020 7864 7245Request a fixed quote

Hillingdon, London

M&E drawings in Hillingdon

M&E drawings in Hillingdon show where every fan, circuit, alarm and cable run goes in a house or extension, so an electrician and a ventilation fitter price the same job. In a borough where 68.9 per cent of households live in a house, most of our sets are for homes with a garden and room to extend. Fixed quote after a free constraints check.

Fixed quote after a free constraints check

  • MCIAT chartered
  • £2m PI insured
  • LABC Partnered
  • Fixed fees, VAT included

Request a fixed quote

We use it to check conservation areas and constraints.
Pick the council that decides your application.
A few lines: what you want to build, and anything the council has already said.
Add photos or drawings

Drop files here or choose from your device

PDF, JPG, PNG, DWG · up to 10 files, 90 MB in total

    Architectural model of a four-storey London stucco townhouse in its terrace, with a portico, area railings, sash windows, a cornice and chimney stacks
    The house as it stands: four storeys over a lower ground floor.Existing Proposed worksAn illustrative model, built for this page.

    How we work on m&e drawings

    Four steps from first call to approval.

    The same model cut through the middle: every floor, the stair, the chimney breasts, the new mansard, rear extension and basement in section
    Section through the model: every floor on one datum.

    1. Enquiry and constraints check

      We check the property against conservation areas, listed status, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, flood zone and planning history. We choose the right route and send a fixed quote.

    2. Measured survey

      We survey the house on one datum: rooms, levels, boundaries, drains, trees and the neighbours' windows that the 45° and 25° tests depend on.

    3. Building regulations

      Technical drawings are coordinated with the structural engineer's calculations, the drainage and the planning conditions.

    4. Approval and hand-over

      Building control approval, then a next-steps pack covering the commencement notice, party wall timing and CIL.

    Free redraws until approval. Every drawing set is checked independently, and the checker is never the person who drew it.

    Request a fixed quote
    Brick house being extended, with a wide new opening supported over the ground floor

    What the council validation list asks of M&E drawings in Hillingdon

    Hillingdon publishes a local validation checklist, in its February edition, and two of its rows reach services design. The energy strategy row carries the scope Majors, so a single house is not asked for one, but the same row points to the London Plan energy hierarchy that a larger scheme must follow. For a householder the useful reading is simpler: build the fabric and the services so that the carbon story is already sound if an officer asks.

    The drainage row is wider. The checklist records the requirement as Majors: detailed; minors: statement and plan, and it adds a drainage assessment form and a water cycle strategy for the larger schemes. A new house or a flat conversion on a plot in this borough therefore needs a drainage statement and plan, while an ordinary rear extension does not. We draw the foul and surface water layout on the same coordinated set as the electrical and ventilation sheets, so the statement and the building control drawings agree.

    That coordination is the point of the service. Services that are decided late tend to collide with a joist, a boundary or a drainage run, and Hillingdon's mix of semis and detached homes gives plenty of opportunity for that.

    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Local figures for Hillingdon

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Energy Strategy required for all majors, covering energy demand and CO2 calculations, energy-efficient design, decentralised energy where feasible and on-site renewables (London Plan).Majors—hillingdon.gov.uk, Hillingdon Local Planning Validation Checklist (February 2024), pdf p.33, row 'Energy Strategy'
    Drainage Assessment and Plans (including SuDS) required: majors need a detailed assessment with run-off rates, discharge locations and water cycle strategy; all non-major new development except householder needs a drainage statement and plan; a Drainage Assessment form accompanies the application form. A Water Cycle Strategy (water efficiency, collection, reuse and drainage) is listed for majors.Majors: detailed; minors: statement and plan—hillingdon.gov.uk, Hillingdon Local Planning Validation Checklist (February 2024), pdf pp.6-7 (list); p.32, row 'Drainage Assessment'
    Households living in a house68.9 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Households109,228Census 2021 (21 March 2021)nomisweb.co.uk
    Average price, semi-detached583,573 GBP2026-07publicdata.landregistry.gov.uk
    Average price, detached941,938 GBP2026-07publicdata.landregistry.gov.uk
    Owner-occupied households56.6 % of households owner-occupied (owned outright or with mortgage/loan)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)18.6 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Larger home extension prior approvals granted29 decisions2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Larger home extension prior approvals refused13 decisions2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Lawful development certificate applications (PS1)529 certificates2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Conservation areas33 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries436 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Tree preservation orders731 tree preservation orders published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area42 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time94.3 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder decisions1,147 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    AD F Vol 1 (2021), Table 1.1 intermittent extract, PDF p.16; 2026 edition Table 1.130 l/s—gov.uk
    AD F Vol 1 (2021), Table 1.1 intermittent extract, PDF p.16; 2026 edition Table 1.115 l/s—gov.uk
    AD F Vol 1 (2021) para 1.24 and Table 1.3, PDF p.18; 2026 edition para 1.20 and Table 1.3, PDF p.1737 l/s—gov.uk
    Building Regulations 2010 reg.12(6A) and (9); AD P (2013) para 2.5, PDF p.14new circuit; consumer unit replacement; additions or alterations to circuits in a special location—legislation.gov.uk
    AD P (2013) paras 3.4, 3.6 and 3.730 days—gov.uk
    AD L Vol 1 (2021 incl 2023) para 6.58, PDF p.60; AD L Vol 1 (2026) paras 5.57 and 5.59, PDF p.6575 lm/W—gov.uk

    A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.

    Councils bordering Hillingdon
    Building regulations, layer by layerPart A: structure: Approved Document A: Structure, 2004 edition incorporating 2004, 2010 and 2013 amendments. 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. 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. Part K: stairs: 2.0 m clear headroom over stairs. Full plans application: Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writingPart A: structurePart B: fire safetyPart L: insulationPart K: stairsFull plans applicationABCDE

    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

    Detached homes and long gardens

    Hillingdon has 109,228 households, and the average semi-detached house sold for £583,573 while the average detached house reached £941,938. Owners at those values extend, convert garages and add outbuildings with power, and each of those jobs needs a consumer unit that can carry it. Owner-occupiers make up 56.6 per cent of households here, which suits long projects planned around a family home.

    Domestic gardens cover 18.6 per cent of the borough's land in the national land use survey. That space is where an air-source heat pump, a garden room supply and an external charge point end up. The M&E layout fixes where each item stands, how far the armoured cable has to run and where it enters the house, before a trench is dug.

    Prior approval and lawful development certificates in the paperwork

    Larger home extensions go through prior approval here often enough to matter: the council granted 29 and refused 13 in the latest national returns. The prior approval route is about neighbours and design, so the services drawing is not part of the application. It matters straight afterwards, when building control wants ventilation and electrical detail before the structure goes up.

    Certificates are busy too. The council handled 529 lawful development certificate applications in the same year, and many of those are owners proving that something already built is lawful before a sale. A short services record, with the consumer unit, the alarm positions and the extract points, helps a buyer's surveyor and costs little to produce alongside the survey.

    Heritage, trees and Green Belt around plant and flues

    Outside services need care in places across the borough. It has 33 conservation areas, 436 listed building entries and 731 tree preservation orders, and about 42 per cent of its area sits within Green Belt polygons. A flue terminal on a street elevation, a condenser unit near a protected tree or a cable trench across a root zone can each cost a project a month.

    We therefore put external terminals and plant on the rear or on roof slopes that do not face the street, and we mark root protection areas on the layout when the planning drawings show them. Where the home is in Green Belt, we also check that a new plant enclosure does not read as a new building.

    The ventilation and electrical figures we draw to

    Approved Document F sets a kitchen with a hood extracting outside at 30 l/s and a bathroom at 15 l/s. A four-bedroom house needs 37 l/s across the whole dwelling, which is the figure most detached Hillingdon homes land on after an extension. We write each rate next to its fan on the plan.

    Electrical work in a dwelling is notifiable when it covers new circuit; consumer unit replacement; additions or alterations to circuits in a special location, and the certificate follows within 30 days. A new fixed lighting scheme must reach 75 lumens per circuit watt under the current edition, and our fitting schedule is checked against that number.

    Scope, fee and next steps

    A Hillingdon set normally holds lighting and power plans per floor, a ventilation layout, a consumer unit schematic, alarm positions and a fittings schedule. There is no published starting fee, because rooms and systems vary so widely. We run a free constraints check, agree the scope and fix the price.

    Read the borough overview at architectural drawings in Hillingdon or the national picture at M&E drawings. The design behind the sheets is covered by electrical design drawings, and the drainage side by plumbing and drainage drawings. Next door, see M&E drawings in Hounslow.

    What you receive

    Building regulations section drawing showing the construction build-up
    Sample drawing. Building regulations section showing construction build-up for a building control check.
    Two-storey rear extension under construction on a semi-detached house
    Every layer specified
    Move across to open the layers; move down to pick one.

    Other services in Hillingdon

    M&E drawings nearby

    Questions

    Does Hillingdon ask for an energy strategy on a house extension?

    The validation checklist gives the scope as Majors, so a householder extension is not asked for a full strategy. We still draw the services so they fit the building regulations.

    What drainage paperwork does a new dwelling in Hillingdon need?

    The checklist records Majors: detailed; minors: statement and plan. Our drainage layout sits on the same set as the M&E sheets.

    How fast does Hillingdon decide householder applications?

    In the latest published year it decided 94.3 per cent of 1,147 householder applications in time. That says nothing about building control timing.

    Sources and dates

    City of London skyline glowing at dusk across the Thames under a dramatic orange sky

    Tell us about your property.

    We check the constraints, then send a fixed fee. Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.

    Request a fixed quoteCall 020 7864 7245WhatsApp