Croydon, London
Building regulations drawings in Croydon
Building regulations drawings for a Croydon house start at £845 including VAT. Most Croydon households live in houses, so a typical project is a rear or side extension, a loft or a garage conversion, drawn as a full plans set that building control can decide and your builder can price.
From £845 (VAT included)
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- £2m PI insured
- LABC Partnered
- Fixed fees, VAT included
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Croydon's suburban houses and what they need from a construction set
60.2 per cent of Croydon's 152,946 households live in a house or bungalow, and 54.7 per cent own their home. That points to a borough of family houses, and to the extensions families add to them.
Heritage is concentrated, not general. Croydon publishes 19 conservation areas, and 180 buildings are listed, 14 of them at Grade I. The council's Conservation Areas General Guidance SPD is the main planning guidance for those areas. Outside them, and with no listing, the question is simpler: does the new structure meet the regulations?
About 25 per cent of the borough is green belt. Green belt limits the size of extensions as a planning matter, which in turn tends to mean a smaller, simpler construction set for homes in that area.
Local figures for Croydon
| Measure | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation areas | 19 named conservation areas published by the council | — | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Listed building entries | 180 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary) | — | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Green Belt share of the council area | 25 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons | — | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Households living in a house | 60.2 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced) | Census 2021 | nomisweb.co.uk |
| Householder applications granted | 86.6 % | 1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026 | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| Building Regulations 2010 reg 14A(6) | Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writing | — | legislation.gov.uk |
| Building Regulations 2010 reg 46A(3)-(4) | Approval lapses unless work commences; for an extension, commencement means foundations, any basement and ground floor structure complete; other work, 15% of the work stated in the application | — | legislation.gov.uk |
A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.
Building regulations, layer by layer
The Approved Documents that shape most house projects, from structure to the application itself.
- A · Part A: structure
- Approved Document A: Structure, 2004 edition incorporating 2004, 2010 and 2013 amendments
- B · Part B: fire safety
- All dwellings: fire detection and alarm system minimum Grade D2 Category LD3 (BS 5839-6), mains-operated smoke alarms to BS EN 14604
- C · Part L: insulation
- New elements in existing dwellings, limiting U-values W/(m²·K): roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, windows 1.4 (or WER Band B), doors 1.4
- D · Part K: stairs
- 2.0 m clear headroom over stairs
- E · Full plans application
- Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writing
Building regulations drawings in Croydon: the usual projects
On a typical semi, the set deals with a strip foundation or trench-fill, a steel beam where the rear wall is opened, a flat or pitched roof, and the junction with the old structure. We draw each at the scale where it can be built from.
A loft needs a different emphasis: the new floor structure, the stair, fire protection and escape, and insulation to the new roof. A garage conversion turns on the floor, the old garage door opening and the damp course. Our construction drawings in Croydon and structural calculations in Croydon service the same models.
Drainage is drawn with falls and connections, and any build-over agreement the sewer owner needs is flagged. The sheets cite the Approved Document that governs each detail.
Decisions and approval lapse in Croydon
Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writing. We submit full plans so the decision is made before the first trench.
A decided set can still lapse. Approval lapses unless work commences; for an extension, commencement means foundations, any basement and ground floor structure complete; other work, 15% of the work stated in the application. We tell your builder what has to be completed so that the clock cannot run out quietly.
Croydon decided 786 householder planning applications in its latest published year and granted 86.6 per cent, with 94.4 per cent decided in time. These are planning figures, and they help only with scheduling the step before the construction set.
What a Croydon semi-detached extension set includes
A typical Croydon job is a ground-floor rear extension to a semi-detached house, sometimes with a loft room above. The set starts with the foundations, sized to the ground and to any trees close by, and the floor, which may be a slab or beam and block depending on levels.
The wall is drawn as a cavity construction with insulation to the current energy standard, and the roof as either a flat roof with a warm deck or a pitched roof tied into the old structure. Part L sets the standard, and the sheets show the thickness of each layer so that the builder can order materials.
Openings are the usual point of structural interest. A new wide opening to the garden needs a beam, a padstone at each end and temporary props. The sheets show all three, together with the lintels over smaller openings.
Drains come last. The new work often crosses an existing run or sits next to a manhole. The sheets mark both, show the fall, and record whether the sewer owner needs notice. Ventilation, smoke alarms and electrical safety notes finish the set, and your builder can price from it with confidence.
Price, checking and next steps
Building regulations drawings start at £845 with VAT included, fixed before you commit. Sheets usually follow the survey by about a week and are checked by a second chartered technologist. Energy assessments come through SAP calculations in Croydon.
For the whole borough, see architectural drawings in Croydon. Neighbouring councils have their own pages: Bromley and Tandridge.
What you receive
Related pages
Other services in Croydon
Questions
Do I need building regulations drawings for a Croydon rear extension?
Yes. Building Regulations apply whether or not planning permission is needed, and a decided full plans set is the safest basis for the build.
Does the green belt change the building regulations drawings?
No. It is a planning control that limits what you may build. The construction set then follows the permitted design.
How long does building control take in Croydon?
Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writing. Actual timing varies, so plan with slack.
How much do building regulations drawings cost in Croydon?
From £845 including VAT, fixed up front. Building control fees are separate.
Sources and dates
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- nomisweb.co.uk, retrieved
- assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, retrieved
- legislation.gov.uk, retrieved
- legislation.gov.uk, retrieved
- nomisweb.co.uk, retrieved
- nomisweb.co.uk, retrieved
- croydon.gov.uk, retrieved
- gov.uk, retrieved
- gov.uk, retrieved
- gov.uk, retrieved
- gov.uk, retrieved
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
- Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains Historic England data © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
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