IConstraints check and fixed quote
Before quoting, we look up your address for conservation area, listed status, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, flood zone and planning history. We then pick the route and send a fixed fee.
- What happens
- We look your address up in the council's own records: the conservation area boundary, any listing, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, flood zone and the planning history of the house and its neighbours. On a period house those results usually settle the route, so we read them before choosing between permitted development, a certificate, prior approval, a householder application or listed building consent.
- What you receive
- A written fixed fee, VAT included, and the route we have chosen with the reason for it. You see both before any drawing starts.
- Typical time
- Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.
- What the council or building control sees
- Nothing yet. The check reads the council's own records, so an application, when it goes in, starts from the designations and past decisions the officer already has open.
Under paragraph A.2 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015, a house in a conservation area loses three permitted development rights: external cladding, extensions beyond a side wall, and rear extensions of more than one storey. A council can withdraw further rights by an Article 4 direction made under article 4 of the same Order.
IISurvey on one datum
A measured survey of the house on a single datum records rooms, levels, boundaries, drains and trees, along with the neighbouring windows that the 45° and 25° tests rely on.
- What happens
- We measure the house room by room on one datum, so floor levels, openings and wall thicknesses sit in a single true record. The survey also takes in boundaries, drain covers, trees and the windows of the neighbouring houses that face your site. Walls in an old house are rarely square or plumb, and we record them as they stand.
- What you receive
- Existing plans, elevations and sections drawn from the survey. Every later sheet, from the design options to the building regulations set, is built on them.
- What the council or building control sees
- The existing drawings, which the officer sets beside your proposal to see exactly what changes. Conservation officers read the original plan form, the window pattern and the roofline from these sheets, so we draw them with care.
The BRE guide Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight (BR 209) sets a 25-degree vertical angle test from a neighbour's window, and many councils' householder design guidance adds a 45-degree test in plan for rear extensions. Both depend on where the neighbour's windows sit, which is why the survey records them.
IIIDesign options in 3D
We build the house as a Revit model and present options in 3D and plan, alongside the planning approach and the precedents set in your street.
- What happens
- We build the house in Revit and test each option against the model, showing it in 3D and in plan. Beside the options we set the planning approach and the precedents on your street: what the council has allowed or refused on similar houses, such as a mansard or a rear addition.
- What you receive
- Design options in 3D and plan, each with the planning approach behind it, so you can compare them with the reasoning in front of you.
- Typical time
- Drawings in about 7 days after the survey.
- What the council or building control sees
- Nothing yet. The precedents studied here are the council's own past decisions on your street, which an officer is likely to weigh when judging your scheme.
IVYou approve the design
You confirm your chosen option in writing. After that, nothing changes unless you ask for it.
- What happens
- You choose one option and confirm it in writing. From that point the design is held, and nothing changes unless you ask for it.
- What you receive
- A written record of the design you approved, so the set that moves forward matches what you chose.
- What the council or building control sees
- Nothing yet. Only the design you approved in writing goes forward to the checks and then to the council.
VSecond-technologist check
A second chartered technologist reviews each sheet against the council's validation checklist and planning policy, and a senior review signs the set off before it is submitted.
- What happens
- A second chartered technologist, never the person who drew the set, goes through every sheet against the council's validation checklist and planning policy. A senior review then signs the set off, and only then is anything submitted.
- What you receive
- A checked set, signed off by the second technologist and a senior reviewer before it leaves us.
- What the council or building control sees
- A set already read against the council's own validation checklist, so missing information has been looked for before the council looks.
VISubmission to the council
We assemble the forms, certificates, fee and supporting documents and file them through the Planning Portal.
- What happens
- We assemble the forms, certificates, council fee and supporting documents and file the application through the Planning Portal. On a listed or conservation area house, the heritage material goes in with it.
- What you receive
- Confirmation that the application has been filed and a full copy of what was sent, so you hold the same file as the council.
- Typical time
- Eight weeks is the usual statutory period for householder and listed building applications. The council sets its own timescale, so we cannot promise a decision date.
- What the council or building control sees
- The application as filed: drawings, forms, certificates, the fee and supporting documents. The council checks it is valid before it begins to decide it.
Article 34 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 gives the council eight weeks for an application that is not major development, counted from the day after a valid application is received, unless you agree a longer period with the council in writing.
VIIDealing with the officer
We handle the planning officer's questions and make any amendments within five working days, free of charge until approval.
- What happens
- The planning officer, and on a period house often the conservation officer too, will put questions or ask for changes. We answer them and amend the drawings within five working days, at no charge until approval.
- What you receive
- Revised sheets with a short note saying what changed and why, so you can follow each amendment.
- Typical time
- Amendments within five working days, free of charge until approval.
- What the council or building control sees
- Our answers and the revised drawings. On a period house the conservation officer is often consulted, and their comments usually turn on the proportions of openings, the shape of the roof and the materials chosen.
VIIITechnical drawings
The building regulations drawings are aligned with the structural engineer's calculations, the drainage and the conditions attached to the planning decision.
- What happens
- We prepare the building regulations drawings and align them with the structural engineer's calculations, the drainage layout and any conditions on the planning decision. In an old house this is where openings in solid masonry, floor loads and the junction between old and new fabric are settled in detail.
- What you receive
- One technical set that the builder and building control both work from, so neither prices or inspects a different version.
- What the council or building control sees
- Building control checks structure, fire safety, drainage, insulation and ventilation against the Approved Documents. On a period house it also weighs how far energy measures can go before they harm the existing fabric.
Approved Document L, Volume 1 (2021 edition), paragraphs 0.8 to 0.12: work to a listed house, or one in a conservation area, need not meet the energy efficiency standards in full where that would unacceptably alter its character or appearance, and the building control body should consider the advice of the council's conservation officer.
IXApproval, then hand-over
Once building control approves, you receive a pack of next steps: the commencement notice, the timing of party wall notices and CIL.
- What happens
- Building control approves the technical drawings. We then send you a next-steps pack covering what has to happen before the builder starts.
- What you receive
- The next-steps pack: the commencement notice, the timing of party wall notices and CIL, set out in the order you will need them.
- What the council or building control sees
- Building control's approval. The commencement notice and any CIL forms go to the council next, ahead of work starting on site.
Regulation 67 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 requires a commencement notice to reach the collecting authority no later than the day before a chargeable development starts. The duty falls away only for minor development under regulation 42, for a residential extension already granted its exemption, and where the chargeable amount is zero.
