Beam supply, builder labour, engineering fees and Building Control charges — a full breakdown, and the factors that move the price up or down.
Most homeowners pay £1,800–£4,500 all-in to remove a single load-bearing wall on the ground floor of a typical semi or terrace — covering the structural calculations, steel beam, Building Control fees and a builder to install it. Wider spans, two-storey openings, or difficult access can push this to £6,000+.
Removing a wall that's holding anything up — a floor, a roof, or another wall — is never just a demolition job. Building Regulations require the work to be designed by a structural engineer and signed off by Building Control, and someone has to physically support the house while the new beam goes in. Here's where the money goes:
| ITEM | TYPICAL COST |
|---|---|
| Structural engineer's calculations | £350 – £700 |
| Steel beam (RSJ) supply | £400 – £1,400 |
| Building Control fee (full plans or notice) | £300 – £700 |
| Builder labour — propping, install, making good | £900 – £2,800 |
| Skip / waste, redecoration, contingency | £150 – £500 |
Figures are indicative 2026 rates for a straightforward single-storey opening in a standard-size UK house. Two-storey openings, listed buildings and central London postcodes run higher.
A load-bearing wall is carrying the weight of whatever sits above it down to the foundations. Take it out without replacing that load path and, at best, you get cracking — at worst, something much more serious. The fix is almost always a steel beam (an "RSJ" — rolled steel joist) spanning the opening, sitting on padstones that spread the load safely into the masonry piers left standing at each end.
Simplified section: the beam picks up the load the wall used to carry, and passes it down through padstones into the retained piers either side.
Yes — always, if the wall carries any structural load. There's no exemption for "just a small wall". Building Control (either your local authority or an approved inspector) will want to see the engineer's calculations before or shortly after work starts, and will inspect the beam and its bearings before it's covered up with plasterboard. Skipping this step is a common — and expensive — mistake: it can hold up a house sale years later when a buyer's solicitor asks for a completion certificate that doesn't exist.
A 1930s semi, removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room — a 3.5m span, single storey of joists above, straightforward access.
| Structural calculations (RM Structural) | £480 |
| 203x133 UB steel beam, supplied | £620 |
| Building Control (full plans) | £450 |
| Builder — propping, install, plastering | £1,650 |
| Skip & contingency | £250 |
| Total | £3,450 |
No obligation, no jargon — just a clear fixed fee and an honest view of what your project needs.