THE PROCESS – DS7 studio

Briefing Stage

The first step in the process is to complete your Brief form. It will help to understand your needs and provide us some background information to your property. Once we have received this, dS7 will call to chat through your ideas. We will give you an idea of what might, or might not, be possible from a design and planning perspective. A Home Consultation can be arranged. Background research will be carried out and a meeting at your house to go through your ideas in much more detail. Advise on what is possible from a planning perspective as well as providing some initial design suggestions. After the Home Consultation a full proposal for taking your Project from the concept stage through to the completed build stage, with an estimate of the likely fees and other costs.

DESIGN STAGE

Once commissioned the first thing is a full survey of your home. We will begin to draw up your initial concepts. Review meetings will be arranged to explore the various options and refine the ideas into a single design and progress into the final design phase. With the design completed we can then proceed to the Planning Stage.

PLANNING STAGE

Plans, elevational drawings and a Design and Access Statement can now be submitted to the Council Planning Department for your Planning Permission or Permitted Development Certificate of Lawful Development Application. dS7 will manage the application through the process and keep you updated on the progress.

BUILDING CONTROL

Once Planning Approval has been granted, the next stage will be the Building Regulations. These are a set of drawings detailing how the building work is to be undertaken, such as thermal efficiency, suitability of products used and the structural elements of the design which will include commissioning the services of a structural engineer to produce calculations as required.

Unlike the Planning drawings which demonstrates the proposed footprint and elevations which changes the look of the property and the visual impact on its surroundings. The final design might also require to provide a SAP Report, or a Build Over Agreement with the Local Water Authority. The Building Regulations contains all the details needed for Building Control Approval from the Local Authority or any private consultancies– in which the design cannot be built.

WORKS SPECIFICATION

While Building Control is focused on how the build is constructed, a Specification of Works allows you to create a room by room breakdown of the finishes that can be used to produce a detailed ‘Room Schedule’ detailing floor finishes, decoration, electrical fittings etc., this can be included either with the Planning or Building Regulations to create a full ‘Quotations Package’ ready to send out to tender for builders to quote.

BUILD QUOTATION

dS7 will be able to help you when it comes to choosing builders for quotations of the Works, or you can supply them yourselves from personal experience or recommendations. Ensure that all builders are quoting on a ‘like for like’ basis so that you can compare and negotiate from the quotes that are received. Once you have selected your preferred Builder and checked their references and are confident to move forward, you will be able to prepare and arrange the signing of the Contract. Please note that good builders are usually busy builders so you might need to wait for the right team.

COMPLETION STAGE

Completion Certificates, operating manuals and all the elements that conclude the Build are handed over.

BRIEF AN ARCHITECT