Building regulations drawings in Merton

Where Merton's housing stock points the work

About 60.4 per cent of Merton's households live in a house or bungalow, and 55.6 per cent own their home. Owned houses are the homes most often extended, and for them rear extensions and loft conversions are common starting points.

Gardens cover 27.2 per cent of the borough's land in the national land-use data. Rear extensions usually go into those gardens, and a drainage run, a tree or a shared sewer in that garden is often what the technical drawings have to solve.

Conservation areas, listed buildings and the drawings

Merton has 28 conservation areas and Historic England lists 243 entries in the borough, along with 3 scheduled monuments.

Heritage status is decided under planning law, not under the Building Regulations. Even so, it limits what you can do to meet the energy rules: new windows, internal insulation and a changed roof covering all have to satisfy the conservation officer as well as building control. We draw those details so that both can be answered from one sheet.

Planning timing in Merton and the technical programme

Merton decided 759 householder applications in its latest published year, granted 92.9 per cent and decided 85.2 per cent on time.

That leaves a real share of applications running past the standard period, so we advise leaving room for an extension of time. The technical drawings can be finished in the meantime, then adjusted if planning changes the design.

For larger home extensions under the prior approval route, Merton granted 22 and refused 80 decisions. That route has its own rules, and building regulations apply to the work either way.

Full plans, building notice and the paperwork after approval

Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writing. We submit full plans for extensions and lofts, because a decided set gives your builder a fixed scope.

Approval can 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. In practice that means starting on a date you have chosen, not drifting into it.

The dutyholder rules set a competence duty for everyone involved. Anyone carrying out design or building work must have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (or organisational capability) to do it. Our handover notes explain what that means for a Merton homeowner and their builder.

What you receive and related services in Merton

The set includes foundations, floor plans, sections, wall, floor and roof build-ups, drainage and a materials specification. A second chartered technologist checks every sheet, and revisions after a building control query carry no extra fee.

We ask for the planning decision or certificate, any survey you already hold and details of the existing drains. If the engineer's figures arrive late we say so before it affects your builder's start.

Earlier in the job, our planning drawings in Merton cover the design stage, and our structural calculations in Merton give the beam sizes that go onto the technical sheets. If you are unsure of the route, a lawful development certificate in Merton can confirm permitted development.

For the whole borough, see architectural drawings in Merton. Next door, building regulations drawings in Sutton and in Wandsworth follow their own councils' guidance.