Extending your house? CDMS Partners Ltd on how to plan a building project

Best laid plans

How does that old adage go: ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail’? When it comes to making changes to your house CDMS Partners Ltd can help you make sure that you have worked out exactly what you want to do and how much it is likely to cost before you start. If you are still in two minds about what it is you are trying to achieve with the building work then stop and go through all of the options before you start!

Some simple steps that might help avoid additional cost and time are:

Architect
Find an architect that you think you can work with, someone willing to listen to your ideas and work to your budget, but at the same time come up with an interesting design. It helps if they can show you something similar that they have done before.

Budget
Make a list of all the changes/ideas that you want to incorporate and discuss it with the architect. Try to work out the approximate cost for each piece of work and an overall budget including the architect, planner’s and engineer’s costs as well as adding on VAT and other expenses such as new furniture and lighting – get the total cost for the work and add a little extra (10%) as a contingency.

Design
Review the design options with your architect – push the boundaries and try to find the best use of space, adding space to a house can often add value to the future sale price.

Scrap book
Tear pages out of magazines showing the type of thing you would like to achieve with your building work – glass roofs, exposed brickwork, bathroom and kitchen ideas – what happens to the garden etc, and put them into a scrap book or on a board. Show things that you don’t like as well!

Planning
Make sure that the plans you like will be acceptable to your neighbours and ultimately with the planners – be prepared to make some compromises.

Builders
Talk to the architect about recommending builders, and also to friends and family; it is good to meet several builders and talk through your plans with them and the architect.

Timetable
Ask the architect to help you work out the timetable from start to finish – add in a few weeks extra for delays and overrun, it is better to allow more time rather than squeezing the builder so as to ensure that he is able to give you the best possible finish.

Take a holiday
If possible – move out of the house while the work is taking place, especially if the work is on all floors, and also if you have children (building sites can be noisy, dirty places).

Stick to the plan
Try not to change your mind once the work has started – mid-way through things might not look how you’d imagined, you might need to wait until it is plastered, painted and the builders materials and mess removed. It is definitely worth sticking to your plan and the architect’s advice as changes will cost time and money.

CDMS Partners Ltd are an award winning Brighton based Architectural Practice. Contact them on 01273 220407, email hello@cdmspartners.com or visit www.cdmspartners.com
Twitter: @cdmspartnersltd