This is a free service where we meet you at the property to discuss your requirements and aspirations, as well as giving our opinion and design advice. At this point we can discuss whether your project will require planning permission. We will then tailor our services to your project and provide you with a comprehensive fee estimate and our timescales.

Following our appointment, we will begin gathering the information that the design team require to commence the design process. If your project includes an existing building, we will need to conduct a measured building survey. For complex building surveys, and topographic surveys, we will outsource this stage to a specialist surveyor.

Once we have all the required information, we will start the design process. From our initial conceptual designs, we will develop your proposal(s), holding design review meetings throughout the process, either at our office or at the property. Incorporating your feedback, we will establish whether any amendments need to be made before we finalise the drawing package. During this stage, we will also appoint any external consultants you may need, to determine whether their input may influence the design, such as an ecologist or an Arboriculturalist (tree specialist).

Once the design has been finalised, depending on the type of project, we will compile the required written documentation to accompany the planning application, such as a Planning, Design and Access Statement or Heritage Statement. We will also gather the reports written by any required external consultants as these will be required by the local planning authority. We will then submit your planning application and continue to monitor it and liaise with the planning officer for the duration.

After planning permission has been granted, we can start the technical drawing stage. The technical drawings have a much greater level of detail and will provide all the necessary information to satisfy Building Control. Depending on your project, you may wish for a higher level of specification, this can include mechanical and electrical layouts, finish specifications and window and door schedules. By combining the technical drawings with a detailed specification, this will give the contractor everything they need to accurately price and build the project. At this stage we will also need input from external consultants, these can include but are not limited to structural engineers and energy assessors.

Once we have collated all the drawn and written information, we can tender your project to potential contractors on your behalf to gather prices and timescales. We can also send the detailed drawings to a quantity surveyor (QS) to get an impartial cost check. The accuracy of both contractor and QS pricing relies on the level of detail provided, a comprehensive technical drawing package and detailed specification will provide you with the most accurate price, whereas a basic technical drawing package alone will still leave a lot of unknowns.

As Architects, we highly recommend running your project under a building contract. The contract is signed by both you (the client) and the contractor, with us (the architect) acting as your contract administrator. We will then act on your behalf to ensure that the project is built to the highest of standards and confirm that the contactor is adhering to the drawings and specification by undertaking regular site visits. By running a project under contract, the price is fixed, only allowing for reasonable changes which must be approved by the contract administrator, giving you increased peace of mind that there will be no surprises. This stage includes a post-construction inspection which will result in the provision of a schedule of defects and the required remedial works to be undertaken by the contractor before the final payment certificate can be issued and the contract retention sum released.