgh tenements.
Ridge beams, dormer beams and floor joists from £260 for loft conversions across Edinburgh. Many Edinburgh villas and terraced houses have complex roof structures. We design the structural upgrade and prepare the full Building Warrant pack.
Scotland uses Building Warrants, not Building Regulations. Our structural packs are written to the Scottish Technical Handbooks — the format City of Edinburgh Council Building Standards expect. We respond to Building Standards queries directly as part of the service.
Edinburgh's New Town and Old Town contain Category A and B listed buildings where structural alterations must be carefully justified. Our calculations support both Building Warrant applications and Historic Environment Scotland requirements. We have experience with conservation area properties across Edinburgh.
Home extension Building Warrant packs from £345 for rear and side extensions across Edinburgh. Structural inspection reports from £400 for cracks, settlement and pre-purchase assessments. See our structural report guide.
In Scotland, a Building Warrant is the equivalent of Building Regulations approval in England. Understanding the difference matters for your Edinburgh project.
In Scotland, most structural work requires a Building Warrant from City of Edinburgh Council Building Standards before work begins. This is different from English Building Regulations — Scotland has its own system with its own technical standards.
Our structural engineer Edinburgh packs are prepared to meet Scottish Building Standards (the Scottish Technical Handbooks, not Approved Document A). An English structural engineer unfamiliar with Scottish standards may produce calculations that Edinburgh Building Standards will query or reject.
Edinburgh has some of the most structurally varied housing in the UK. These are the specific factors our calculations account for.
Tenements are the dominant Edinburgh housing type, found throughout Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Leith Walk, Newington and Tollcross. They have shared internal walls, communal stair structures and party wall considerations that affect how beam loads are calculated and transferred — fundamentally different from English terraced houses.
Edinburgh's Georgian New Town and medieval Old Town contain many Category A and B listed buildings. Any structural alteration must be carefully justified to meet Historic Environment Scotland and Edinburgh's conservation officers as well as Building Standards. We write calculations specifically for these requirements.
Edinburgh's older properties — stone tenements and Victorian terraces — often have unpredictable rubble masonry. Our RSJ calculations include padstone design sized to spread beam reaction forces safely across the bearing. For listed buildings, we also consider the impact of new steelwork on the historic fabric.
Fast, remote, 24 to 48 hour turnaround. No site visit required for most Edinburgh projects.
Send photos of the wall or area, your postcode and a simple sketch or floor plan.
We confirm the property type — tenement, terraced villa or modern — and identify what needs designing.
We establish the full load path — floors, walls and roof above the opening — including party wall considerations for tenement flats.
We design the steel beam: RSJ size, padstone, lateral restraint and propping notes for your builder.
We prepare drawings showing beam dimensions, bearings and installation notes for your builder and Building Standards inspector.
We complete the Building Warrant structural pack within 24 to 48 hours, written to Scottish Building Standards Technical Handbooks.
You submit to Edinburgh Building Standards or pass directly to your builder. We answer any Building Standards queries at no extra charge.
Recent feedback from Edinburgh homeowners, builders and developers.
"We removed a kitchen wall in our Marchmont tenement and needed a Building Warrant pack. SECalcs understood tenement loads immediately and Edinburgh Building Standards had no queries."
Rachel T, Marchmont, Edinburgh
"Loft conversion in a Morningside Victorian villa — complex roof and listed building nearby. The structural pack was thorough, Building Warrant-ready and our builder said the drawings were exactly what he needed."
Andrew K, Morningside, Edinburgh
"Extension in Corstorphine needed Building Warrant calculations quickly as our contractor had already started groundworks. SECalcs turned it around in 36 hours and dealt with a Building Standards query directly."
Susan M, Corstorphine, Edinburgh
We cover the full EH postcode area, West Lothian, East Lothian and Midlothian. No site visit required — all work is done remotely from your photos and measurements.
Common questions from Edinburgh homeowners, tenement owners, builders and developers.
Yes. In Scotland, removing a load bearing wall requires a Building Warrant from City of Edinburgh Council Building Standards. Our structural engineer Edinburgh calculation packs are written specifically for Building Warrant submissions and include all the structural information Building Standards require.
Structural engineer Edinburgh fees start from £150 for a simple RSJ wall removal calculation. A loft conversion structural pack is £260 to £550. A home extension Building Warrant pack is £345 to £595. Tenement alterations and complex properties are individually quoted. All fees are fixed and confirmed before work begins. Full guide: structural engineer costs UK.
Yes. Tenement alterations are one of the most common projects we handle in Edinburgh. We understand the shared wall arrangements, party wall considerations and floor structures common to Edinburgh tenements in Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Leith, Newington and across the city.
Building Warrant is the Scottish system administered by local Building Standards departments, including City of Edinburgh Council. Building Regulations is the English and Welsh equivalent. Scotland also uses the Scottish Technical Handbooks rather than the Approved Documents used in England. Our structural engineer Edinburgh calculations are written specifically for Scottish Building Standards — not the English system.
No. Our structural engineer Edinburgh service is fully remote. You send photos, a sketch and key measurements. We carry out all calculations digitally and deliver the structural pack by email within 24 to 48 hours. Site visits are available if the structure is genuinely unclear — we tell you upfront if one is needed.
Yes. Edinburgh has a high concentration of listed buildings, particularly in the New Town and Old Town. Our calculations support both Building Warrant applications and Historic Environment Scotland or conservation officer requirements. We have experience with Category A and B listed properties in Edinburgh's conservation areas.
Most wall removal and RSJ calculations are ready within 24 to 48 hours. Loft conversion and extension Building Warrant packs take 3 to 5 working days. If you have a building contractor or Building Warrant submission deadline, tell us the date and we will plan around it.
Yes. We cover all EH postcodes including Morningside, Stockbridge, Leith, Corstorphine, Liberton, Portobello and Musselburgh. We also cover West Lothian, East Lothian and Midlothian — the full Edinburgh commuter area. All EH postcodes, same fee and turnaround.
Fill in the form and we will review your details and confirm a fixed fee. We are engineers, not salespeople.
Building Warrant-ready structural packs from £150. 24 to 48 hour turnaround. Call us on 07359 267907 or fill in the quote form above and we will come back to you the same working day.
