Tips for getting builders??

[Lettherebelight]

We are in the south east and want an extension but we really struggle to get builders around here. So far we have had four builders out to quote (2 on recommendation). One quoted but turned out to have been connected with a dodgy firm in the past. Two never sent quotes. One said we have to get architect plans first (it's just a basic side return). We are serious and realistic about cost so I don't know why it's so difficult. Any tips??

No suggestions but we have had a few tradesmen come out to quote for jobs over the years and most never came back to us with a price. Could you ask family and friends for recommendations or even a local parenting Facebook group may eb able to offer suggestions

I wouldn't have thought anyone could give a quote without plans drawn up. I would have thought the builder would need a set of plans to price up and give a realistic quote. Otherwise he would just be second guessing what steels are needed or Windows for example. When I had my extension I had the plans and structural calculations which the builders used when working out the quote.

You need plans drawn up first.
A lot of time goes in to quoting, so why would a builder waste time if you don't have planning permission or building regs (if you need these).
I think builders will be much more receptive once you have plans.
For a rough cost, allow £2000 per M2 of proposed footprint, that should give you a ballpark figure of the costs.
Then finding builders is best done on recommendation.
Where in South East are you?

We are SE and did a simple extension last year and it was a pain getting anybody interested , some came and then quoted , some never got back to us . In the end I put the job on rated people and the one we went with came from there and was from much further away than I had been calling up .

That's all helpful, thanks! Two who came said they did the plans themselves for a basic extension and so I assumed that was a standard. Do we need architect plans for a side return fill? Happy to do it if it will the process easier, I'm just a bit worried we'll pay our for plans and then still not find anyone to do the work.

My dh did our plans and then we got a structural engineer to advise on the lintel for the knock through .