The process
From first measurement to final certificate
Six stages. You can join at any of them and leave at any of them — plenty of clients take the drawings and build with someone else, and that is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
We come and measure
A measured survey of the existing property — not a sketch from a phone photo. Everything that follows depends on this being right, and a great many problems later in a job trace back to a survey nobody did properly. We produce accurate existing plans, elevations and a site plan.
We design it with you, not at you
You get proposed drawings and we revise them together until they are what you actually want. This is the cheap stage to change your mind — moving a wall on a drawing costs nothing, moving it on site costs thousands. We will also tell you at this point if what you want is unlikely to get permission, rather than taking your money and finding out later.
We submit and manage the application
We prepare the application, submit it, and handle every piece of correspondence with the council. Most householder decisions take around eight weeks from validation. If the planning officer raises concerns we negotiate them; you do not have to learn planning policy to get your extension built.
Building regulations and technical design
Planning permission says you may build it. Building regulations approval says you may build it that way. This is the technical package: structure, insulation, fire, ventilation, drainage — coordinated with a structural engineer, and detailed to a standard a building control officer can sign off without an argument.
We build it
One contract, fixed price against the drawn scope. We are the principal contractor, so site safety, sequencing and the trades are our responsibility rather than yours.
Signed off, and documented
Building control final certificate, and the paperwork you will need when you eventually sell. This is the step cowboy builders skip, and it is the one that surfaces years later when a buyer’s solicitor asks for completion certificates nobody has.
The bit worth understanding
Planning permission and building regulations are not the same thing
People conflate these constantly, and it causes real problems. Planning is about whether your building should exist in that form and place — appearance, scale, effect on neighbours. Building regulations are about whether it is safe and sound — structure, fire, insulation, ventilation, drainage.
They are separate legal systems with separate applications, separate fees and separate consequences. You can have planning permission and still be building unlawfully. You can need no planning permission at all and still need full building control approval — which is the situation for most permitted development work.
A builder who tells you a job needs “no paperwork” is telling you something that is almost never true.
Common questions
The things people ask first
| How long does planning take? | Householder applications are usually determined in around eight weeks from validation, though councils vary and busy authorities run longer. Permitted development needs no application at all, and the larger home extension prior approval route runs on a 42-day clock. |
| What if it gets refused? | We tell you before submitting if we think it is likely, and design to avoid it. If it happens, the usual route is a revised scheme addressing the officer’s reasons — often faster and more likely to succeed than an appeal. |
| Can I use your drawings with my own builder? | Yes. Plenty of clients do. There is no obligation to build with us, and we will not pressure you either way. |
| Do you do small jobs? | Yes. A single-storey rear extension is a large part of what we do. |
| Do I need a party wall surveyor? | Often, yes — particularly for excavation near a boundary or work to a shared wall. We are not party wall surveyors and will tell you plainly when you need one. The same goes for structural engineering. |
| What is not included? | Council application fees, building control fees, structural engineering, party wall surveyors, and specialist reports the council may require. We set these out at the start rather than letting them appear later. |
Get an indicative fee
Three questions and a number, without giving us your email first.
Guidance on this page relates to the planning and building control regimes in England and is general information, not advice on your specific property. Timescales are typical rather than guaranteed and vary between local authorities. Blue Apple does not replace a structural engineer, party wall surveyor or building control body, and will tell you when one is required.