Help needed re building an extension!

Emmamr

Hi there

We are planning on building a two-storey extension to our house soon and have so far seen 2 architects about the feasibility of our ideas. The first was lovely but said it is best to make sure that planning would be approved before drawing anything up so he's away to check that out and the second guy was nice too but reckons we should approach builders first off to see if our budget is okay.
I thought builers would need to see drawings etc before they could quote - is this right? Can anyone who has been through the same process advise as to the best way of getting the ball rolling?
We have an ok-ish budget of up to 50k and possibly a bit more and our plans are in no way extravagant - we plan on doing a lot of the small jobs ourselves but I am finding that I am getting nowhere fast!
Any hints/tips much appreciated.
Emma

baldelectrician

I am in the process of having an extension done (at the planning stage now)

I am in Scotland, but some of the things are similar

You will almost definately need planning permission
You will need a building warrant (called building control in England and Wales)

Go for an architect that someone you know has used, or a company that has been in your town for years and is a member of a trade body.

My architect offered 2 prices.
1. Full plans and submission together with liasion with council and altering drawings if required, Sign off of work for mortgage company (some mortgage companies prefer things to be overseen)
2. Same as above but with more babysitting- more visits and getting quotes from contracors.

I chose option 1 as I am in the trade and can do a lot myself, know people who can do the stuff I am not qualified to do.


Get everything down in writing.

The approx price is around £1300 per sq mtr (complete)

Doozergirl

You can chat through your ideas with a planning officer. Whilst they can't give you a definitive answer, they can give you an idea. It costs nothing.

Your architect should also be able to draw up rough plans before final that you could perhaps show to a builder - but ultimately most will be giving you their ballpark quotes using the rule of £x per square foot/metre as baldelectrician has already mentioned. It will change up and down the country - I'd been told the rule of thumb is £1000 per square metre - we can pull it in at a lot less but from some quotes on here, perhaps £1300 is more realistic for the average person.

woodbutcher_2

Yes,think you have to be looking at the higher end now because running costs and building materials are going up almost daily now.I know of several tradespeople who are raising their prices just to accomodate the rise in fuel prices.Daily rates are rising,as are materials.

On the up side though(for customers at least) there is a recession going on and this will mean more people chasing less work which may curb prices somewhat.Only yesterday my nephew(an electrician) was laid off.He's never been out of work since he left school 8 yrs ago.

To get back to the original point though.Two story extensions are by their nature cheaper than single story on a sliding scale of works.Only one set of footings and one roof,so adding the extra story doesn't work out as that expensive in the scheme of things which should bring down the overall cost per sq mt.

Emmamr

Many thanks for all the replies. They have helped clear things up a bit - it's such a big step that I am really keen not to just jump in without having a clear idea of how things work.
I am going to keep looking for an architect- I think the thing just now is out of the two we have met, I am not sure if either of them are the right fit for us vision-wise. We just want a basic extension and they both seemed to have lots of ideas that we hadn't considered and that we probably never would.!
I'll also get in touch with planning myself to see how favourably our idea will be looked upon.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Thanks again

Doozergirl

Try looking for an architectural technician. Likely to be cheaper than a full blown architect for a simple extension

aylesby

Unless you are savy with builders then make sure you are supported througout the build by your architect. This will cost you but might keep the build on time and track. Most builders will perform better if they think the architect will get them more work. Alternatly the local planning office mayl do extra inspections if you ask.
We will go 4 weeks over on a 13 week build and without our planner pushing every two weeks it would be more.