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Help & Advice
Here you will find some supporting information about obtaining Planning Permission and the Building Regulations processes.
Of course, if you have any questions or require elaboration on any matters regarding these processes then please do not hesitate to get in touch with us, as we will be more than happy to help you with your enquiries or aspects relating to your development.
Planning Permission
Planning Permission is a formal, written permission from your local authority which is required in order to build on or alter an existing structure. It is typically requested when you’re looking to make an alteration, extension or other type of associated works. It is also required for most types of new residential or commercial property/premises.
Building Regulations
The UK Current Building Regulations process is a set of strict minimum standards in which all new building and construction work must adhere to, during and post completion. Developed by the UK Government, they form protection for homeowners who are looking to improve their property, as well as any neighbouring structures.
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Our FAQs
We understand that you may have some enquiries before or during your project – from project inception to completion, we have compiled a list of the most common questions which we are asked by our clients.
See below for clarity, or alternatively feel free to get in touch with one of our team.
Have a Project in Mind?
“Team work makes the dream work!”
The best building projects are created when Invent Architecture & Design and our clients work together as a team. If you have a question or would like to book in for an appointment please get in touch via the contact form below. Alternatively, if you’d like to have a chat, please give us a call on the the numbers below, or simply drop us an email!
The Colchester Centre, Hawkins Road, Colchester, Essex, England, CO2 8JX
Mobile: 07720 247 486
Lets Talk
We are a recommended, honest, reputable and experienced design practice which strives to help all of our clients attain their dream designs for their homes. We have obtained our company image by providing a consistent, high quality service for every client that we have the pleasure of working with.
Whether you are familiar to the concept of developing your property or you require a helping hand along the way, our team are always there to provide the best support possible for turning all of your dreams into a reality.
The high quality of our plans that we supply will not only support you as our client, but also help the likes of your local authority, structural engineer, building control officer, nominated builder and any other consultants that will be involved in the design process alongside us and yourself.
We offer two main forms of consultation for our prospective clients – the main is a completely free-of-charge initial consultation in which we visit your property to discuss your requirements over a friendly chat and a cup of coffee (or tea). This is our preferred method of consult as it allows us to truly visualise your project in detail as we talk to you, and we have the pleasure of meeting you in person as well.
We also offer what we refer to as a ‘Desktop Study’, by which we utilise various sources of information in order to ascertain the size, scale and features of your envisioned development. While this method is the less common approach, it can be effective where time is of the essence and tends to be utilised more by our clientele who are looking to undertake a new build design on a plot of land that they have purchased.
After we have met you and ascertained your requirements we will then create a design contract for your project, this contract will highlight all of our services to give you a sound understanding of how we will be achieving the designs that you desire.
Our contract will outline the design breif, typical design process, fees and other vital information which will help you understand the various milestones of the design process.
Our team is very approachable and we are always happy to discuss anything which is on your mind, please feel free to reach out to us via telephone , whatsapp or email if you'd wish.
Depending on the nature of your development we will either be required to conduct a highly detailed property survey, or we are able to delve straight into the design process for you. You would need to refer to our contract for more details on this particular milestone.
Our team will look to submit your drawings once we have received your written consent to do so, the plans will then be issued to your Local Authority for the standard determination period.
A Planning Application or Certificate of Lawful Development will usually take around 8 – 10 weeks to process once it has been submitted. During this time, we will keep you notified of all advancements just as soon as we are aware of these ourselves.
Once your project has been granted Planning Permission or obtained a CLD, we will then look to commence with the Building Regulations Phase if this is a part of our contract with you
The Building Regulations phase will involve a larger set of plans, each with their own detailing about the physical construction elements of your designs in order to demonstrate to the Building Control Officer that the scheme will be compliant with the current UK Building Regulations.
This process is usually much shorter when compared to a planning application, lasting around 4-8 weeks once we have submitted our Building Regulation drawings to the Local Authority.
In the instance that your service proposal does not include the Building Regulations phase, we will re-consult with you at this stage in order to ascertain how you would like to proceed with the next steps of your project.
Once the Building Regulation drawings are completed we will issue them in A1 format for your records, just as we did with the Planning Application phase. At this milestone, we will also seek quotations from both our nominated structural engineer and Colchester Borough Council’s Building Control Team for your instruction.
There may also be additional services required for your project, such as a Build Over agreement and where this is the case we will notify you of this just as soon as we can.
As we at Invent Architecture & Design are accredited with the LABC Scheme, all of our Building Regulation drawings (and all accompanying information) will be offered to be checked over by Colchester Borough Council in order to ascertain full compliance with the current UK Building Regulations.
Once your development has started on site your Local Authority will then become involved with the site inspection process, by which they will be monitoring the physical building works themselves in order to check for full compliance with the current UK Building Regulations. This level of quality control will verify that your building work meets the exact standard that it should.
A Passing of Building Regulations Plans will last 3 years in total, in which you will be required to make a start on the building work for your project.
Yes of course, we have a large selection of nominated builders who would be pleased to engage with you at this milestone. Feel free to ask us for more information as and when you require these details.
This specific information will differ per scheme, and as such we will always recommend reviewing the correspondence which has been provided by your Local Authority.
The correspondence will contain details of your inspection schedule and other vital information which relate to the build, and it is very important to adhere to these schedules as this will prevent any potential hold-ups, meaning that you will have full use of your project as quickly as possible!
We will aim to have your drawings completed and issued to you via email within 2-3 working weeks after we have your instruction, or once our property survey has been conducted. In the rare instance that it may take a little longer than this for any reason, we will contact you to keep you updated just as soon as possible.
A standard grant of Planning will last 3 years in total, as per Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. You will be able to identify this information in the ‘Conditions’ section of your Planning Certificate for further clarity, once this has been received.
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For any other questions or advice, please feel free to reach out to us, or visit the Planning Portal for additional information.
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