Extension Help/Advice!

[Porkchopexpress]

Ok, my DH and I moved into a decent size 3 bed semi last year but it has a tiny kitchen. The previous owners had extended the lounge to create an extended lounge/dining area so now the house is "L" shaped at the back. We want to extend the kitchen so it meets up with the old extension and have open plan kitchen diner area (hopefully this is making sense). Have never done anything like this before - so my question is where do you start?! Do you need an architect? Do all builders draw so you don't need an architect?
Any advice/help/pointers would be great.

The majority of builders would not be interested until you have at least sorted the relevant Planning/Building Regulation approvals. An architect or another suitably qualified person/company can advise you. If you’re specifically wanting an architect, search for one via the RIBA website. Or search for a qualified person/company via the CIAT website. Your third option would be to scan Planning applications on your Council’s website and see who put those drawings together.

If you know exactly what you want you can get a structural engineer to do the drawings. Building regs and your builder will need these regardless of if you use an architect.