Building regulations drawings in Camden

Building regulations drawings in Camden: how we draw them

The set is built from a measured survey on one datum, so floors, party walls and chimney breasts sit where they actually are. Many Camden houses have walls and floors that have been altered several times, and a standard detail is a poor guide.

Beam and bearing information is coordinated with the engineer. If you do not have one, structural calculations in Camden are available, and where a builder wants a wider package, construction drawings in Camden are drawn from the same model.

A second chartered technologist checks every sheet before it goes out. If the examiner raises points, we revise at no charge.

Giving notice and keeping the paperwork in order

Before work begins you must tell building control: Give notice of intention to start; work may start 2 days after the notice. We give your builder a one-page list of the notices and inspections, so none is missed on a tight Camden site where work often starts quickly.

The stakes are real. Contravening building regulations: on indictment up to 2 years' imprisonment or a fine (or both). In practice councils work with owners, but unapproved work can block a sale and force opening-up of finished structure.

Where the design needs a planning decision first, the construction set follows the scheme as permitted, and structural engineering in Camden can run alongside.

How Camden decides householder applications

Camden decided 394 householder applications in its latest published year and granted 89.1 per cent. 77.7 per cent were decided in time.

Those figures concern planning. They help with scheduling the step that comes before the construction set, and they say nothing about any single address.

Sound, fire and structure inside Camden flats

A Camden flat refurbishment is mostly about what lies between you and the neighbours. Part E covers sound between dwellings, and when a floor is lifted or a new layout is formed, the build-up of boards, insulation and ceiling has to be shown so that the standard still holds. We draw the section and name the product class so the builder can price it.

Part B covers the escape route. If the new layout turns a bedroom into an inner room, or removes a lobby that protected the stair, the sheets show a fix: a fire door, an alarm system or a different layout. The freeholder's surveyor will often ask to see this before consent, and building control will want it before it approves the work.

Structure is the third piece. Opening a wall between a kitchen and a living room often means a steel beam, and in an older Camden building the wall may carry more than it appears to. Our survey records the wall thickness and the floors it supports, and the sheets show the beam, its bearings and the temporary support needed while it goes in.

Together these three decide most Camden flat sets, and we draw them on one sheet series so the engineer, the builder and the surveyor read the same thing.

Price and where to go next

Building regulations drawings start at £845 with VAT included, fixed before you commit. For energy assessments see SAP calculations in Camden. For the borough overall, see architectural drawings in Camden, or compare the same service in Islington, Westminster and Barnet.