Construction
of houses, extensions, conversions, internal alterations, local authority
planning consent, building regulations consent & all other construction
matters.
Please use our carefully
selected featured links below to obtain information & quotes for all
types of construction. This Article is FREE for anyone to
use.
TOPICAL
CONTENT......
Quick
links to our CONSTRUCTION guide -
appointing an
architect I architecture I
construction
planning I heritage I
sustainability I
grants
client organisations I
building products & supplier links
party wall links I CDM
regulation links
 APPOINTING
AN ARCHITECT
The Royal Institute of British Architects publishes
contract
and appointment documents, including a
Small
Works appointment for works costing less than £150,000, and a guide
to
Quality
Based Selection of an architect. All can be bought online at the
RIBA
Bookshop. The
Landscape
Institute publishes an online
guide
to appointing a landscape architect. An online Register of UK architects
is maintained by the
Architects
Registration Board. Most UK architects are members of the
RIBA, which
publishes online a
Directory of
Members, a
Directory of
RIBA Registered Practices, and a guide to
dispute
resolution.
WHY
NOT OBTAIN OUR MAXIMUM BUILD PLANNING
GUIDE
 New simple to understand
Planning Guide... "Puts dozens of strategies & risk assessments procedures
that you should be completing BEFORE you present a scheme for formal Planning
Approval in the UK." (Order your 'ebook' today & find out how the
'Professional Planning Consultant' prepares a scheme for residential development
PRIOR to formally submitting an extension scheme or full site redevelopment
to the Planners!).
 Obtaining Planning Permission
for residential development in either extending your property or redeveloping
the site for new dwellings needs careful presentation & a risk assessment
prior to submitting for Planning Consent. A badly presented scheme to the
Planning Department by the Novice home owner can lead to an Automatic Rejection
& a Planning Refusal that could be hard to overturn. Our MAXIMUM BUILD
Guide will assist you in assessing your sites potential & what areas
you can exploit prior to submitting your scheme for Planning
Permission.
 click here
to find out more about our guide |
 ARCHITECTURE
General architectural websites include the RIBA's
architecture.com,
with its online
catalogue to the
RIBA Library,
and the
Commission
for Architecture and the Built Environment, which includes a library
of online case
studies. Other case studies are available at the Architects Journal
subscription website
AJ
Plus. Websites specialising in housing include
Design
for Homes,
Housing
Corporation and
Chartered
Institute of Housing. The
Usable
Buildings website addresses the key issue of designing for use.
 CONSTRUCTION
The Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister publishes a wealth of online information
on the Building
Regulations and the
Party Wall
Act. The leading sources of building product information are
RIBA
Product Selector,
Barbour Index,
British Board
of Agrement and
British Standards
Institution. Other sources of construction information include
Building
Research Establishment,
Construction
Best Practice Programme,
Health
& Safety Executive and this website,
Abacus Construction
Index.
 PLANNING
The
Royal
Town Planning Institute website contains guidance for those seeking
planning
permission. The
Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister publishes online
Planning
Guidance. Other planning websites include the
Development
Control directory of planning authorities,
Planning
UK,
RUDI,
Urban
Design Group and
Civic
Trust. Free online maps of the UK are available at
Multimap.
Professional maps can be ordered at
Ordnance
Survey, and aerial photographs, including free samples, at
Getmapping.
 HERITAGE
The English Heritage website
contains advice for owners of
listed
buildings. The equivalents in Scotland and Wales are
Historic Scotland and
CADW. Online documents on building
conservation are published at
buildingconservation.com.
Websites dealing with particular periods are
Georgian Group,
Victorian Society and
Twentieth Century Society.
Historic building guides include
Looking at Buildings
and Images of England. Other
heritage websites include
Garden History
Society and Society for Protection
of Ancient Buildings.
NEXT
STEP - THE BUILDING REGULATIONS - OBTAINING BUILDING CONTROL
APPROVAL
 To compliment our Planning
Guide we have also produced a UK specific Specification Manual solely aimed
at the domestic/residential side of building. Are you completing your
own drawing plans for the Building Regulations as well? Why not obtain our
'Specification Manual' to assist you with obtaining Building Regulations
Approval as well. Alternatively you may have already secured Planning
Approval & just need this document.
click
here to find out more about our Specification
Manual |
 SUSTAINABILITY
The leading source of guidance on sustainability in construction is the
Building Research Establishment. Their
BREEAM website
contains sections on
offices,
housing,
health buildings,
industrial
buildings and
Green
Specification. The RIBA's National Building Specification provides a
gateway to information on Green
Construction. Other sustainability websites include
Bedzed,
Action Energy,
Save Energy,
Energy Saving Trust,
Carbon Trust and
Centre for Alternative Technology.
 GRANTS
The National Lottery bodies giving grants for construction are the Arts Councils
for England,
Northern Ireland,
Scotland and
Wales; the
Heritage Lottery Fund, the
Millennium Commission and the
Sports Councils for UK,
England,
Northern Ireland,
Scotland and
Wales. Grants for listed
buildings are available from
English
Heritage. The DTI website describes and lists the
Regional Development
Agencies. Other websites about grants include
EST Solar Grants,
EU
Grants and the subscription
Grants Online website.
 CLIENT
ORGANISATIONS
The RIBA offers various
client
services including
Client
Forums in education, health and sports. The leading organisation bringing
together professional clients is the
Confederation of Construction
Clients. Sectoral organisations involving clients include
Architects for Health,
British Council for Offices and
Society of Chief Architects of Local
Authorities.
Return to main Planning
guide |
