How it works
From photos to a signed report
Four steps, with the price and the delivery date fixed before anything starts. Most jobs can be quoted from photos or plans, and your quote tells you whether we need to visit.
In short
Working with Hobart Structural Engineers takes four steps. Send photos or plans through the quote form, get a fixed quote within 1–2 business hours (Mon–Fri 8:00am–5:00pm), have a site visit if the quote says the job needs one, then receive a signed report, design or certificate by the date in your quote. Site visits cover Greater Hobart; desktop work covers all of Tasmania.
- To quote
- Photos or plans are usually enough
- Your quote
- Fixed, within 1–2 business hours
- You receive
- A signed report, design or certificate
The process
What are the steps?
There are four steps from your first message to a signed document, and the second one fixes the price and the delivery date before any work starts.
- Step 1 · Any time
Send photos or plans
Use the quote form: your name, phone, email, the suburb of the property, the service and a short description. Attach up to 5 photos, plans or earlier reports, 50 MB each. Mention any deadline, such as settlement, a permit or a builder's start date.
- Step 2 · Within 1–2 business hours
Get a fixed quote
We read your request and reply with a fixed fee (ex GST), what's included, whether the job needs a site visit and the date you'll receive the report or design. There's no obligation to go ahead.
- Step 3 · If the job needs it
Site visit
For structural inspections, crack reports and dilapidation reports, the engineer visits the property. Many designs, certificates and quote reviews are done from documents and photos. Outside Greater Hobart, we work from photos and plans.
- Step 4 · By the date in your quote
Signed report, design or certificate
A report, drawings and calculations, or a certificate signed by a licensed engineer, with a Form 35 for our designs or a Form 55 for an assessable item where the work needs one. Questions about it? Call or email and we'll talk it through.
Desktop jobs, Tasmania-wide
An underpinning quote second opinion is done from the contractor's quote, any reports and your photos, with no visit, from $390 + GST. Designs and certificates from plans are available anywhere in Tasmania.
Before you send
What should I send for my job?
Send what lets an engineer see the problem or the project: photos, plans, measurements and any reports you already have. This table shows what helps for each kind of job.
| Job | Send this | Helps if you have it |
|---|---|---|
| Cracks, sloping floors, movement | Photos of each crack close up, with a coin or ruler for scale, and from further back. When you first noticed them | Doors or windows that stick, earlier reports, recent plumbing leaks |
| Pre-purchase inspection | The address, what worries you, and the building inspector's report if you have one | Your settlement or cooling-off date |
| Underpinning second opinion | The contractor's quote and scope, plus photos of the cracks | Any engineer's or soil report the quote relies on |
| Wall removal | Photos of the wall from both sides and a floor plan with the wall marked | Photos of the roof space above it, and the roof type |
| Retaining wall | Photos of the slope, the wall height and length you need, and the distance to the boundary and buildings | What sits above the wall (driveway, house, pool), any site classification report |
| Deck, pergola or carport | A sketch or plan with sizes, height above the ground, roofed or not, attached or freestanding | Photos of where it attaches to the house |
| Swimming pool | A site plan with the pool position, the pool size and type (concrete or fibreglass), photos of the slope | Distance to the house, the boundaries and any council stormwater pipe |
| Stormwater and drainage | A site plan with roof and paved areas, and any council conditions | The council's stormwater map or connection point |
| Extension or renovation | Architectural or building design drawings | A site classification report and any existing structural drawings |
| Form 55 or as-built certificate | What was built and when, the approved plans and the building surveyor's request | Construction photos taken before the work was covered up |
| Landslip or footings | The address and plans of what you want to build | The Landslip Hazard Code band from LISTmap, if you've checked it |
| Commercial project | Architectural drawings and the building surveyor's requirements | Existing structural drawings, plant, racking or solar loads |
Not sure what to send? Photos and a short description are enough to start. We'll ask if we need anything else.
Your files
What happens with the files I send?
Your files are used only to quote and carry out your job. They are not sold or used for marketing.
- Uploaded through our form processor. Files you attach in the quote form go through Web3Forms, which sends us your request with links to the files.
- Used for your quote and your job. We use them to price the work and, if you go ahead, to prepare your report or design.
- Shared only as your job needs. For example with your building surveyor, builder or designer, or where the law requires it.
- Kept as professional records. Reports, drawings and photos may be needed later, for example to compare a crack over time.
More detail is in our privacy policy.
More than 5 files, or over 50 MB?
Attach the most useful ones to the form, then email the rest, or a download link, to info@hobartstructuralengineers.com.au with your name and suburb so we can match them to your request.
Timing
How long does it take?
Your fixed quote arrives within 1–2 business hours, and the quote sets the delivery date for your report or design. Every job is different, so the delivery date is in your quote, not on this website.
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| Your fixed quote | Within 1–2 business hours, Mon–Fri 8:00am–5:00pm. Requests sent after hours are quoted within the first 1–2 business hours of the next business day. |
| Site visit | If the job needs one, the visit is arranged with you and confirmed in your quote. |
| Report, design or certificate | By the delivery date in your quote. It depends on the scope, any site visit and the information available. |
| Your deadline | Tell us the date (settlement, cooling-off, permit or builder's start). Your quote confirms whether we can meet it. |
Fees
How does payment work?
Payment terms are in your quote. All our prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST.
The fee is fixed for the scope in the quote. If you later want something outside it, such as a second structure or a change to a finished design, we quote that separately before we start it.
Starting prices run from $350 + GST for a Form 55 certificate to $850 + GST for swimming pool engineering, and some services, such as underpinning design, restumping, landslip reports and all commercial work, are priced by fixed quote per job.
When your building surveyor is involved
Underpinning, major structural repairs, residential decks, retaining walls and swimming pools are notifiable work in Tasmania. A building surveyor issues a Certificate of Likely Compliance, and our Form 35 goes with the application. Read building approvals in Tasmania.
Not sure which service you need?
Choose "Not sure, please advise" on the quote form and describe what's happening. We'll tell you what the job needs.