An RSJ is the steel beam that carries the load when a wall comes out. Our part is the survey, the propping, the beam and its padstones, the making good and the inspections that sign the work off. We appoint a structural engineer for the calculations and build to what they issue. We never produce those calculations ourselves. This page sets out what an RSJ job on a Grays property involves, and who checks it.
Removing a load bearing wall and fitting an RSJ needs a building regulations application in Grays
Thurrock Council's internal alterations guidance lists removal of a load bearing wall and installation of a supporting RSJ as work that requires a building regulations application. That is the starting point for any beam here. The application goes in before the wall is touched, not after the steel is up.
Under the council's charges from 1 April 2026, removal of a load bearing wall sits in the band for cost of work not exceeding £5,000, with a building notice charge of £330.45 plus VAT, which is £396.54 including VAT. That charge sits alongside the engineer's fee and the building work itself. We make the application and carry the charge into the quotation, so you can see it rather than meet it later.
Thurrock Council names steel beams as a stage you must notify
The council's building control notification list names steel beams as a stage at which you must notify it during the works. The beam is therefore not something an inspector catches at the end. It is a booked visit while the steel is exposed and the bearings can still be seen.
Thurrock operates next-day building control inspections, and asks you to book on or before 4pm to secure a next-day visit. We plan the propping, the boarding and the plastering around that. Where the person carrying out the work fails to notify at each stage, the council states they will be required to cut into, lay open or pull down the work so that compliance can be checked.
What sits under each end of the beam is checked before the steel is ordered
Thurrock Council warns that where the loading on an existing structure is to be increased, it may be necessary to expose the foundations, beams and lintels for inspection. A beam concentrates the load of everything above it onto two small bearing points, and those points carry down to whatever is beneath them. That is a reason to open up early rather than on the day the steel arrives.
The brickwork a padstone lands on matters as much as the foundation below it. The council's guidance on stack removal says the quality of the brickwork should be checked for its suitability to support the load before anchors are fixed, and the same logic applies at a bearing. We open up, record what is there and pass it to the structural engineer we have appointed.
- Bearing checks into party walls and shared masonry
- Access and lifting plans for restricted London sites
- Structural openings for open-plan living
- Ceiling and floor levels resolved where the beam sits below joists
- Lintel and catnic support to smaller openings
The GS Renovation Difference in Grays
We are a contractor, not an engineering practice. For a Grays beam we appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations they issue, and hold the propping until the steel is in and bearing correctly. The building regulations application goes to Thurrock Council, and we make it and book the inspections around our own programme, including the notification at steel beam stage. That gives you one point of contact for the engineer, the steel, the brickwork and the sign off. GS Renovation Ltd is fully insured, registered in England, company number 14611254, and quotations are free and without obligation.
- Steel sized to the engineer's design, never guessed on site
- Founder-led team with 30+ years of hands-on experience
- Levels and deflection checked before the props come out
- High-density concrete padstones bedded at every bearing
- Honest updates if a date or a detail has to move
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf