Building regulation drawings in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire

Planning permission says you're allowed to build it. Building regulations say how it has to be built. They're two separate approvals with two separate sets of drawings, and you usually need both.

We produce building regulation drawings and structural calculations from Swanwick, near Alfreton, and have done since 2000.

Planning is about what the building looks like and how it affects everybody else. Size, position, appearance, overlooking, parking, impact on the street.

Building regulations are about whether it's safe and fit to live in. Structure, fire safety, insulation, ventilation, drainage, damp proofing, stairs, glazing, electrics, access.

You can have planning permission and still not be allowed to build, because your drawings don't satisfy building control. It happens a lot.

And it works the other way too. Plenty of projects need building regulation approval but no planning permission at all. Most loft conversions. Internal structural alterations. Knocking two rooms into one where a wall is load bearing. Garage conversions, quite often.

If you're doing any of the following, almost certainly yes.

An extension of any size. A loft conversion. A garage conversion. Removing or altering a load bearing wall. A new build. Underpinning. Replacing windows. New drainage. A new bathroom or kitchen involving new drainage or electrics. Re-roofing over a certain area.

There are exemptions, mostly for small detached outbuildings and some conservatories, but they're narrower than people assume.

If you're not sure, ask us before you knock anything down.

More detail than planning drawings, and different detail.

Floor plans and sections showing construction build ups. What the walls are made of, layer by layer, and what the U values are.

Foundation design, with depths and dimensions.

Structural elements marked up. Beams, lintels, padstones, and where the loads go.

Insulation specification for floors, walls and roof.

Drainage layout, above and below ground, with falls and inspection chambers.

Fire safety detail. Escape routes, fire doors, protected stairways, smoke alarm positions.

Ventilation. Trickle vents, extract rates, background ventilation.

Notes referencing the relevant Approved Documents so building control can check it against the rules they actually work to.

Your builder prices from these and builds from these. Vague drawings mean the builder prices in a margin for the unknown, and you pay for that margin.

Yes. Beam sizing, load paths, foundation design.

If you're taking out a load bearing wall or spanning an opening, building control will want calculations showing the structure works. We produce those as part of the package rather than sending you off to find somebody else.

Two routes.

Full plans means the drawings go in and get checked and approved before work starts. You get an approval notice. If there's a problem with the design, you find out on paper rather than after it's built.

Building notice means you give notice and work is inspected as it goes. Faster to start, no approved drawings, and if an inspector doesn't like something on site it comes out and gets done again at your cost.

For anything structural we'd recommend full plans every time. It's the version where you know where you stand before a brick is laid, and it's also the version your builder can price properly.

Either the local authority building control department or a private approved inspector. Both are legitimate and both do the same job under the same rules.

We work with both, and we'll talk you through which suits your project.

When the work is finished and inspected, building control issue a completion certificate. That's the document proving the work was signed off.

You'll want it. When you come to sell, the buyer's solicitor asks for it, and not having one on a loft conversion or an extension will hold a sale up or knock money off the price. We've seen people discover this fifteen years after the event.

If you already have planning permission and need the technical drawings to go with it, for more information please call us on 07773 899 597 or contact us through this website.