An RSJ is the steel beam that carries the load once a wall is taken out. Our part is the survey, the temporary support, the beam, the padstones, the making good and the inspections that sign it 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 how a beam job in Maidenhead is consented, charged and checked.
Building control for an RSJ in Maidenhead is run by the borough's own team
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead runs its own building control service. It describes itself as your local, independent, impartial, not for profit service, and it is a member of Local Authority Building Control. The service is based at the Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead SL6 1RF. The application for your beam goes there, so the plan check and the site inspections sit with one body rather than two.
The published charge for a single beam is category C3
The council's building control charge category C3 covers structural alterations of a single beam. From 1 April 2026 the full plans charge is £300.00 with inspection included, a building notice is £345.00, and regularisation of work already done is £431.25. Each figure is inclusive of VAT at 20 per cent. Regularisation is the route for a beam already in place without a notice, and it is the dearest of the three.
That charge is separate from the build cost and from the structural engineer's fee. As a guide on the build cost, indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026, put an RSJ beam alone for one straightforward opening at £1,500 to £4,000. We set the council charge, the engineer's fee and our own price out separately in the quotation, so you can see which is which.
The steel is inspected before it is encased, on one day's notice
The council's recommended inspection stages include an inspection of steel beams and columns before encasing, with one day's notice required to book it. That single line governs the order of the work. The beam has to be seen bare, with its bearings and any padstones visible, before plasterboard, fire protection or plaster go near it.
We book that inspection around our own programme rather than after the fact. If the steel is boxed in first, the evidence the inspector needs is behind a wall, and opening it back up is your cost. Temporary support stays in place until the beam is in, bearing correctly, and released in the sequence the engineer sets out.
Retrofitted steel is already part of the town centre's fabric
The council's Maidenhead Town Centre conservation area appraisal records a multi storey brewery stables of about 1870 immediately east of 3 and 5 King Street, and notes that its south gable end carries an RSJ over later doorways. The listed buildings inside that conservation area are all grade II. Steel worked into older brickwork is nothing new here.
It does change the consent question. Where a property is listed, or where a new opening alters what is seen from the street in a conservation area, the planning side has to be dealt with alongside building regulations. We tell you which of the two apply before a price is agreed, and we appoint the structural engineer for the calculations.
- Load-bearing wall removal and knock-throughs
- Level, plumb and deflection checks before props are struck
- Structural engineer's calculations arranged and followed
- Temporary propping and staged, controlled demolition
- Steel columns, base plates and bolted connections
Why Maidenhead Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
We are a contractor, not an engineering practice. For a Maidenhead beam we appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations issued, and hold the temporary support until the steel is bearing correctly. The building control application goes to the borough's own service, and we make it and book the steel inspection before anything is encased. 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 rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder. Quotations are free and carry no obligation.
- Temporary propping in place before anything is cut
- Building control inspected at the propping and beam stages
- Waste cleared as we go, not left piled in the garden
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs
- Steel sized to the engineer's design, never guessed on site