Planning Your London Building Project: A Step-by-Step Guide
You’ve found your dream site or house and are now excited to get started but the process seems overwhelming and difficult to understand. Embarking on a building project in London is an exciting journey, but it is really important to understand the process and make sure you are properly prepared so that you can ensure things run as smoothly as possible
Here’s a comprehensive checklist we have put together to help you get started on the right foot.
1. Define Your Vision and Requirements
Having a photo real computer visual made of your new project at the preliminary design stage can be great for defining your vision and also for keeping yourself motivated during the process as you can look at it and remind yourself that there is an amazing end in sight.
Image produced by Haze for Nancy Gouldstone Architects
Project Scope: Determine what it is exactly that you wish to build, whether it’s a new build home on an empty plot (very rare for London!), an existing house that will be knocked down, an extension, or a renovation. Will it be the whole house, or just a portion of it? Do you want to make structural alterations or will it be mainly refurbishment?
Purpose: Identify how you intend to use the space and any specific requirements you have. We’ll be creating a checklist for doing this in subsequent blog posts
2. Establish a realistic Budget
Financial Planning: Set a realistic budget that includes all costs such as design fees, construction, permits, and contingencies. We’ll be doing a blog post on what these costs usually amount to soon.
Specialist Heritage Costs: Account for potential additional costs, such as specialist materials and heritage consultants if your house is listed or in a conservation area.
Contingency Fund: Allocate 10-15% of your budget for unexpected expenses. Works on site always have some unexpected events - especially in existing older buildings and especially in buildings with basement levels. This could be things like discovering that the building is missing key structural elements or that is has damage to its foundations, the discovery of hidden drains or in the case of one of our projects the discovery of a hidden river running under the house!
Factor in VAT: The majority of building projects are liable for 20% VAT in the UK on the construction work as well as all of your professional team’s fees. We’ll be doing a separate blog on VAT ratings for building projects in the UK soon.
3. Assemble Your Professional Team
A successful building project relies on a team of qualified professionals. Here’s who you’ll need. We have a trusted network of consultants that we have long running professional relationships with
The structural engineer is a key consultant on most projects
Team meeting with our builder and structural engineer during our Islington Townhouse mansard roof extension project in the borough of Islington
Architect: To design your project, guide you through the planning process and accompany you through the construction stage and ensure the project gets finished to the right standard. Check that your architect is registered - you can do this on the ARB website.
Interior designer: To help choose the interior finishes, fittings and general style (often Architects such as our practice are also interior designers so can take on this role too) Interior designers can be registered with the SBID or the BIID. Nancy at our practice a registered member of the SBID.
Structural Engineer: To ensure the structural integrity of the design.
Quantity Surveyor: To provide cost estimations and manage the budget. Some Architect practices such as NGA are also experienced at defining approximate build costs at the pre construction stage and at producing itemised schedules of work for builders to cost from as well as conducting valuations of the work and processing variations at contract stage.
Building Services Engineer: For designing electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems. On smaller projects, this role can be taken on by the Contractor but we always recommend making sure they holder Professional Indemnity insurance to cover themselves as designers of the mechanical and electrical services in the house when they take on this role.
Planning Consultant: If your project is complex or in a sensitive area, it is often worthwhile taking on an experienced planning consultant to advise on the best way of achieving planning permission.
Heritage Consultant: To provide expert advice on heritage impact and help navigate the planning process if your property is in a Conservation area or is a listed building. Often Architects will be able to take on this role for projects that are relatively straightforward.
Building Control Officer: To inspect the work and ensure it meets building regulations.
Health & Safety Principal Designer & Principal Contractor: As required by the HSE, CDM regulations apply to most domestic projects, these roles ensure safety throughout the project. The Architect usually acts as the Principal Designer for CDM purposes but this can also be done by a separate consultant known as a CDM (Construction Design and Management) Coordinator.
Building Safety Act Principal Designer: This is a very new role that was only formalised by the government in October 2023. This places criminal responsibility on the architect for the project for the adherance of the building regulations and requires a very large amount of documentation to record, track and prove that the building works are compliant with the building regulations. This is a separate role to the CDM Principal Designer role and it cannot be undertaken by the building control approved inspector it can only be undertaken by an Architect or Structural engineer who is leading the project. It is the client / owner’s responsibility to ensure that they appoint someone to undertake this role
Measured / Topographical Surveyor: To conduct a topographical survey ( if you have a site for new build) or measured survey of the existing house and garden and identify site constraints.
Client side Project manager: To manage the works at construction stage and keep the builder accountable every day for the programme that the builder has advised and committed to and to transmit this information back to the client regularly.
4. Understand Planning and Building Regulations
Planning Permission: Check if your project requires planning permission and submit an application if necessary. Your Architect can lead on this and ensure that your scheme will comply with planning policy and can prepare and submit all necessary planning applications for you.
Is your property in a Conservation area : Check if you property lies within a Conservation area, areas such as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden and Hammersmith and Fulham have many Conservation areas - these are areas which are deemed to be of high design and historic quality and any works to the external envelope of the buildings within the area need to gain planning permission.Your architect will be able to advise and guide you through this process
Is your property a listed building : If so, both the interior and the exterior of the building require permission from the council to make any changes.
Building Regulations: Ensure your design complies with local building regulations. Your architect will oversee this for you liaising the relevant parties and will ensure your design meets all of the necessary legislation.
An example of planning drawings that we produced for an extension and other facade changes to a house in a conservation area in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which achieved planning permission.
5. Understand your Site
Ownership and Boundaries & Party Wall: Confirm land ownership and clearly define property boundaries. Before you start designing, its super important to make sure you know whether you own all of the land you are planning to develop upon belongs to you. If you share any walls with neighbouring properties, certain works will mean you will require party wall awards.
Site Analysis: Consider factors such as site access, ground conditions, sunlight, and surrounding views, whether there are any protected wildlife living on the land.
6. Develop Initial Design Concepts
Sketch Ideas: Also known as your preliminary design. Work with your architect to create initial design concepts that reflect your needs, style, vision and budget.
Feasibility Study: Assess the feasibility of the project based on site conditions and regulatory constraints.
Hampstead Townhouse
Example of a preliminary design stage model and view created when we were exploring and defining the design for one of our projects in a conservation area in Hampstead in the borough of Camden
7. Detailed Design and Specifications
Final Design: Develop detailed architectural drawings and specifications done to a level that the project can be quoted for accurately.
Material Selection: Choose materials and finishes that align with your budget and aesthetic preferences. The more you decide upon and don’t change afterwards at this stage, the quicker, more straightforward and more cost effective the construction stage will be.
8. Obtain Competitive Quotes
Tender Process: Put together a package of drawings and specifications and spreadsheets of schedules of works that itemise out the full project so that the project can be accurately quoted for. Invite several builders to provide quotes based on the final design.
Compare Proposals: Review the proposals in detail, considering cost, timeline, and scope of work.
Undertake value engineering: If necessary revise the design and associated drawings and schedules to bring the project to an affordable budget
9. Contract and Project Planning
Contract Agreement: Sign a contract with your chosen builder that outlines all terms and conditions. Ideally you would use a Contract Administrator for your project who would prepare the contract and all related documents and oversee and record the contract signing and at site stage contract administrate the project. More on this in the next section
Project Timeline: Develop a detailed project timeline, including key milestones and completion dates. The contractor should put this together but this can also be something that a project manager if appointed can undertake for you.
10. Construction Phase
Site Preparation: Begin with site clearing and preparation.
Regular Inspections: Schedule regular site visits and inspections with your architect and building control inspector to monitor progress.
Health and Safety: Ensure that all safety measures are in place and compliant with CDM regulations and the Building Safety Act.
11. Completion and Handover
Snagging: All of the final items that need to be resolved are ironed out over the last few weeks, ensuring the painting and decorating is done perfectly and all of the contract design items have been implemented in line with the drawings and spec and to the right level.
Final Inspections: Conduct a final inspection with your architect and building control to ensure everything is completed to the required standard. The Architect / Contract Administrator will then sign off the project for ‘Practical Completion’
Handover: Receive all necessary documentation, including warranties, manuals, and certificates.
Need Expert Guidance?
We would love to support you throughout your building journey. Contact us today to discuss your project and how we can bring your dream home to life