Building regulations drawings in Greenwich

Building regulations drawings in Greenwich: houses and flats

48.4 per cent of Greenwich's 114,052 households live in a house or bungalow, and 41.1 per cent own their home. The rest rent or live in flats, so many of our Greenwich jobs are refurbishments or conversions of an older house rather than a conventional extension.

For those, the drawings concentrate on the points that matter in a divided house: sound and fire separation between floors, a protected escape route, ventilation to new bathrooms and kitchens, and the drainage that serves them. For a classic extension, the weight shifts to foundations, the beam over the opening and the junction with the old wall.

Our construction drawings in Greenwich can add a builder-ready package from the same model.

Keeping the approval and the paperwork alive

Once work starts, a notice follows: Notify commencement within 5 days after work is regarded as commenced. Building control also expects you to say when work is finished. We hand your builder a short list so that nothing is missed.

Responsibility is also written down. Anyone carrying out design or building work must have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (or organisational capability) to do it. We state our own role on the cover sheet, and your builder sees the duties that fall to them.

If the design needs consent first, see planning drawings in Greenwich, or confirm permitted development through a Lawful Development Certificate in Greenwich.

Greenwich's planning record

Greenwich decided 624 householder applications in its latest published year and granted 77.1 per cent, with 94.2 per cent decided in time. Those are planning figures. They help with scheduling the step before the construction set, and they say nothing about a single address.

Older houses, conversions and energy in Greenwich

Where a Greenwich house is older, the energy rules treat old buildings carefully. Part L accepts that a house with solid walls, original sash windows or a historic roof may not reach the thermal values required of new work. The sheets show the improvement that is practical and the reason for any shortfall.

Typical measures are insulation to the roof or loft floor, draught-proofing to windows, secondary glazing where the original windows must stay and insulation to ground floors when they are renewed. We draw each, and record the reason for choosing it.

Conversions bring different issues. When a larger house is divided into flats, Part E needs sound-resisting floors, Part B needs enclosed escape and Part F needs ventilation to every room. The sheets deal with each in turn, and where a floor cannot take extra build-up, they show an alternative.

We also draw damp. Older houses with solid walls need walls that can breathe, and the wrong insulation can trap moisture. The sheets name materials that suit the building, and the specification warns your builder against products that do not.

Price and next steps

Building regulations drawings start at £845 with VAT included, fixed before you commit. A second chartered technologist checks every sheet, and revisions after an examiner's comments carry no charge. Energy calculations come through SAP calculations in Greenwich. For the borough as a whole, see architectural drawings in Greenwich, or compare Lewisham and Bexley.