Spring is a great time of year to extend your home - once the chaos of Christmas is over and hopefully the project can be finished in time so that you can enjoy your garden over the summer.
However many of our clients don't understand how long things can take before you can actually start building.
On average a project take 6 months between starting the design process and starting work on site, that six months is made up of the following:
Initial design stage (4 weeks):
Our initial design stage starts with us coming to measure your house and discuss your brief. After we have drawn your existing plans in our CAD system, we get to work on your proposed scheme, usually preparing a few options to show you the possibilities. We then come back and present those to you, run through the options and take some feedback. After that meeting we make the revisions until you are happy for us to submit for planning.
Planning Application (10 weeks):
Once you are 100% happy with the proposed scheme we submit the plans to the Local Authority for Planning Approval. These plans take up to 2 weeks to become validated and then it takes a further 8 weeks for a decision.
Building Regulation drawings & structural design (2-4 weeks):
Once you have Planning Permission we can get to work on the Building Regulation drawings and engage the structural engineer.
Party Wall Agreement (4 weeks)
Many extension projects require Party Wall Agreement and these can only be prepared once the structural design and Building Regulation drawings are finished.
Tender stage (4-8 weeks)
Once you have a full design package you are ready to look for a builder. First you will need to get some quotes in, then choose a builder and wait for them to become available to start the project. Our availability to start new projects is generally 1-2 months after instruction.
so if you are thinking of building in spring 2019, now is the time to get started with the design process!