The contents of this web page (the quotation) and the terms and conditions, form the contract between us (Essen consultancy) and you (the client). By clicking link at the bottom of the web page which says; “Accept Quotation”, and accepting the terms and conditions, you are confirming that you understand and consent to enter into, and honour, the contract. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Unless noted otherwise in the quotation, the scope of work is restricted to the provision of structural calculations and drawings supplementary to a building regulations application. This means that requests for information by parties other than the building control service provider MAYBE chargeable. In this respect particular attention should be paid to information requested by Party Wall Surveyors in the case of a dispute. We would advise you to investigate party wall requirements at the earliest available opportunity to mitigate the risk of additional costs arising.
Note that the successful delivery of a building project requires the cooperation of all concerned. If any party refuses to engage collaboratively in this endeavor with Essen consultancy (for whatever reason) then we cannot be held liable for losses occurring.
Essen consultancy reserves the right to amend the terms of the agreement / contract at any point throughout its duration. In such an event (e.g. presumed permission to defer decision-making authority to your architectural consultant) we will notify you of such a change in advance of it coming into effect. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Our average turnaround from the time of instruction will be 7 - 10 days. Our Payment plans are 50% upfront to get started the business and 50% at the completion.
We do not release any information until we have received payment.
Payment terms are 20 working days from the date of acceptance. Essen consultancy will not issue your information until payment has been received, therefore it is better to make your payment earlier so that as soon as the information has been finalised it can be issued. We will not be liable for any delays which occur as a result of not having received payment.
Essen consultancy reserves the right to withhold services to individuals or organizations with outstanding payments until such a time as the outstanding payments have been settled.
You should receive a PDF invoice to your e-mail address within 1 day of submitting your quote acceptance.
You can pay your bill online by entering your card details, either immediately after submitting your instruction, or at another time convenient to you.
We can accept BACS payments. Our bank account number and sort code are detailed within your invoice.
We do not accept cheques or Postal Orders.
We do not accept cheques or Postal Orders.
Unless specifically agreed otherwise as part of contractual negotiations, documents will be produced in compliance with the British Standards (5950, 8110, 5628, 5268, 8666, 8002, 8004, 6399 etc.). These were officially superseded by the EU Eurocodes in 2010 but are still widely accepted by building control service providers. Calculations can be provided to suit Eurocode, but this is to be agreed in advance of the project being undertaken.
All documents are issued in PDF format via e-mail for efficiency. If you require paper copies these can be obtained in conjunction with a printing firm. We cannot provide this service as we do not have the facilities set up to allow us to do this.
We will send the documents to the e-mail addresses that you enter into the online form at the time of accepting our quotation. Please ensure that you enter the e-mail addresses of the people to whom you wish the document to be sent on the subsequent page after accepting. We will not issue documentation to individuals without your express permission.
If you decide after instructing us that you no longer require our services we will offer a refund commensurate with the amount of work yet to be completed. If the work is 100% complete at the time you inform us that you wish to cancel, you will be liable to pay for the full amount invoiced. The proportion of refund available will be determined by Essen consultancy, however we will listen to any reasonable arguments against our refund offer and give them fair consideration.
It should be noted that by instructing Essen consultancy you are committing to pay the full amount stated in the invoice relating to the quote that you have agreed to. As such Essen consultancy reserves the right to claim the full amount of the agreed fee from you.
If we are asked to numerically substantiate a structure which has been specified by others and are unable to substantiate that structure, then we reserve the right to issue the documentation with calculations that show that the structure is inadequate. You will not be entitled to a refund in this case, however, if possible / reasonable to do so we will advise you in advance of instruction whether or not we expect a structure to be adequate.
Essen consultancy will do everything we can to satisfy technical concerns or queries raised by Building Control departments about any document that we have produced. In the unlikely event that one of our documents cannot be passed by building control on technical grounds (with the responsibility lying solely with Essen consultancy) and we are unable to provide technical justification, we will offer refunds commensurate with the proportion of the structure that we have been unable to design to the satisfaction of building control.
It should be noted that in attempting to satisfy the requirements of building control we expect the cooperation of all concerned in terms of agreeing to any changes that may be required on site and working towards a solution that satisfies all concerned.
If there is information required by building control that falls outside the scope of the agreed contract then there are two possible outcomes:
1) If Essen consultancy could reasonably have been expected to foresee a requirement for these elements by building control and have not offered them as part of our quotation, then we will provide the calculations for these elements at no additional charge and issue them as part of a revised document.
2) If Essen consultancy could notreasonably have been expected to foresee a requirement for these elements, or if these elements were included in the quotation as an “Additional Service” which we were not instructed to proceed with, then there will likely be an additional charge. The price for these items will either already have been quoted as part of the original quotation, or will be quoted for as part of a new quotation. You will need to instruct us for the additional items in order for us to proceed with the re-design.
Requests for information outside the scope of the agreed contract will likely be chargeable. The price for these items will either already have been quoted as part of the original quotation or will be quoted for as part of a new quotation. You will need to instruct us for the additional items for us to proceed with the re-design.
If for whatever reason you are not satisfied with the service or product provided by Essen consultancy you can submit your complaint by e-mail to either info@essenconsultancy.co.uk , or the e-mail address of the engineer that you dealt with as part of your preliminary appraisal / engagement. We will do our utmost to ensure that your complaint is dealt with in an effective and proactive manner.
If you have any technical queries, then you can submit your query via e-mail to info@essenconsultancy.co.uk and we will aim to respond within 2 working days. Alternatively, please feel free to call one of our offices.
If you would like us to try to specify an element with different geometry or material properties (e.g. beam size, footing size, foundation ground bearing capacity), or you would prefer an alternative arrangement to the one we suggest, then we will review the document for you at least once at no additional charge. We will seek to agree the final specification with you prior to revising the documentation (if indeed the desired changes are possible). Assuming no significant change to the agreed scope of work (see 8.2) then Essen consultancy permits one free change request for each invoice raised. You are therefore advised to ensure you and your team (e.g. Contractor, architect, fabricator) have fully understood the document, and have collectively agreed any desired changes prior to submitting your request. Regarding the confirmation of site information this usually can’t be done until the contractor has stripped out finishes, so it is advised to wait until this time before submitting your request.
Changes resulting from changes to initial architectural proposals upon which our calculations or detailed drawings are based, or for work additional to that which was part of the original agreed scope of works, will be subject to additional fees. Change requests should be submitted via the website: Submit a request to update your document.
Calls with Essen consultancy Ltd may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
If your project involves the design of a foundation or retaining wall and you have not communicated to us what the existing ground conditions are like on site, then we will assume a typical ground type/strength (e.g. firm clay or medium dense sand). It is the responsibility of your Building Control Officer to inspect the ground conditions prior to the commencement of work. For larger projects (e.g. new-build developments) it may be advisable to carry out a site investigation prior to instruction. Unless specifically noted, the quote doesn’t allow for “engineered” e.g. piled or raft type foundations. It allows for spread type foundations only.
So that you can have greater confidence in the final cost of construction it may be advisable to undertake a preliminary ground investigation. This could vary from simply asking a neighbour of their experience in doing a similar piece of work, to having a geotechnical firm produce an interpretive report involving the use of boreholes or trial pits. Either way a preliminary ground investigation of some kind is advisable.
Please note that Essen consultancy has commercial relationships with companies across the UK, which in some cases involve the payment of fees. This makes up a portion of our fee charged to the client.
