The building regulations and structural package costs from £945 drawings + £150 survey (£1,095 total) at Fixed Fee Plans. It covers one survey, the construction drawings, the submission to building control and the structural calculations, for one extension or loft that needs no planning application or prior approval.
Many owners need exactly this and are sold something bigger. An extension that fits within permitted development needs no council planning decision, but it still needs building regulations approval, and the beam that opens the back wall still needs sizing. Doing both from one survey, with one set of drawings the engineer works from, is how the package keeps its price in one fee.
Who is the package for?
Someone whose project needs no planning application or prior approval. If you are building within permitted development limits, the house is not in an article 4 area that removes them, and you have no listing, the package covers the whole of the paperwork. Our permitted development checker shows whether you are in that position, and it is free.
If your project needs planning permission, the planning, building regs and structural package is the fuller one. And if the extension depends on a larger home extension notification, that has its own prior approval service, with building regulations on top. We say which package fits, before you pay, and send you to the right one even if it is not this one.
What does each stage cost, and what is separate?
The fee is split into four published stages: the survey at £150, the construction drawings at £425, the building control submission at £120 and the structural calculations at £400, adding to £1,095. Our building regulations drawings alone are £545 drawings + £150 survey (£695 total) and structural calculations alone from £425, and the package puts them under one survey and one fee.
What is separate is building control's own charge, set by your council or a registered building control approver and paid to them. The package is a floor: a large house, a double-storey extension or a loft with several beams is quoted in writing from the survey. The price covers one extension or loft; two separate projects are quoted separately.
What does building control look at?
The structure, first. Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2010 sets three structural requirements: A1 for loading, A2 for ground movement and A3 for disproportionate collapse, and regulation 4 requires building work to comply with the applicable requirements. A beam over a new opening is the commonest case, and the calculation is the evidence building control reads.
Then energy, fire, ventilation, drainage and the rest, which the drawings set out as build-ups and details. Our Part L guide covers insulation, and the Part A guide covers the structure. If the design is glass-heavy, a SAP calculation may be needed, and we say so at the drawing stage.
What happens on site?
Your builder gives building control notice before starting, and at stages as it asks. Regulation 16(1) says a person proposing to carry out building work must give notice, and at least two days must pass after the day of the notice before work starts. When the work is done, regulation 17 sets eight weeks for the completion certificate, where the authority is satisfied the requirements are met.
If you build steel into a wall you share with a neighbour, section 3 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 says a party structure notice must be served at least two months before the work begins, and our party wall notices service drafts them. Skipping approval is not a saving: contravening the building regulations is an offence under section 35 of the Building Act 1984, and GOV.UK warns that without approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you sell. If the work is already built, a regularisation certificate is the route back.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need building regulations if I do not need planning permission?
Yes, for most extensions and loft conversions. Planning permission and building regulations are separate: permitted development removes the planning application, not the structural, fire and energy rules.
What is included in the package?
A laser survey, construction drawings, the submission to building control and structural calculations for one extension or loft. Building control's own charge is separate.
Is the package cheaper than buying the two services separately?
Compare the published prices: building regulations drawings £545 drawings + £150 survey (£695 total) and structural calculations from £425 on their own, against from £945 drawings + £150 survey (£1,095 total) for the package, which uses one survey. We show each price so you can compare.
Do I need a party wall notice?
If steel is built into a shared wall, probably yes. The notice must be served at least two months before work begins, under section 3 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.