Eight stages.No skipping.
The order matters. Drawings before steel, steel before price, price before the first payment. Scroll to watch the house go from survey to sign-off.
Typical programme
Single-storey rear extension, about 24 m². Planning takes longer than a certificate, and a party wall award can run alongside the drawings.
- Free, 90 minutes
Design visit
We walk the house and garden with you, laser-measure the main rooms, look at the roof, the drains and the boundaries, and ask what bothers you about the house today.
- An honest view of what is possible and what is not
- A price range in writing within five working days
- No hard sell, and no second visit to close
What we will not doQuote a fixed price on the doorstep. We do not know enough yet, and anyone who does is guessing.
- Weeks 1 to 2
Measured survey
Our technologist returns with a laser scanner and measures every wall, level and opening, inside and out, and we dig a trial hole to see the ground.
- Survey fee £650 inc. VAT, credited if you build with us
- Digital model of your house, not estate-agent floor plans
- Ground conditions known before the price is set
What we will not doDraw your house from old floor plans. They are out by 100 mm often enough to matter.
- Weeks 2 to 7
Drawings and planning or LDC
Plans, sections and elevations, with a 3D view. We tell you whether permitted development covers you, then apply for a lawful development certificate or planning permission.
- Two design rounds included
- Council fee £129 for a certificate, £258 for householder planning (paid to the council, 2026)
- We handle the application and neighbour consultation
What we will not doSubmit anything you have not seen and approved.
- Weeks 5 to 9
Structural calcs and building regs
Our chartered engineer partner designs steels, foundations and the roof structure. Building control approves the drawings before a spade goes in.
- Calculations signed by a chartered engineer
- Building control fee about £1,400, shown with a receipt
- Insulation and ventilation specified, not left to the day
What we will not doStart work on a plan to sort the steel out on site.
- Alongside, allow 2 months
Party wall
If you build on or next to a shared wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 needs notices to neighbours. We prepare them, explain them in plain words and recommend a surveyor.
- Surveyor £1,000 to £2,000 per neighbour, in your estimate
- A condition survey of the neighbour's wall first
- We call or knock before the notice lands
What we will not doLet a neighbour find out about your scaffold from the scaffolders.
- Weeks 10 to 11
Fixed-price contract
One document: the drawings, the specification, the programme, the price and the payment schedule. Provisional sums are named and capped.
- Price fixed unless you change something, and changes are quoted first
- First payment no more than 10%
- 14 days to change your mind after signing
What we will not doAsk for more than 10% before the work starts.
- Weeks 12 to 25, typically
Build, with weekly photos
Our own carpenters, bricklayers and plasterers. A site manager is on site every day, and you get a photo update and a one-line note every Friday.
- Hours 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday, Saturday mornings by agreement
- A dust door between you and the work, cleaned daily
- Changes agreed in writing before they are built
What we will not doLeave you ringing round to find out what is happening.
- Final week
Sign-off and 10-year guarantee
We walk it with you with a snagging list, building control signs it off, and we register your insurance-backed 10-year guarantee.
- The last 5% is held until the snagging list is cleared
- Completion certificate and certificates for electrics, gas and glazing
- The guarantee stays with the house if you sell
What we will not doCall it finished while small things are still on a list.
How you pay: seven stages, never a big deposit.
A typical schedule. Each payment is for work you can see, and the last 5% waits for the snagging list.
| Stage | Share of price | On a £96,400 contract |
|---|---|---|
| On signing the contract | 10% | £9,640 |
| Foundations complete | 15% | £14,460 |
| Walls up, roof watertight | 25% | £24,100 |
| First fix complete | 20% | £19,280 |
| Plastering complete | 15% | £14,460 |
| Practical completion | 10% | £9,640 |
| Snagging cleared | 5% | £4,820 |
Start at stage one.
It is free, it takes 90 minutes, and you keep the sketch idea whether or not you hire us.
Book a free design visit