Your questions, answered

Every stage has a fixed fee, agreed in writing before it starts, based on your house and what you want to do. After a free consultation we send a fee proposal setting out exactly what is included. How our fees work.

VAT, the council's planning application fee and building control fees are paid separately, and we show them in your quote. Specialist reports, such as a heritage statement or fire safety statement, and party wall notices are priced as extras only if your project needs them.

In stages. Usually half of a stage's fee when it starts and half when it's delivered. There's no hourly billing.

Yes. We check your property's background, talk through what's feasible and give you an approximate build cost before any fee is agreed.

Application fees are set nationally and depend on the type of application. They're paid to the council, separately from our fee, and we give you the exact figure in your quote.

Call us on 020 800 444 64 or send a few details about your project. We'll arrange a free consultation, then send a fixed fee for each stage.

Yes. We survey the house with a photographic record and a Matterport laser scan, which gives accurate measurements and a 3D walkthrough. Every drawing starts from that survey.

Yes. We show you the design in 3D and refine it with up to two rounds of changes, so you know exactly what you're applying for.

Yes. As your agent we submit the application, answer the planning officer's questions and keep you updated until there's a decision.

Councils aim to decide householder planning applications within 8 weeks of validation, and building control decides full plans applications within 5 weeks, or up to 2 months if you agree. We give you a timetable for our drawings in your fee proposal. Each service page sets out the timings that apply.

Yes. With our construction partner, Green Code Developers, we offer design and build and turnkey projects. If you'd rather appoint your own builder, we can run the tender, manage the project and provide contract administration.

Yes. We can prepare tender drawings so builders price the same job, help you choose a contractor, and inspect the work on site through to completion. See how it works.

Not always. Many single-storey rear extensions and loft conversions are permitted development, within limits on size, height and materials. Flats, houses in conservation areas and larger or double-storey extensions normally need permission. We check your house before you commit. How far can I extend without planning permission?

A certificate from the council confirming your work is permitted development. It isn't compulsory, but it's proof for a future buyer and their solicitor. Councils aim to decide within 8 weeks. Read our guide.

Yes. Conservation areas, and Article 4 directions, remove some permitted development rights, so work that would be allowed elsewhere may need planning permission and more careful design. We check the designations for your address at the start.

Yes. For a planning application the council notifies neighbours or puts up a site notice, and they have 21 days to comment. For a larger home extension under prior approval, neighbours have 21 days to comment within the 42-day process.

We explain the reasons and advise on the best route. If we designed and submitted the application, we revise and resubmit it at no extra design fee, provided it's substantially the same proposal on the same site and resubmitted within 12 months. The council's own application fee still applies. Where an appeal is the better route, we'll say so and agree the fee first. Free resubmission conditions.

Yes. Planning covers how the work looks; building regulations cover how it's built, including structure, fire safety, insulation, ventilation and drainage. What's in a set of building regulations drawings?

Full plans means building control approves the drawings before work starts, so your builder has something firm to price and build from. A building notice lets work start sooner, but details are approved as work goes on, so problems are found later and cost more to fix.

Whenever the work changes how the building carries its load: removing or opening a load-bearing wall, a loft conversion, a new floor or new foundations. Our calculations are prepared by engineers within the Green Code group and coordinated with the drawings.

If you're working on a shared wall, building a new wall on the boundary, or digging foundations near a neighbour's, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 says you must give notice: two months for work to a party wall, one month for the others. We can prepare and serve them. Read our guide.

Yes. F Line Designs is a RIBA Chartered Practice, and our projects are led by architects registered with the Architects Registration Board (ARB). Our studio is in Cricklewood, NW2. About us.

All 33 London boroughs, from our studio in Cricklewood, NW2, and the surrounding counties. Check your council by postcode.

One point of contact from first call to approval, backed by the design, planning and engineering team within the Green Code group.

F Line Designs Ltd is a London design practice, registered in England and Wales (company number 12189594), and part of the Green Code group alongside Green Code Architects, Green Code Engineering and Green Code Consultants. About us.

Yes: house-to-flat conversions, changes of use, HMOs and small new-build schemes, starting with an honest view of what a site can achieve. Landlords and developers.

Yes. We design kitchens, bathrooms, joinery, lighting and finishes alongside the drawings, so they're settled before the builder starts. Interior design.