We are planning to have single-storey extension built on our home.

We have some ideas and have contacted an architect who would prepare drawings and handle planning permission and building regs.

We would contract a builder to complete the building works before having a separate contractor perform the fit and finish.

Having never done this, I’m certain there are numerous pitfalls and other considerations we should address before contracting anyone. Can anybody point me in the direction of a good resource that might cover such items, perhaps in the form of a good checklist?

Cheers,

Paul

We would contract a builder to complete the building works before having a separate contractor perform the fit and finish.

Just get one builder to do the lot? Saves any issues falling in between and two sets of ‘overheads’ in the fees.

online checklists I can’t help with, however my advice would be do not underestimate the amount of project management work this will take – it’s a lot!
Additionally, while you’ll be able to see the pitfalls and slight delays to someone else’s project as an ‘inconvenience’, for you, when you’re living in it, it will be very emotional.

If you’ve really never done anything like this before, I suggest getting a building firm in to do the whole job, look for a local guy who’ll either have, or manage the individual trades.

Lots of advice on here;
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/

Sex dungeon

If any of your neighbours have an extension go and ask them who built it and if they’d recommend them. One good guy builder who comes with a firm recommendation is worth paying for.

a builder won’t be able to give you an accurate quote without ‘construction’ drawings to quote from.

We did this 3 years ago.

Got architect round who drew up what we wanted and handled the required permissions. (Building regs in our case – didn’t need full plans)

We then had a drawing pack to pass on to builders and get quotes with.

If you ‘give the whole job’ to a builder you’ve got no way of benchmarking their price – however if 3 x builders all quote from the same drawing pack – you can compare like-for-like.

Check if you need party wall notice serving on your neighbours and if so that your architect is competent to handle this.

J

Check if you need party wall notice serving on your neighbours and if so that your architect is competent to handle this.

Party wall agreement is a civil matter between you and your neighbour.
your Architect is unlikely to take this on, however they should tell you exactly what you need to do.
there are also numerous letter templates on-line.
Not really worth paying someone else to do it IMHO.

[thread hijack]
We’ve just moved to a larger, older house – but with fewer (albeit larger) rooms and less storage.

We’ve also given up our off street parking 🙁 and the garage is, obviously, not for car storage…

So – not an extension, but wondering whether the STW hive mind can advise on cost / regs / difficulty in building a separate garage?
Top of my head, I’m thinking brick built, double width, maybe with a storage room within the roof pitch???
[/thread hijack]

freeagent – Member

a builder won’t be able to give you an accurate quote without ‘construction’ drawings to quote from.

We did this 3 years ago.

Got architect round who drew up what we wanted and handled the required permissions. (Building regs in our case – didn’t need full plans)

We then had a drawing pack to pass on to builders and get quotes with.

If you ‘give the whole job’ to a builder you’ve got no way of benchmarking their price – however if 3 x builders all quote from the same drawing pack – you can compare like-for-like.

This.

Is there a particular reason for only going single storey? I only ask because it may be worth ensuring that any foundations are capable of taking a second storey to allow any future expansion by you (or any prospective owner).

we started with a single story addition of a utility room onto the kitchen. In the end we doubled the size of the kitchen with a utility room off it and landed a proper roof with a room in it on top. (this was all before digging holes in the garden) it cost less than double original budget (until the kitchen was ordered by Mrs Yeti) with way more than double the asset in the end.

Expect it to take twice as long, be four times the hassle you expected and cost about 50% more than your original budget.

Party wall agreement is a civil matter between you and your neighbour.
your Architect is unlikely to take this on, however they should tell you exactly what you need to do.
there are also numerous letter templates on-line.
Not really worth paying someone else to do it IMHO.

Except that the Party Wall Act specifically states that you cannot act for yourself if there is a dispute 😉

Be aware that the Party Wall Act is likely to apply if your new foundations are deeper than your neighbour’s (and within 3m of them).

That Party Wall Act makes me angry…I had to serve notice on both neighbours, one wanted their own surveyor just to be annoying, cost me thousands!

online checklists I can’t help with, however my advice would be do not underestimate the amount of project management work this will take – it’s a lot!

+1. Also, make sure you REALLY completely understand every detail of the drawings/ plans produced by the architect. Things can get extremely complicated when the builder disagrees with or misunderstands an element of the drawing and you can’t make an informed decision.