Check who can authorise work and use the appropriate landlord, utility, council or emergency route when needed. This enquiry form is not an emergency dispatch service. Local reporting contacts are below; this enquiry service does not provide emergency dispatch.
Start with the space you need
Quick answer
Define how the new room will be used, its relationship to the existing house and the priorities for access, daylight and storage. A floor-area target alone does not describe a useful extension. Share the budget range and any fixed constraints with the designer and builder before materials are chosen. The brief should distinguish essential outcomes from optional finishes. A preliminary estimate is useful for planning, but it is not a fully specified construction price or confirmation that the proposal is feasible.
Give Braintree the actual extension proposal
Begin with the property, intended use, dimensions and planning history. Braintree’s planning guidance explains that development rights can be absent or restricted and offers a route to check them. A neighbour’s extension or a generic drawing does not establish permission for this project. Check any designation and conditions before committing to a design.
Building control is separate: the council identifies extensions among work needing approval. Agree who develops the information, handles the applicable submissions and coordinates inspections and completion records. This enquiry service neither submits applications nor approves a design or construction start.
- Check the property’s planning history and relevant constraints.
- Define the design, assessed site conditions and retained structure.
- Name who handles each approval and completion record.
Sources: Check planning permission · Listed buildings and mapping · Working on listed buildings · Braintree building-control checks · Braintree building-control applications
Respond to Braintree’s actual building and setting
The 2023 Braintree Town Centre appraisal records varied streets, building forms and materials; Bradford Street has its own adopted appraisal. These are historic character evidence, not a single specification for the town. Confirm the actual conservation boundary, listing status and retained fabric of the property before drawing an addition.
Ask how the design joins the existing building, handles openings and roof details and protects features worth retaining. An older-looking frontage does not identify its concealed structure. Where listed-building consent is relevant, resolve the proposed disturbance and material changes through the council’s route. Keep the accepted design and specification available for pricing, rather than leave heritage assumptions to a surface-only quotation.
Sources: Town Centre Conservation Area appraisal August 2023 · Conservation areas · Bradford Street appraisal August 2023 · Listed buildings and mapping · Working on listed buildings · Historic repair materials
Ground, drains and adjoining property
The foundation design, existing utilities and drainage route need assessment. Anglian Water publishes requirements for proposals near its sewer assets; a pipe on private land is not automatically private. Relevant party-wall procedures may also apply and are separate from planning permission. Identify these issues before excavation. Ask who obtains records, carries out necessary assessment and handles permissions. No standard footing depth or generic sewer distance on this site replaces a design for the actual location.
Useful next steps
Sources: Anglian Water: building near sewer assets · GOV.UK: party walls and building work
Living through the build
Agree access, deliveries, protected routes, welfare, working arrangements and temporary loss of services. Decide when the existing house is opened to the extension and who coordinates other trades. HSE explains domestic construction role arrangements under CDM; clarify the relevant responsibilities for the project. A programme needs assumptions about approvals, weather and discoveries. If you remain at home, agree which areas are safe and usable rather than rely on a broad promise of minimal disruption.
Sources: HSE: domestic construction clients
Compare complete extension quotes
Ask whether the quote includes…
Give businesses the same drawings and specification. Compare preparation, groundworks, structure, roof, openings, services, insulation, finishes, waste, VAT and exclusions. Define professional fees, approvals and provisional sums separately. A shell price and a fully finished room are different scopes. Agree stage payments, variation approval and documentation in writing. If the scope changes, ask for a revised proposal before relying on the earlier total.
- The same design, specification and finish scope.
- Services, drainage, making good and excluded fees.
- Programme assumptions, variations and completion records.
Completion and the enquiry
Plan inspections, relevant compliance documents, product care information and a snagging process. A visual handover is not a substitute for required records. Keep the agreed changes and final specification with the house documents. For an enquiry, provide postcode, intended room/use, current design stage and known restrictions. We review requests for suitable local help; sending details does not book a builder, approve the extension or guarantee feasibility without assessment.
Useful next steps