Simple answer–yes if you find a good structural engineer or good general contractor to look at it. Without knowing the layout of your house, etc. it really is difficult to say more. But in general almost any wall or support can be moved with the right structural approach. I am wondering if you can run a beam along the line where the jack post support is and basically move the support. Or is there already a beam that runs down the center of your house now? It really depends upon the current layout of your structural system to be honest.
But I would suggest getting either a GC or a structural engineer in to look at it.
Leaffan, the advice above is good but I’d be reluctant to consult a general contractor first. Get an engineer, then a GC.
IIRC, you’re in Ontario so you have to be very careful in selecting a GC since there’s no licensing body for them in this province. Essentially, anybody with a hammer can start up a contracting business so, unless you do your homework and you’re absolutely sure of the qualifications of the GC you hire, you could very well end up with a fly-by-nighter. These guys are all too common right now in Ontario and they could get you into all sorts of trouble with shoddy workmanship or by not getting the appropriate permits. If you’ve ever seen the TV show “Holmes on Homes” (based in and around the Greater Toronto area) you’ll see that these kinds of screw-ups aren’t terribly uncommon. Every couple of months or so, the small engineering firm I work for has somebody walk in asking for help remedying a screw-up by one of these guys.
So, to do things right, go to your municipal bldg. dept. and ask about the appropriate permits and fees and, while you’re there, ask them to recommend an engineer. They’ll often see the same names over and over again on structural drawings so they’ll probably be familiar with engineers in the area who do the type of work you need. If they can’t help, then contact the Professional Engineers of Ontario and have them recommend somebody in your area. And when you’re talking to the engineer, ask about contractors. While he may not be able to recommend anybody specific, chances are he’ll be able to warn you away from the incompetents or scam artists.
If you have a Civil Engineering Professional Engineering license, in theory, you can sign and seal structural documents. However, most Transportation (roads), Geotech (foundations), Environmental (drainage, etc.) engineers know they’re don’t really have the knowledge to design a structure and leave it to those with more specialized training as it would unethical (and leave you open to a potentially liable situation) to seal a design you weren’t comfortable with.
Oh in school I was at studio only about 20 hour out of the day! Pretty much you can guarantee that if you stopped by any Architecture school at 4 in the morning you would find people there. Ah…miss those days, now at my age if I make it to midnight it is a good night.
I haven’t really explored that side of things since I personally don’t stamp drawings at my office. I am licensed, but it was years ago when I looked at the regulations and passed the test. If I remember correctly I also can sign and seal structural drawings as well. But we always hire engineers for the reasons you stated,although I am quite capable of doing the calculations myself (well with a little brushup, maybe). If I recall correctly I really don’t need to hire any of the discplines and my license covers the range of services, but I can’t and won’t guarantee that! I need to do some research now!
In Spain a building must be designed by an architect (or at least signed by one); the degree requires 5 grades of classwork plus a project (a complete design). A “technical architect” (3 grades plus project) can supervise construction and do calculations, but not sign off the building’s plans.
One of my brothers works as a construction foreman (his degree is in “technical industrial engineering”) - he’s been known to send back plans because the plan for electric or for plumbing had deviations over one meter with regards to the floor plan, or because the bathrooms weren’t large enough to fit in the toilet, WC and a standard-size bathtube (which was indicated)… have you or anybody you know ever had the plans returned because “this is unbuildable as drawn”?
Generally in the US, any building over a fourplex residential unit must be designed by an Architect or Structural engineer. Thus most single family houses, etc aren’t required to have an Architect design them.
I have never heard of drawings being returned per what you have outlined. What happens is that if there is a conflict on the drawings between the disciplines then the general contractor generates a question, typically called an ‘request for information’ (RFI). This RFI outlines the question and the Architect/Engineer then has a fixed number of days to respond. From this RFI there may or may not be cost. If the general contractor feels there is a cost he/she generates a ‘proposal request’ (PR) or a 'construction change directive" (CCD) to track the anticipated costs, eventually ending in a ‘change order’ (CO). This is usually paid by a construction contingency that the Owner carries for such issues.
If the error or omission by the Architect/Engineer is so extreme it falls outside the ‘standard of care’ that any typical Architect/Engineer would provide, then the client would come to the Architect/Engineer for payment. The client is only entitled to that portion of the change order from the Architect/Engineer that is above what he would have paid if it had been included in the bid to begin with.
Construction documents are 2 dimensional representations of a 3 dimensional design, and a unique design at that. There will be conflicts and errors in the drawings, this is a given. BIM (building information modeling) Building information modeling - Wikipedia will help in the future as it is a 3 dimensional representation of the project and will help flush out these conflicts. But in my opinion you will still have some conflicts and errors since you are dealing with humans and we aren’t perfect (although as Architects we come pretty damn close!).
Pretty much you can guarantee that if you stopped by any Architecture school at 4 in the morning you would find people there. Ah…miss those days, now at my age if I make it to midnight it is a good night.