Sounds expensive and in any case aren’t all the answers on-line.
Well – a lot of the answers are on-line. The government’s own Planning portal will give a lot of good advice and is a good place to start. You can also call your local Planning Officer at Solihull or Birmingham council and usually get some valuable help.
But it is important to remember that you will also need approval from the Building Control department for the technical content of your project and it is advisable to consider this while designing your project. The cost implications of the various options you are considering will have a significant impact on your design process and help ensure you stay within your budget.
So some free advice from Planning Consultants – PlanWise in Knowle – will save you a lot of time and help you design an attractive and cost effective project.
We will spend time with you discussing your options, advising on relative costs and, if needed, alternative solutions. There are two main benefits to this early consultation process. First you will produce a design that meets your needs and second you will attract competitive quotes from your builders.
Once you are happy with your design we can produce the Building drawings that will be needed to support your application for Planning permission and also the more technical drawings required for Building Regulation approval. The plans produced by PlanWise are all CAD ( computer aided design) based which produces very clear and accurate drawings. These helps the builder understand the work content and also makes it easy to make changes as the work proceeds.
We will deal with any queries from the Planning Officer and any technical questions from the Building Control Officer to ensure a successful outcome.
And because PlanWise specialise in this work you can save on the cost of an Architect.
Why else might you need a Planning Consultant?
Well you may want to make full use of the space you have and would like to extend your home right up to the boundary. This is usually acceptable but you will need to comply with Party Wall legislation and PlanWise can advise and help you through this process. Time spent early in the design process will help minimise the impact on your neighbours and produce the most acceptable solutions.
We will prepare the Party Wall notices and help you deal with any queries from your neighbours. But don’t forget that the best way to get them on board is to discuss your ideas with them in the early stages. The local Solihull or Birmingham Planning officers are also usually very helpful with this process.
So in summary a small investment upfront with a Planning/Building consultant will reap significant benefits and cost savings further down the line.
In any case with PlanWise your first consultation is free!! - so what have you got to lose.
