Planwise - Building & Planning Consultants offering CAD Building Plans & Drawings

If you’re thinking of extending or altering your home next year then now would be a good time to get your thoughts together.

If you assume 1 month to get your ideas sorted and some plans and drawings prepared, then 2 months to get Planning Permission (including 5 weeks for Building Control Approval), then 1 month to get quotes from contractors and builders and finally allowing 2 months lead time before your builders can start – then you can see that it could be April next year before things finally get moving.

PlanWise can help you get started and guide you through the process. Our lead consultant Mark Temple has many years of experience in advising on projects and applying for Planning permission and Building Control approval from both Solihull and Birmingham Councils.

We will visit you and give free advice on the practicalities of your scheme, offer ideas and solutions and then send you our proposal for costs and timescales.

If you decide to use our services we will produce CAD based scale building drawings of your plans to meet the requirements of the local Planning Department and more detailed drawings including technical specifications for submission to the local Building Control Department. We can also arrange for structural calculations to support any steelwork required.
Good clear drawings will bring your ideas to life and we will show you examples of some of our other projects when we visit.

We will make the applications on your behalf and deal with all queries until final outcome.
Once you have your approvals then you can use the building drawings to obtain quotes from your preferred builders and hopefully receive 3 or 4 competitive quotes for your work. Don’t forget that if you have detailed and clear drawings then you are more likely to receive good accurate quotes.

We can also help with plumbing, lighting and electrics layouts which will again help your builders prepare accurate costs.

If your home is in a Conservation area – and there are quite a few in Solihull, Knowle and Dorridge – then you will also need a Design and Access statement to support your application. PlanWise are experienced Planning consultants and will prepare this document to support your application. In our experience it is always worth discussing your plans with the Solihull Conservation officer before  submission to get his input and outline agreement to the scheme. We will do this on your behalf.

When you finally get under way you will probably want to change or add things as the work progresses. If this involves any technical or major design changes then we can easily update your CAD drawings so that when the work is complete you have an accurate record. This is very important if you sell your house as prospective buyers will need evidence of the work being approved.

Good luck and please give us a call if we can help.

Planning Permission for Drives & Decking in Solihull

Our lovely summer seems to have ended overnight. I hope you took every opportunity to enjoy the garden while the warm weather lasted. 

You may have had thoughts about some new decking to entertain family and friends or even a new driveway for everyone to park on. Well if you are planning something in preparation for next summer it is important to remember you may need Planning Permission. 

Since October 2008 you need planning permission for decking and drives of certain sizes and types, Planwise in Knowle can you help you with this: 

Decking 

If the timber decking in your rear garden is more than 300mm above the original ground level or will occupy more than 50% of your total garden area (extensions and sheds are included in your 50% limit) then you will need Planning Permission. It may be worth obtaining some advice from a Planning Consultancy service or a call into Solihull Planning Department may answer your questions. As always though if you think it might affect your neighbours it is always worth consulting them first to make sure they are happy with your plans. 

Drives 

Here again you need to be careful. Replacing an old paving slab or gravel drive with a new tarmac drive might seem straightforward and simply an improvement to your home but there are certain design requirements. If your drive is over 5m2 then you should include either or both of the following 

• Any impermeable surface (such as tarmacadam) should drain into a channel that takes the rainwater to a soakaway in your garden. 

• Alternatively the rainwater should drain directly into open ground or gravel 

These requirements are to ensure that rainwater runs away naturally into the ground and we don’t add to the likelihood of drains flooding. 

If you are unable to provide this natural drainage then you will need Planning Permission and quite possibly Building Regulation approval. This could mean the need to produce some building plans or drawings to support your applications to Solihull Local Authority. 

Alternatively you could lay a block paving, granite block or permeable tarmac surface which would drain naturally and you won’t have any problems. 

Planwise are based in Knowle near Solihull in the West Midlands and are headed up by myself, Mark Temple. I have over 35 years professional experience including over 5 years spent preparing building plans and CAD drawings for planning permissions. If you need any advice or a free consultation then give us a call or visit us at www.planwise.org 

Get decking!

Building Plans & Building Drawings for Planning Consultants

Are you thinking of adding a large single storey extension to the rear of your home and not living in one of the Conservation Areas in Solihull, Knowle or Dorridge?

Then the new Planning legislation allows you to build an extension up to 6m long on a semi-detached house and up to 8m long on a detached house. This is 50% bigger than you were previously allowed to build without applying for full Planning permission.

However this extended permission only continues until 30th May 2016 and, although that sounds like a long time, the work must be finished before this date. So if you want to avoid what could be a busy time for builders – now would be a good time to get serious.

Solihull Planning Department does not require you to produce building plans or building drawings but they will require the following as you are required to comply with the Neighbour Consultation Scheme which will be in force for the duration of this extended period.

1. A written description of the proposal which includes the length that the extension extends beyond the rear wall of the original house, the height at the eaves and the height at the highest point of the extension.

2. A plan of the site showing the proposed development

3. The addresses of any adjoining properties including at the rear

4. A contact address for the developer and an email address if the developer is happy to receive electronic correspondence.

Unusually there is no fee for this service.

Solihull Planning Department may ask for further information if it needs to make a decision about the impact of the development on adjoining properties.

They will then serve a notice on adjoining owners or occupiers, ie those who share a boundary including to the rear. This will give the address of the proposed development  and describe it.

Neighbours will have up to 21 days to raise any objections so it’s usually a good idea to get them on board first. Invite them round for a chat and talk through your ideas before you submit your proposal. Solihull Planning must make their decision within 42 days.

So to produce a good, coherent and attractive proposal you may wish to consider seeking advice from a planning consultancy service such as PlanWise but don’t forget you will still need full building drawings to obtain approval from Solihull Building Control Department for the design and technical details of your scheme.

PlanWise in Knowle, near Solihull in the West Midlands can advise and guide you through these processes, produce CAD building drawings and technical details and complete all the necessary applications.

The home and extension market in Solihull Borough is quite buoyant at the moment so now seems a good time to invest in your home. For a chat, advice and free consultation give us a call or look at our website. Happy extending!