Best way to get plans drawn up inexpensively

qprfact

We have a detached single garage that is remaining standing more by luck than anything else, so we want to get it knocked down and a new one put up.

Ideally, the new one would have a pitched roof, which would require it to be higher than 2.5m. Our council (Castle Point) require planning permission if this height is exceeded.

Their site says I need to provide:

".. a plan which identifies the land to which the application relates drawn to an identified scale and showing the direction of North"

which has

"a detailed description of all such operations (includes the need to describe any proposal to alter or create a new access, layout any new street, construct any associated hard-standings, means of enclosure or means of draining the land/buildings) and indicate on your plans (in the case of a proposed building the plan should indicate the precise siting and exact dimensions)"

So basically I need to get plans drawn up to allow me to have a pitched roof garage. I've been quoted £950+VAT, which seems very high compared to the cost of actually building the garage, with a further £920+VAT for building regs (it's for "design of foundations and drawings")

Are there alternatives I could consider?

jimmy_cricket

Not sure how much help this is, but about ten years ago we had a chartered architect draw up plans for a ground floor extension. IIRC it was about £500 and he did a great job, no probs with planning or control. One man band, older guy, recommended to us.

Doozergirl

I'm guessing the garage is within 2m of the boundary?

First off, building regulations are not required on a detached garage, so you can forget that fee!

You could draw plans up yourself if you feel confident enough. Draw to a 1:100 scale. If you start with the width, and then mark the height in the middle and go with something less than 2.5 at the eaves and no more more than 4m high, or even something the same as you have, then you'll probably be okay.

Otherwise, £500 is a much more usual fee for drawing up something simple like a garage, so I'd keep looking.

tony6403

You could look at sites like this http://www.garageplans.co.uk/

ChasingButterflies

Hi,

Due to living in a conservation area we recently needed to have plans drawn up to remove a chimney-head. So we needed a set of existing and proposed drawings of all elevations of the house.

We had someone recommended to us their quote was in the region of £700 (there was some sort of "October discount")

So up came yell website - looking for architectural technicians... 2nd quote just over £300 and third £160. We were able to get quotes over the phone due to google maps.

There can be a lot of variation in costs locally so well worth ringing around in our experience.

We went with the third person, plans were with us within a few days and now we are just waiting for the council to do their thing :rotfl:

System

ChasingButterflies wrote: »

Hi,

Due to living in a conservation area we recently needed to have plans drawn up to remove a chimney-head. So we needed a set of existing and proposed drawings of all elevations of the house.

We had someone recommended to us their quote was in the region of £700 (there was some sort of "October discount")

So up came yell website - looking for architectural technicians... 2nd quote just over £300 and third £160. We were able to get quotes over the phone due to google maps.

There can be a lot of variation in costs locally so well worth ringing around in our experience.

We went with the third person, plans were with us within a few days and now we are just waiting for the council to do their thing :rotfl:

£160 is incredibly cheap for a measured survey and set of existing drawings!

op, the quote you have is far too high, look in local papers (or even the local planning website for old applications) for someone working locally, you should be able to get the drawings done for a good bit less - otherwise you could attempt them yourself!

ChasingButterflies

the_r_sole wrote: »

£160 is incredibly cheap for a measured survey and set of existing drawings!

I was amazed when the invoice arrived and there hadn't been any "expenses" added. Payment was in the post the next day

I know who to keep in mind when we do get round to a kitchen extension.