Questions about drawing a period or listed house

Rights narrow. Paragraph A.2 in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015 takes external cladding, any extension beyond a side wall and any rear extension above one storey out of permitted development on conservation area land, and a roof extension such as a dormer is excluded too. A single-storey rear extension can still be permitted development within the usual limits, but an Article 4 direction may have removed even that. Most work to trees needs six weeks' written notice to the council (very small trees are exempt). Whichever route applies, officers judge the scheme by how it sits with the street, so the rear elevation, boundaries and materials matter. We check the designation before we quote, and the route follows from it.

A direction is a council order that removes named permitted development rights across a defined area, so work you could normally do freely needs a planning application there. In London conservation areas the usual targets are the front of the house: windows, doors, roof coverings, front walls and paint. Many directions apply only to elevations that face a road, and each lists its own rights, so a like-for-like window swap may need an application on one street and not on the next. We read the direction's schedule for your address during the constraints check and tell you what it means for your project.

Whenever the work affects the building's character as one of special architectural or historic interest. Listing protects the whole building, inside and out, at every grade, so cornices, shutters, panelling and fireplaces count alongside the front elevation. Opening up a wall between two rooms, taking out a chimney breast or altering a stair will normally need consent. Like-for-like repair may not, but that is the council's judgement, so ask before you start. Unauthorised works to a listed building are an offence under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. We prepare survey-based consent drawings that show what is original, what has been altered and what you propose.

It is a written account of what makes a listed building or conservation area significant and how your proposal affects that. National planning policy asks for proposals to be judged against the significance of the heritage assets they touch, and councils generally expect a statement with listed building consent applications. We prepare the drawings the statement leans on: existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections that separate original fabric from later change. Where a full assessment is needed, a heritage consultant writes it and we coordinate it with the drawings so the two say the same thing.

Often a certificate is enough. If the work falls within permitted development, no planning application is needed, and a Lawful Development Certificate is the council's written confirmation that it is lawful. It covers lawfulness only, so it cannot stand in for permission where permission is required. Check Article 4 and conservation area status first, because either narrows what is permitted. We confirm that during the constraints check. Permitted development drawings with a certificate start from £645, VAT included.

A mansard is hard to win on an unbroken terrace, because the extra storey changes the one feature that makes the row read as a group. Councils set out in their roof extension guidance when a roof alteration is acceptable, and many resist one where an unaltered roofline survives, especially in a conservation area or on a listed house. Mansards already built next door are the strongest precedent. We look at the decisions on your terrace before suggesting you apply, and we cannot promise the outcome. Mansard drawings start from £845, VAT included.

The drawing set is only one part of it. A basement under a period house normally needs planning permission, building regulations approval, an engineer's design and a basement impact assessment, and digging beside a neighbour's foundations brings in the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster each publish basement policies that set limits on size and depth and ask how the work will be built. Our drawings follow the engineer's design, including the underpinning, so one agreed set serves the council, building control and your builder. Basement drawings start from £1,995, VAT included.

Start with the decision notice, which lists the reasons for refusal and so sets what can be fixed. We read those reasons with you against the drawings and the policy cited, then tell you whether a revised application or an appeal suits the case better. An appeal goes to the Planning Inspectorate, has a strict deadline counted from the decision notice (12 weeks for a householder application), and no outcome can be promised.

They show how the building work meets the Approved Documents: structure, fire safety, drainage, ventilation, insulation and access. The set is aligned with the engineer's calculations and with the conditions on your planning decision. On a period house it also shows the fabric being kept and how new openings, floors and insulation join it. Building regulations drawings start from £845, VAT included.

You need them wherever work changes how loads reach the ground: a new opening in a load-bearing wall, a beam replacing a chimney breast, new foundations. Building control and your builder both work from the calculations. Older masonry, such as solid brick in lime mortar, rarely matches a modern assumption, so the survey and the engineer's judgement carry more weight than a standard table. Structural calculations start from £295, VAT included.

Building control is the body that checks the work meets the Building Regulations, either the council's own team or a registered approver. We coordinate a registered approver, independent of us, so inspections follow the drawings. Property Architecture is LABC Partnered.

If more than one contractor will work on the project, yes. CDM 2015 asks you to appoint a Principal Designer to plan, manage and coordinate health and safety before building starts, and the Building Regulations ask for one to make sure the design complies with them. In an old house, unknown construction behind later finishes is a good reason to have the role filled early. We coordinate the role for you.

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies when you work on a party wall, build a new wall on the boundary, or excavate close to a neighbouring building, within three metres in most cases and six in some. Notice goes to each adjoining owner, at least two months ahead for work to a party wall and one month for boundary walls and excavation. For work to a party wall or an excavation, a neighbour who dissents or does not reply within 14 days is treated as in dispute, and surveyors are appointed. We prepare the notice and the drawings for £45 per adjoining owner.

We send the next-steps pack. It sets out the commencement notice, the timing of party wall notices and CIL, so nothing that has to happen before the builder starts is missed. The pack follows the approved drawings, which means the dates and notices are tied to the job as approved.