Extension - how long from start to finish?

[monkeytennismum]

We're planning an extension on our house and wanted some advice from those who have been through it please! Extn will be ground floor only going out on 2 sides (within permitted devt. so only building regs required). Not installing a kitchen but we are re-doing the WC into a shower room. I was wondering how long you thought the whole process might take from getting an architect round to finishing the job? If we started now would we be done by say July?

Thank you!!

I'm not sure on the building part (we haven't got to that bit yet, but the builder has estimated two months) but the preparation has taken AGES!!!!! We always wanted to start building in September and thought we had left enough time.

We started the process back in April/May, it it has taken us till now to get architects plans, structual engineers plans, building regs plans and specs, and the three quotes from builders. Also, good builders tend to be booked up months in advance so you might find the builder you want and then have to wait three months for him to be available! So allow six months for planning everything (and that is without needing planning permission, ours is a permitted development) if you're slack like us but i'm sure we could have done this bit quicker if we'd been more aggressive demanding responses from builders!

Thanks Santa, that's really helpful. Esp the bit about chasing up the builders!

We started planning back in August last year, and started the work in June this year. There were some irritating planning delays in there (applied for permission, got told to adjust the plans, then told to do loft conversion under permitted development, then finally got clearance six weeks to the day after reapplying). The permitted development bit of ours was very quick though, drew up the plans and basically started four weeks later.

We do the sort of work you describe.
Contact local reputable builders first - you may not need an architect.
The planning of it with your builder could take ages but a lot of that is down to you and how quickly you can make decisions.
When can your builder start?
I would expect 8-12 weeks notice before we started a job like this.
A reputable builder will not be available at short notice to start within the next few weeks.
How long would the project take - the builder should be able to tell you but roughly 6-8 weeks depending and what is involved.

As MrsTara says, depends how long you have to wait for a builder. We've waited 9 months.

Thank you so much for this MNetters, it's really helpful And has confirmed my suspicion that we need to get a wriggle on if we want to do the building next summer!