Extending House, Please Explain....

Kidds · Jan 3, 2022

I had an architect make suggestions and he drew up what I thought I wanted. A structural engineer to tell me how it needed to be done and Building Control to tell me what must be done. Then a builder, roofer and joiner to do it for me. Didn't want to bother the Planning Dept as they were too busy avoiding Covid.
I was pleased with the process and would do it again although why Building Control and everybody else failed to inform me a utility room needs an extractor fan until after it was plastered and painted was disappointing.

Hampton · Jan 3, 2022

Unfortunately, most of the mistakes people make can only be learnt from experience.
ive Renovated 4 houses now including my own and I still haven’t got the exact team around me I want.
dealing with trades is an art form and as the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs

George from SJM Planning · Jan 3, 2022

Kidds said:
I had an architect make suggestions and he drew up what I thought I wanted. A structural engineer to tell me how it needed to be done and Building Control to tell me what must be done. Then a builder, roofer and joiner to do it for me. Didn't want to bother the Planning Dept as they were too busy avoiding Covid.
I was pleased with the process and would do it again although why Building Control and everybody else failed to inform me a utility room needs an extractor fan until after it was plastered and painted was disappointing.

So it falls under Permitted Development or it is unlawful?

Kidds · Jan 3, 2022

George from SJM Planning said:
So it falls under Permitted Development or it is unlawful?

Yes.

I expect the changes I made would strictly speaking require planning permission but the increase in floor area would not. I don't care, I doubt planning do either and they will never prove anything anyway. Building Control are happy and have been involved throughout, they have no communication with Planning even though from same place in theory. I wouldn't advise people to take this route but I would happily do it again.

teslacoils · Jan 3, 2022

I've been advised also to employ my own chap for "building regs".

George from SJM Planning · Jan 3, 2022

teslacoils said:
I've been advised also to employ my own chap for "building regs".

By who? Are you talking about using a third party building control inspector or someone to prepare the plans?

teslacoils · Jan 3, 2022

Building control inspector.

mo! · Jan 3, 2022

Our builders were delighted that we used an Independent Building Control company. "Very practical" was the comment, which from what I saw meant, "we're doing it right and they are leaving us to it".

George from SJM Planning · Jan 3, 2022

teslacoils said:
Building control inspector.

It may be that the person who said this has had issues with the council building inspectors. Council is generally cheaper but can be frustrating to deal with. A third party (we use Stroma) can be more accomodating and helpful bit tend to be more expensive.

Hampton · Jan 3, 2022

teslacoils said:
I've been advised also to employ my own chap for "building regs".

We used the council service

bobk · Jan 3, 2022

teslacoils said:
Building control inspector.

No no no , use the council , we had CPS , absolutely foukin useless

Hampton · Jan 3, 2022

Hampton said:
We used the council service

Our builders knew the council guy really well and they were happy with each other.

George from SJM Planning · Jan 3, 2022

Hampton said:
Our builders knew the council guy really well and they were happy with each other.

A lot of it is down to the relationship between the builder/architect and the building control

Doing it for the kids · Jan 3, 2022

Been doing up stuff a while, few observations.

Some architects are good, I’ve only met a few though. Most only think about how it will look on the ‘open day’ but don’t apply practical knowledge. Example - proposed a WC in the middle of the room, no thought to waste pipes, ended up sacking him and doing the rest in house.

I also hate how they think stuff will look great on the sales day but in 3 yrs time it all looks awful due to material spec.

Building regs - luck of the draw. I’ve used private before and it went badly. He was more anal than a council one, had some big Arguments, some he gave into.

My advice would be to work backwards. Figure out what you want. See if you can find a builder who will give you an hr to talk About it, pay him if you need to. Get his practice view on it.

Then sketch up what you want and speak to the planners, if they say yes then you can take the theory up to building drawings and then get contractors etc on board.

You could spend a lot on pretty plans only to be told no by the planners.

Lastly, every Bugger out there is so busy, don’t expect this to happen quick!

S J H · Jan 3, 2022

Doing it for the kids said:
Been doing up stuff a while, few observations.

Some architects are good, I’ve only met a few though. Most only think about how it will look on the ‘open day’ but don’t apply practical knowledge. Example - proposed a WC in the middle of the room, no thought to waste pipes, ended up sacking him and doing the rest in house.

I also hate how they think stuff will look great on the sales day but in 3 yrs time it all looks awful due to material spec.

Building regs - luck of the draw. I’ve used private before and it went badly. He was more anal than a council one, had some big Arguments, some he gave into.

My advice would be to work backwards. Figure out what you want. See if you can find a builder who will give you an hr to talk About it, pay him if you need to. Get his practice view on it.

Then sketch up what you want and speak to the planners, if they say yes then you can take the theory up to building drawings and then get contractors etc on board.

You could spend a lot on pretty plans only to be told no by the planners.

Lastly, every Bugger out there is so busy, don’t expect this to happen quick!

Agree with all of this, find a builder you can work with and work back. They’ll probably have a architect and inspector that they know.

If you can work out what you want with the builder, then you only really need an architect to draw it and make it legal.

George from SJM Planning · Jan 3, 2022

Doing it for the kids said:
Been doing up stuff a while, few observations.

Some architects are good, I’ve only met a few though. Most only think about how it will look on the ‘open day’ but don’t apply practical knowledge. Example - proposed a WC in the middle of the room, no thought to waste pipes, ended up sacking him and doing the rest in house.

I also hate how they think stuff will look great on the sales day but in 3 yrs time it all looks awful due to material spec.

Building regs - luck of the draw. I’ve used private before and it went badly. He was more anal than a council one, had some big Arguments, some he gave into.

My advice would be to work backwards. Figure out what you want. See if you can find a builder who will give you an hr to talk About it, pay him if you need to. Get his practice view on it.

Then sketch up what you want and speak to the planners, if they say yes then you can take the theory up to building drawings and then get contractors etc on board.

You could spend a lot on pretty plans only to be told no by the planners.

Lastly, every Bugger out there is so busy, don’t expect this to happen quick!

I would agree with this apart from the "speak to the planners". If you can actually speak to the planners you are very lucky.

BBC · Jan 3, 2022

How difficult are the local planners going to be. First conversion we did I used the architect for the planning and we ended up spending a year getting nowhere and planners basically saying no.
Having seen the success that friends of ours had using a planning consultant for what potentially was a far more difficult job, I took him on and the difference was chalk and cheese. He completely rewrote our planning statement and the reasons for doing what we wanted to do and targeted a different planner as in his words the guy we were dealing with ‘is useless’.
Having said that he also said that of all the councils he deals with, Cotswold are the most intransigent and have ‘taken all the fun out of planning’!
End result, council did a complete 180 degree u turn and we got what we wanted.
Since then he has been our first port of call for any planning. He obviously speaks the right language and how to ‘sell’ our plans to the planners and has maintained a 100% success rate, despite having to also steer around listed building and scheduled monument consents.
Money very well spent.

Renaultman · Jan 3, 2022

I'm planning a garage, terrace, sun room extension type thing, builder is in place, and architect meeting next week. I will need to find someone to reign in my wild extravagant desires.

George from SJM Planning · Jan 3, 2022

BBC said:
How difficult are the local planners going to be. First conversion we did I used the architect for the planning and we ended up spending a year getting nowhere and planners basically saying no.
Having seen the success that friends of ours had using a planning consultant for what potentially was a far more difficult job, I took him on and the difference was chalk and cheese. He completely rewrote our planning statement and the reasons for doing what we wanted to do and targeted a different planner as in his words the guy we were dealing with ‘is useless’.
Having said that he also said that of all the councils he deals with, Cotswold are the most intransigent and have ‘taken all the fun out of planning’!
End result, council did a complete 180 degree u turn and we got what we wanted.
Since then he has been our first port of call for any planning. He obviously speaks the right language and how to ‘sell’ our plans to the planners and has maintained a 100% success rate, despite having to also steer around listed building and scheduled monument consents.
Money very well spent.

A really refreshing view, I really appreciate hearing of people finding Planning Consultants valuable - there is still a common misconception that architects know planning and people look at Planning Consultants as a luxury.

TMPUK · Jan 3, 2022

For any projects, you have to juggle with these 3 values : budget, quality, timeline. Should you put some pressure on one, it will have an impact on the other ones. Put some pressure on two of these three values, the third one will be difficult to handle. I.e. : you have a low budget and looking for top quality...then you may need a quite long time to find the material at the acceptable cost. You want it very fast with top quality, the costs will explode. Then as many wrote, take your time, identify your needs (wishes) and targets as precisely as possible and, then meet a professional to draw it and then go for the local planners.

Extending House, Please Explain....

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100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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