Drawings back in 24–72 hours. Measured survey to a full set of existing and proposed drawings — 24–48 hours for a loft or extension, up to 72 hours for larger or more complex schemes.

The traditional way to build is to hire an architect, get drawings, get permission, then go and find a builder. It works. It also creates the single most expensive gap in construction: the one between the person who drew it and the person who has to build it.

Design and build closes that gap. One appointment, one price, one programme, one company carrying the risk.

What design and build actually means

Under a design and build contract you appoint one organisation to both design the project and construct it. You hold a single contract for a single price. If a detail turns out to be unbuildable, that is our problem to solve at our cost — not a change order sent to you while two firms argue about whose drawing was wrong.

You still get a full design process. What you do not get is the handover point where responsibility quietly changes hands.

Where it saves you money

No design-to-site translation loss. The people building it were in the room when it was drawn.
Buildability priced in from the start. Our estimators see the design while it can still change cheaply, not after planning has fixed it.
Overlapping programme. Long-lead items — steels, windows, roof lights — can be ordered while the building regulations package is still being finalised.
One preliminaries bill rather than a consultant's fee plus a contractor's margin on the same coordination work.
Fewer variations. Variations are where fixed-price builds turn into open-ended ones, and most of them start as a drawing that did not resolve a junction.

Where it is not the right answer

We would rather tell you now. If the design itself is the point — a highly bespoke house, a heritage conversion, a building where the architecture has to win an argument — then a traditional appointment with competitive tendering gives you more control over the design and a sharper price on the build. Design and build is at its best where the brief is clear, the budget matters and speed matters. We will say which we think yours is at the first call.

Two ways to run it

Full design and build

We take the project from the first survey through to handover: survey, design, planning, building regulations, structural engineering, construction, building control sign-off and warranties. One contract, one price, one programme.

Contractor's design portion

You keep the architectural design with us but we also build, with defined elements — structure, services, envelope — designed by our specialist subcontractors under our coordination. Common on commercial fit-out and larger residential.

Contract and payment

We work under standard JCT forms rather than our own paperwork, because standard forms have been tested in court and yours has not:

Project	Typical contract
Loft, extension, refurbishment	JCT Minor Works Building Contract
Larger residential and small commercial	JCT Intermediate, or Minor Works with Contractor's Design
New build and major projects	JCT Design and Build Contract

Payment is by monthly valuation against work actually completed, certified before it is invoiced. Never a large deposit up front, and never payment in advance of work done. There is a defined completion date with liquidated damages, a defects liability period after handover, and a retention held until defects are made good.

What happens on site

A named project manager, on site regularly, who is your single point of contact throughout
Weekly progress reports with photographs, so you can be away and still know exactly where it is
Directly employed site management with vetted, insured trade subcontractors
Construction phase plan and principal contractor duties under CDM 2015
Building control inspections booked and attended by us at every stage
Party wall obligations tracked so nothing starts before notice periods have run

At handover you receive

Building regulations completion certificate
Electrical installation certificate and gas safety documentation
Structural engineer's sign-off where applicable
As-built drawings and the health and safety file
Product warranties and guarantees, collated in one pack
A defects period, with a snagging visit after you have lived in it

Indicative programme

Stage	Time
Survey and drawings	24–72 hours from survey
Planning determination	8 weeks for householder and minor applications
Building regulations and construction package	2–4 weeks, run in parallel where possible
Loft conversion on site	Typically 6–10 weeks
Single-storey extension on site	Typically 10–16 weeks
Larger residential and commercial	Programmed individually at the fee stage

Site durations depend on scale, access, ground conditions and how much of the existing building is being altered. The figure that matters is the one in your contract, and we put it there before you sign.

Included as standard

What you get

Measured survey and existing drawings
Full design and proposed drawings
Planning application, submitted and managed
Building regulations package and submission
Structural engineering and calculations
Party wall drawings and notice tracking
Fixed construction price under a JCT contract
Named project manager and weekly progress reports
Directly managed, vetted and insured trades
Principal designer and principal contractor duties under CDM 2015
Building control inspections booked and attended
Completion certificates, warranties and a snagging visit

Questions

Common questions

Is design and build more expensive?

Usually not, and often less. You are paying one margin instead of two, and the biggest cost on most projects is not the initial price but the variations that appear when the drawings and the build were done by different firms.

Do I get a fixed price?

Yes, once the design is settled and the building regulations package is complete. Any figure quoted before that is an estimate, and we will say so plainly rather than let you plan around a number that is going to move.

Can you build a design someone else drew?

Yes. We will review the drawings first and tell you honestly what is missing before we price it. Incomplete drawings are the most common cause of a build going over budget.

Can I use your drawings and my own builder?

Of course. Plenty of clients do. The drawing package is yours and it is detailed enough for several builders to price on the same basis so you can compare fairly.

What contract do you use?

Standard JCT forms, matched to the scale of the project. We do not use in-house terms, because a standard form protects both sides and has actually been tested.

Do you take a large deposit?

No. Payment is by monthly valuation against work completed and certified. If a builder asks you for a large sum before starting, that is worth asking hard questions about.

What happens if something goes wrong after completion?

There is a defects liability period written into the contract, with retention held until defects are made good, plus a snagging visit once you have been living in the space. Product warranties are handed over in a single pack.

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Design & build