Our process
We have simplified and condensed our design approach, which we’ve found to help clients easily understand the processes involved.
Site appraisal and initial meeting.
This initial stage is a good chance for you to outline your ideas, budget and timescales. During this initial meeting we can look at any technical, design, conservation or planning issues that could affect the project.
After the site visit, we will provide you with a fixed fee quotation for the design aspect of the project, preparing a planning application, and preparing Building Regulation drawings and specification based on your project brief. We will also price for Contract Administration if this service is required.
We have a flexible working relationship so if you just want planning or building regulations drawings we would be pleased to help. On certain projects there may be a need to appoint other specialists to produce reports or provide specialist design input. We have an extensive network of people we work with who can help if need be.
Concept design and preparation of drawings and application and statutory consents submission.
We start by putting together the initial concept design schematics / sketches and develop the design together. Once agreed we can start preparing the planning drawings, pulling together any supplementary documentation that the planners may require and submitting the application on your behalf.
During the application stage we monitor and manage your application and keep you informed of its progress. We stay in regular contact with the local authority and have an excellent knowledge of the planning system, so if things get difficult, we can suggest alternative strategies to maximise your chances of obtaining permission.
If your planning grant is subject to certain conditions being imposed, it is prudent to deal with discharging the conditions before moving to stage 3.
Building regulations drawings & approval.
We produce the detailed construction drawings and master specification. We will submit the drawings and specification to Building Control for approval. At this stage you may need to engage the services of a Structural Engineer to provide any structural design input. Some projects are more complex than others and will require a higher amount of detailed design information. If the project needs specialist assistance outside our knowledge, we have many associates who can assist.
The drawings provide the backbone of your project. They are an integral part of any tender to select your builder and plan to work to during construction
Tender and Contract Administration
Some clients prefer to have a hands-on approach and do the tender process and project management themselves and therefore will not require this stage.
As with any building project it requires careful management of variations, provisional sums, site instructions and payments to the builder. Not to be confused with Project Management, Contract Administration looks after the contract’s procedure aspect. During this stage we look to compile a detailed schedule of works, issue the tender documentation, manage the tender process, and appoint a builder. During construction we will manage the contract through regular meetings on site, manage changes during the build, and issue site instructions, issuing payment certificates through to practical Completion, check off snagging and close out the project and issue the Final Certificate. If your build is over 100K you really should have a Contract Administrator.
Have some questions?
Explore our FAQs page, which has everything you need to know about planning, designing and building and other questions and answers.
Want to see some of our work?
We’ve carried out all types of design and build project, which you can discover on our project portfolio page ›
