If you already have an architect, we come on board early and work directly with them through the design and specification stage, flagging anything that will cause a problem on site before it becomes an expensive change once building work has started.
If you do not have an architect yet, we can point you to architects and technicians we have worked with before and trust, matched to the size and complexity of your project, rather than leaving you to find one cold.
Full new builds and larger extensions are what we do most, and both live or die on the handover between the design stage and the site. We check that what has been drawn can actually be built the way it has been priced, agree the specification with your architect, and carry that understanding through onto site ourselves, so nothing gets lost in translation between the person who designed the project and the people who build it.
We can prepare and submit your planning application, or work alongside your architect if they are handling it, and we liaise directly with the planning department on queries and updates as it moves through. The decision itself always rests with the council, but you will not be the one stuck chasing them for news.
Building control liaison runs on every job regardless of the planning position, and where work is near or on a shared boundary we flag the Party Wall Act early and help get notices served in good time, because the notice periods are fixed and leaving it late can hold up a start date.
We sit down with you and, where you have one, your architect, and go through the drawings properly rather than skimming them. That covers whether the design is buildable at the price you have in mind, what the ground and any existing services are likely to be doing, and what the planning position actually is for your address. If you do not have drawings yet, we will tell you honestly whether you need a full architect or a technician can get you through planning for less.
Three separate things people often run together. Planning permission is about whether you are allowed to build it at all, and depending on the project you may not need a full application. Building regulations are about whether it is built properly, and that applies on every job regardless. The party wall act comes in when you are building near or on a shared boundary, and it needs serving properly and in good time. We handle the building control liaison directly and tell you clearly which of the other two apply to your project.
Once a design is agreed, we go through it line by line with a builder's eye rather than a designer's, checking structural assumptions, specification and sequencing against what will actually happen on site. Catching a problem here, before the planning application goes in or a contract is signed, is far cheaper than catching it once foundations are already in the ground.
We submit the application, respond to planning officer queries as they come in, and chase progress when things go quiet, rather than leaving you refreshing the council's portal. Once permission and building control approval are in place, the same team carries the project straight onto site.