Loft conversion specialists: what the job involves and who is registered to do it

How loft conversion specialists works

1. Settle whether it is permitted development. A great many loft conversion are permitted development, which means no planning application, but the limits on depth, height, materials and how much of the plot is already built on are specific and a designer should read them against your own house before anybody prices anything.
2. Get drawings and a structural design. Existing and proposed drawings, then a structural engineer's calculations for whatever is being opened up or carried. On a loft conversion this is a small share of the total and it is what turns an idea into something three builders can price identically.
3. Serve the party wall notices in time. Work on or near a shared wall, or excavation within three or six metres of a neighbour's foundations, engages the Party Wall etc. Act and the notice periods are set in months rather than weeks. Serving late is the commonest reason a start date slips.
4. Price it against a specification, not a sketch. Ask each builder to price the same written specification, with provisional sums shown as provisional sums. Two quotes that differ by a third almost always differ in what is included: the kitchen, the flooring, the decoration and the drainage diversion are the usual absentees.
5. Agree stages, retention and building control. A staged payment schedule against completed work, a small retention until sign-off, and a clear statement of who is notifying building control. The completion certificate is what a future buyer's solicitor will ask for.

Insurance and paperwork

Common questions

What should I ask a loft conversion specialist for?

Two recent completion certificates for conversions of your type, the name of the structural engineer they use, how they handle party wall notices, and a written specification you can give to somebody else to price.

Is a design and build package better?

It is simpler, because one firm carries the drawings, the structure and the build. It also makes comparison harder, because no two packages contain quite the same thing. Ask for the specification to be broken out so you can price it elsewhere.

How do I check a firm is what it says?

Companies House for the entity, the insurer for the public liability certificate, and the building control body or competent person scheme for the sign-off on a job they name. Reviews on a firm's own site are not evidence.

Registered contractors by region

• Registered roofers in the East Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the East of England postcode area
• Registered roofers in the London postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Scotland postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Wales postcode area
• Registered roofers in the West Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Yorkshire and The Humber postcode area