Chimney Breast Removal: Structural Engineer & Building Regulations

Is it a good idea to remove a chimney?

If you've bought an older house, you may consider removing the chimney breast because of the gains you can make from the extra space. Older buildings generally have a chimney, breast and fireplaces feeding into the breast so the smoke from the fires can escape. New homes often don't because the space is better used in living spaces like bedrooms.

Does removing a chimney breast add value to the property?

Depending on what you do with the space when you've finished taking out a chimney breast, this might increase the value of your property to tens of £1000s.

How do I know if a chimney breast has been removed?

The best place to check is within the roof space. You can spot where the chimney stack comes into the property and meets the breast, and measure its width. Most removals are visible in the roof and loft space. If not visible there, trace it down vertically through the property to the ground floor, as the chimney breast width should remain the same.

Do I need a structural engineer to remove the chimney breast?

You are always likely to require the services of a Structural Engineer if you intend on removing the chimney and breast. A chimney breast invariably forms part of the basic structure of a house, and you have to be careful in your preparations before you carry out work to remove it.

If you don't get an expert involved, you risk serious structural degradation to your property, which might result in the building collapsing and even the risk of death. Unless you're going to remove the whole chimney, from the bottom fireplace right up to the roof stack, you need to incorporate suitable support beams to support any masonry above to avoid structural distress or damage or even the collapse of the building.

In many cases, even where you are removing the whole chimney, you'll still need to add reinforcement to replace the support offered by the chimney breast. As you can see from the diagram below, the breast acts as a hollow pillar from the ground up, which often lends its support to the upper floors and roof.

You'll also have to take special care if the chimney breast of an upper floor is going to be removed while leaving a working fire in the room below. Partial removal is possible, but a smaller chimney breast for the fire below must be left in place.

Finally, once you've removed your chimney, you'll need to repair the floor where the breast was - this also takes planning and involves more costs.

How to remove chimney breast?

Once you instruct a structural engineer, they will examine the chimney breast in your property, after which they will draw designs and create an appropriate method of work for the job. They then submit both the designs and the methodology to your local Building Control Office for chimney breast removal building regulations approval.

In the case of removing a chimney breast on a party wall, the Party Wall Act 1996 states that you'll also need to inform your neighbour/s and get approval from them for your work.

Once your structural engineer's proposal has been approved, all work must be carried out to the approved designs, and the local building control officer must be invited to inspect the work carried out. The local Building Control Office will, upon satisfactory completion of the work, issue a completion certificate.

What permission do you need to remove a chimney?

Looking at this ruin in Bodmin and countless others like it, you can see how often the complete chimney is the last thing standing, long after the rest of a building has collapsed. In this case, the large stone chimney has kept the gablewall upright, despite there being nothing else left of the house.

Most chimneys are fundamental to the structural integrity of the building, which is why a structural engineer must be involved in planning the chimney breast removal safely to comply with building regulations.