PorthouseDean Structural Engineers Reviews 

Reply from PorthouseDean Structural Engineers

Jun 4, 2026

Hi Joanna, I think you were waiting for one of our free document changes to come through. I undertand that was delievred for you. Was everything okay in the end?

Reply from PorthouseDean Structural Engineers

Nov 19, 2025

Hi Matt

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, and I’m sorry that your experience so far hasn’t matched your expectations. That’s never what we want for any of our clients.

When we produced the original structural design, we hadn’t yet received confirmation on whether the internal wall was load-bearing, so we designed a steel beam based on the drawings and information available at the time. In many domestic projects, confirming whether a wall is truly load-bearing requires intrusive investigation (for example, stripping back finishes and exposing structure), which is usually carried out by the contractor during the strip-out stage using their tools. Because of this, it’s quite normal industry practice to design cautiously at first and then simplify the design once the contractor has confirmed the actual site conditions.

After our calculations and drawings had been completed and issued to your architect, further site information suggested the wall might in fact be non-load-bearing and that the beam might not be required.

In situations like this, our usual process is to make any revisions through the complimentary “change request” included in the service. To clarify, this doesn’t mean you are limited to only one change overall – it’s one round of revisions, and that round can include multiple updates made at the same time.

To avoid delaying your project while the wall is checked on site, we suggested (by email) that your contractor investigate on site and that your architect add an engineering note to the Building Regulation drawings stating that the beam is not required if site verification confirms the wall is non-load-bearing. This allows work to proceed safely and in line with Building Regulations, while still leaving your complimentary change request available for any final updates once the on-site position is clear.

I’m sorry if this approach and the options weren’t clearly explained and it felt like we were unwilling to revise our work. That was not our intention.

If you’d like to pick this back up, we’d be very happy to help: once on-site checks confirm the wall isn’t load-bearing, we can formally update and reissue the structural drawings and calculations without the beam under your complimentary change request so everything fully reflects the final site conditions.

Please feel free to get in touch with us directly so we can move this forward in the way that works best for you.

Kind regards

Sam Dean

Reply from PorthouseDean Structural Engineers

Nov 12, 2025

Hi Michael, thanks for the positive feedback. It's great to know our work is appreciated. :)

Ted from our marketing team has been reaching out regarding your user experience to see what we can learn, but hasn't been able to contact you. If you could contact Ted at our head office on 0161 820 3230 to discuss then that would be fantastic. Your comments will be invaluable in helping us improve the interface.