Quote for building work...What questions should I be asking? What to look out for?

[Labradorlover]

Got my building warrent for knocking down a wall to make a kitchen/diner and putting in french doors where a window presently is.
I'll be getting a new kitchen put in at the same time.
There's a radiator to be moved and some electrics.
I've never had this sort of work done before, so would be really grateful for any advice re questions I should be asking and what to watch out for with the quotes.
Also, roughly how long should it take to do this job?
Can you tell I'm quite clueless?

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

Well, we had three builders round to do something similar and ended up going with the one who was most prepared to work with the building regs / council stuff (and who actually knew the local council team and was happy to work within the system)

The first one was happy to knock the wall down, and was cheap, but said I didn't need to tell the council or get any permission.

Can't remember in terms of time sorry, but three weeks sounds reasonable?

[nancy75]

ask for refs from other jobs and follow them up - don't just go with the cheapest one, often they are cheapest for a reason. Get a quote for the whole job, not day rate.