Construction drawings in Havering

Heritage, conservation and listed buildings in Havering

The council publishes 11 conservation areas, and Historic England lists 146 entries, with 12 on the Heritage at Risk register. Where none of those constraints applies, more of your project is decided by technical performance than by appearance.

Where a property is older, perhaps a village cottage or a former farm building, the construction set takes more care over existing fabric. We record existing wall thickness and construction, lintel type, floor structure and roof timbers, then draw the new work to bear on them sensibly. Solid walls need a proper insulation strategy, as the limits in the table apply to new elements and the old walls still shed heat.

If a building is listed, listed building consent is needed, and that is a separate application that we flag during the constraints check.

Roof timbers in older Havering houses are worth special attention, because a loft conversion depends on them. We measure rafter and joist sizes, check for decay at the wall plate and design any new steel or flitch so the load goes down through sound walls, not through a patched lintel.

Decisions, timing and the permitted route

Havering decided 985 householder applications in its latest year and granted 85.9 per cent. It decided 97.8 per cent on time or within an agreed extension.

Quick decisions shorten the gap between approval and start on site, so the technical set should not lag behind. We begin the structural and services coordination alongside the application, and aim to issue shortly after the decision so your builder can quote immediately.

The council also issued 578 lawful development certificates in the data period, a large number, which suggests permitted development is a common route here. Larger home extensions under prior approval saw 21 grants and 27 refusals, so the larger route is close to even.

Programme matters more than most owners expect. A builder with a start date and a complete set can order bricks, windows and steel within days, and a quick council decision makes that sequence real. If the technical set lags, the speed gained at planning is lost at the contract stage.

Large plots, houses and what the set covers

With 76.7 per cent of households living in a house or bungalow, Havering is mostly a borough of family homes with garden land that covers 19.5 per cent of the area. Typical jobs are side and rear extensions, loft conversions and garage conversions.

A garage conversion shows how a technical set differs from planning drawings. The old garage floor is usually lower than the house and often uninsulated, and the door opening needs a new wall built to the limits in Approved Document L. The set shows the damp-proofing, the floor build-up, the insulation, the window and the ventilation, none of which appears on a planning plan.

Our structural calculations cover any beams, and our principal designer service is available for larger jobs where several contractors are involved.

A garage conversion also changes how the house is classed for fire. If the new room opens onto the hall, the door and the escape route need to be reconsidered, and a bedroom in the former garage needs an escape window of the size given in the table, which is not always easy in a front wall.

Levy, programme and next steps

Havering is in the lowest Mayoral CIL band, at £25 per square metre, and its own levy is set by the Havering Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule. Floor areas on our drawings follow the levy's convention.

For the borough overview see architectural drawings in Havering, and for the approval stage see building regulations drawings in Havering. Neighbouring councils include Thurrock, Barking and Dagenham and Bexley. The general service is at construction drawings in London.