HOW WE WORK
Initial meeting to discuss, ideas, designs, requirements, permissions & costs
Measured survey to prepare existing floor plans & elevations
Design period, drawings prepared, design discussed & agreed with client
Drawings agreed & finalised then submitted for statutory approval
Planning process, generally 8 weeks
Following approval, building regulations drawings prepared & submitted
Build cost & start date established
Building works starts
FREE EXTENSION GUIDE (CLICK)
HOMER EXTENSION COST SPREAD SHEET (CLICK)
STAGE / TIME LINE
PLANNING PERMISSION
PLANNING PERMISSION - Statutory submission of drawings & application to local authorities for consideration of the development in respect of size, shape, distance to boundaries and how appropriate is its intended use.
Local Authorities are concerned with the visual aspect of any development. It involves an 8 week process from submission to decision.
PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT
(YOU DON’T NEED PLANNING PERMISSION)
Permitted Development Rights allow people to undertake minor development under a deemed grant of planning permission, therefore removing the need to submit a planning application. Permitted development is currently set out in the Town, Country and City Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (amended in 2008).
‘You can make certain types of minor changes to your house without needing to apply for planning permission these are called "permitted development rights". They derive from a general planning permission granted not by the local authority but by Parliament.’
BUILDING REGULATIONS
BUILDING REGULATIONS – Technical aspect of the build, how it’s going to be built in compliance with the building regulations.
Defines how a new building or alteration is to be built so that the building is structurally safe, protected from risk of fire, energy efficient and has adequate ventilation for its purpose.
A Building Regulations application is required for the work being carried out. The responsibility for checking the Building Regulations have been met falls to Building Control Bodies (BCBs) - either from the Local Authority or the private sector as an Approved Inspector. The person carrying out the work has the choice of where to get approval for the building work.
There are three methods of making and application:
1. Full Plans Submission (Local Authority)
You can apply for Building Regulations approval from your local authority Building Control Service by submitting a full plans application. An application deposited under this procedure needs to contain plans and other information showing all construction details, preferably well in advance of when work is to start on site. Your local authority will check your plans. They must complete the procedure by issuing you with a decision within five weeks or, if you agree, a maximum of two months from the date of deposit.
2. Building Notice (Local Authority)
You can apply for Building Regulations approval from your local authority Building Control Service by giving a building notice. Plans are not required with this process so it’s quicker and less detailed than the full plans application. It is designed to enable some types of building work to get under way quickly.
3. Application to an Approved Inspector
Approved Inspectors are companies or individuals authorised under the Building Act 1984 to carry out building control work in England and Wales. http://approvedinspectors.org.uk/
SEWER AGREEMENT
Build Over / Close too Agreement - application to the statutory undertakers (Water Authority) when an extension is built within 3m or 5m of a shared or public sewer.
The Party Wall Act 1996 provides a framework for preventing and resolving disputes in relation to party walls, boundary walls and excavations near neighbouring buildings. A building owner proposing to start work covered by the Act must give adjoining owners notice of their intentions in the way set down in the Act.
Adjoining owners can agree or disagree with what is proposed. Where they disagree, the Act provides a mechanism for resolving disputes. The Act is separate from obtaining planning permission or building regulations approval.