In and around Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, north London, Essex, Suffolk and Buckinghamshire. On some projects we are happy to work with clients based further afield than these areas.

Covid has made us quite adept at Zoom meetings and virtual collaboration! However we may not be able to offer our full service with site involvement for projects that we cannot easily make regular site visits to.

Planning permission is valid for three years from the decision date. However, if you make a meaningful start, such as digging a section of foundation or slab, you are deemed to have implemented the permission and therefore secured it indefinitely.

This is something worth bearing in mind if you may want to do a phased scheme - once the first phase is completed, you have secured the permission for phase 2!

Our process can be found here and our indicative timeline can be found here.

You are not obliged to retain our services when the project is under construction. However, unless you have experience managing a build project (and the time to dedicate to it) we would strongly suggest that you do. By acting as Contract Administrators, we can ensure that both you and the Contractor are treated fairly, issue valuations of works and ensure that everyone is on the same page, as well as addressing any onsite queries the Contractor has. 

We can also ensure that the build is completed as per the drawings (yes we have had projects built differently by builders when we were not involved! This can result in having to go back through the planning process all over again!).

We have had a number of clients opt not to employ us to oversee works on site, who then contact us to address queries that arise on site which, when charged at an hourly rate, can cost more than employing us throughout - so this is definitely something worth considering.

No, however we have a specialism in sustainable and Passivhaus design which can be used to your advantage, saving you money on energy bills, thinking holistically about natural daylighting and overheating - all things that are affecting us more and more! 

We can advise on heating options and heat recovery ventilation as well as renewables. It’s totally up to you how in depth you want to go.

We understand that situations change and though we often quote for providing the full service, when signing our fee agreement you are not obliged to continue with us through to completion on site.

We will only ever charge you for work carried out to date, never up front. We will not proceed to the next work stage before explaining the next steps of the process, any additional consultants required and obtaining written instruction from you.

Yes we can. If you employ us to help you prepare a tender package we can put you in touch with builders we have worked with before that would suit your project and vet any others that you may want to include in the tender process.

Where there is a high degree of certainty regarding the work involved in a project we will consider quoting a fixed fee, indeed this is becoming a more common way of pricing jobs.