Extensions

All there is to know about building extensions

Firstly, if you’re thinking of having an extension but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. At Pro Arkitects – Design & Build Experts, our Architectural Design team will help you refine your extensions idea’s and produce designs that show what your project will look like.

Secondly, our team will produce a detailed package of architectural drawings showing you the future floorplans and elevations of your property after your project has been completed. So, these drawings include both your existing and proposed property and meet the requirements of the local authorities. Therefore, can be used for the purposes of submitting as part of your planning application.

However, it should be noted that although some contractors may be able to construct your project with planning drawings, you may require additional building regulations drawings that can be used for building control approval.

In fact, you can check the UK Government guide HERE to see if your extension plans are likely to need Planning Permission.

Even if your extension is considered Permitted Development (ie. doesn’t need Planning Permission), it is still a good idea to get a Lawful Development Certificate. Furthermore, this is basically just written confirmation from your Local Authority that you can build without Extension Planning Permission and definitely aren’t breaking any rules!

The Lawful Development Certificate will also come in handy when you eventually come to sell your home. In addition, the Lawful Development Certificate Application requires extension drawings of the exact type you would normally use for a Planning Application.

Building regulation drawings for extensions

So, you may already have planning drawings and/or planning approval for your extension.

Furthermore, your next step would be to assign a Building Control to your project. Depending on the Building Control officer/department, you may require building regulation drawings to comply with their requirements.

Our Architectural Design team can produce detailed building regulations drawings for your extension. In fact, these drawings will specify structural elements such as openings and supports and the materials used within your extensions.

All of our building regulation drawings have gained approval from several Building Control departments. So, we guarantee that your building regulations drawings will be drawn to the highest standards. Of course, giving you the reassurance that your extension will be designed and constructed to the highest quality, and compliant with current Building Regulations.

However, your extension will almost definitely need Building Regulations Approval by either your Local Authority or an Approved Inspector.

You can do this one of two ways;

1) A Building Notice

Firstly, this is just a form that states you are building an extension and it enables the inspectors to quote your fees and tells them to expect to carry out some site visits soon. In addition, there are no extension building regulations drawings produced with this option and you or your builder can submit the Building Notice.

2) Full Plans Application

Secondly, this is the one we would recommend as Architectural Building Regulations Drawings are produced by us and are pre-checked by the Building Control Officer before building work starts. For example, this means you can be entirely confident that you will not be building anything non-compliant and have to make costly corrections.

So, the extension building regulations drawings we produce include all the relevant detailed section drawings, a specification, and all relevant building notes to get you Full Plans Building Control Approval. Therefore, your builder will also have nice detailed extension plans to work from, further reducing the risk of mistakes on site.