Hi,
I have a leaking conservatory that’s become a home office over the last couple of years.
It was installed by Anglian, I believe at the same time as the house was built about 25 years ago. I want to replace it with a single story brick built extension with a lean to tiled roof. Will be approx. 4m x 4m.
It fits within the scope of permitted development regs.
I’ve had various bits of advice on which plans I need to get drawn up and planning process I need to go through and am a bit confused. The planning portal covers so many scenarios that its hard to work out what applies to me.
I don’t need planning permission.
Prior Approval – do I need this? If I don’t need this, what advantages do I have of getting it anyway?
Building control – I know I need to submit an application via my local authority.
What plans do I need and why?
Architect plans – Would a builder quote and work off an architect plan? Would they satisfy building control? Would they make things sufficiently clear about what a builder needs to do, and if corners were cut or something different done I could hold them to account?
Structural engineer plans – do I need these? I “think” I don’t, that my build is simple and so long as building regs are satisfied I don’t need to add the cost of these?
Is there anything I’m missing? I don’t want to waste money on plans I don’t need, but also don’t want to skip paying for plans that ultimately pay for themselves with benefits down the road.
What sort of price would you expect to pay for what I need? (in a low wage part of the country)
Thanks for any advice! I’ve been putting this off for too long and need to get moving.
It can be a bit confusing as there are guidelines and rules and a lot mixing of the two. There are also differences between England, Scotland, Wales, etc.
The following applies to England and is from memory and may be slightly out of date 🙂
If it falls withing permitted development then you don't need to do anything planning wise. Literally nothing. You may want to apply for a certificate of lawful development which will confirm it is permitted and might help a future sale.
Building control is completely separate. You do need this. You can either do a full plans submission where you describe every detail, they agree it, then you build to that plan. Or you do a building note where you just give a vague description with no plans. They then inspect it at predefined stages and sign off as you go. Whether you do the first or the second depends on your builder.
Having a vague plan is no good for quoting and hard for you to manage them when they get going. If you are getting a builder then getting full plans drawn up makes sense.
You may or may need a structural engineer, depending on the design.
Oops. you may or may not need a structural engineer.
Thanks for the reply Nick.
When you say full plans, does that mean the fancy artist impression type plans that you see attached to planning applications, or would they have any form of technical aspect, of I suppose, things that you dont see behind the exterior picture of the house?
Thanks again.
I doubt you'll be able to reuse the existing footings so I'd expect you'll be tearing the lot out then re-excavating for suitable foundations. Plus you'll want to make sure you've an insulated slab anyway.
When you say full plans, does that mean the fancy artist impression type plans that you see attached to planning applications, or would they have any form of technical aspect, of I suppose, things that you dont see behind the exterior picture of the house?
It'll be all the technical details. How the footings are set, wall construction including insulation and moisture management, how the roof meets the wall, ventilation, etc.
It's all pretty standard stuff so a decent architectural technician will probably just be cut and pasting.
If you Google "building control drawings" you'll see plenty of examples.
Thanks again Nick.
Any views on cost would be appreciated.
Any views on cost would be appreciated.
Wets finger, raises into air...
Any views on cost would be appreciated
Not from me. I do my own drawings after being a bit disappointed with professionals. I would say make sure the price is for approved plans so they make any changes if needed. A friend of mine has been a bit stung by this with someone wanting full pay despite their documents not being correct.
