OUR APPROACH
You, our client
We will meet you and discuss, in general terms, your aims and requirements for the building, we will explore the ways you live in your existing property and how you want to live in your new home. The advantaged and disadvantages of your current home and generally get a feel for what you need out of your new homeYou talk, we'll listen.
Pin-point
We pin-point your priorities for the project, we want to know what kind of spaces you like, we discuss size (big is not always better!) heights, levels and functions, basically all the ideas that are in your head. This is where we have to extract all your dreams and hopes, all information is most helpful, all your thoughts are relevant and indeed any illustrations you have gathered from magazines etc.
In-site-ful
We'll examine your site in terms of aspect, approach, orientation, slope, level, vegetation, neighbours, wind direction and view. Essential requirements to create a building that "sits" comfortably in the natural environment while taking advantage of these factors to provide you with a warm efficient home for years to come.
Let's be brief!
We agree what you want and we'll go away and design it, taking into account everything we have spoken about.
Design
The information has been gathered, we begin the design process. You now may also need advice on the statutory consents required, advice on the requirement for outside consultants, organization of a site survey, a building survey, conservation research, investigation of planning restrictions, zonings. etc. We can assist you in all aspects of these.
We explore the possibilities, types of construction, materials used and establish the general arrangement of spaces, scale, character and appearance. Area is analysed and a cost estimate made. Design Development meetings are held with you and our conversations develope into more specific items. We will also look at defining a realistic timescale for the project taking into account planning, tender and construction time scales.
Planning
Based on the agreed design, we will seek a preplanning meeting with the Local Authority. Pending a successful meeting, we will proceed to prepare the Planning Application documentation. This will include all relevent information from Consultants. We monitor the application during the 12 week period and answer any queries that the Local Authority may have.
If the project requires it, we will prepare, or arrange specialist consultants to prepare, any additional documentation and applications legally required e.g. Fire Safety certification, Building Regulations compliance, Planning Permission compliance, Health & Safety compliance, Disabled Access compliance. BER certificates
Tender
On receipt of the successful planning permission and with your instruction, we prepare the necessary drawings, specifications and other documents needed by a competent, registered, Building Contractor to price and build the project.
If the project is to be tendered, competitive bids are solicited from a number of approved contractors based on the detailed Construction Documents. On conclusion of this stage, we facilitate a building contract between the client and the selected contractor.
Construction & Contract Administration
Throughout the course of construction, we visit the site regularly to ensure progress, quality and workmanship is in line with the contract documentation. We administer the building contract, chair and minute site meetings, answer questions, communicate and solve problems, certify payments, completion, snagging, defects liability, manuals, certificates of compliance.