One builder runs the whole project: drawings, planning, building control and the build itself. You deal with Grant throughout.
Design and build means one firm takes your project from the first idea to the finished building. In Brighton, that’s how we run most of our larger jobs.
We’re builders, not architects. The architects, surveyors and structural engineers we use are people we work with again and again. We bring them in and manage their work, then build what they’ve drawn.
You get one point of contact for the whole project, and that’s Grant. Questions about the drawings, the planning application or the scaffold all go to him.
When the designer and the builder work separately, drawings can arrive with details that are hard or costly to build. The builder prices it, the figure comes in over budget, and the drawings go back for changes. Weeks go by.
With design and build, the builder is involved from the start. We look at the drawings as they develop and flag cost and buildability early.
Your price is based on drawings we’ve already checked, so there are fewer surprises once work starts. And if something goes wrong, there’s no argument about whose problem it is. It’s ours to sort.
Got an idea but no drawings yet?
Call Grant on 07885 325954 and he’ll come and talk it through at the house.
The architect measures the house, draws up options and works out the layout with you. Once you’re happy, they prepare the planning drawings, if planning is needed.
Then come the building regulations drawings, which show how it will actually be built. We check both sets as they go and give you an early idea of cost.
Already have an architect? That’s fine. We can pick up from their drawings and run the rest.
Most extensions, lofts and knock-throughs need a structural engineer. The engineer sizes the steel beams, checks the foundations and produces calculations for building control.
In Brighton’s older houses they also look at chimney breasts, bay windows and tired lintels. A surveyor may be needed for a measured survey, or a condition check on an older or listed building.
We arrange whoever the job needs and explain their findings to you in plain English.
Some work falls under permitted development and needs no planning application. Many single-storey rear extensions and loft conversions on houses come under it.
In Brighton it’s more limited than people expect. Flats have no permitted development rights. Conservation areas restrict what you can change, and Article 4 directions in parts of the city remove some rights altogether. A listed building needs listed building consent on top.
Where an application is needed, the architect prepares it and submits it to Brighton and Hove City Council. We keep track of it and deal with any conditions. For permitted development work, a lawful development certificate is worth getting, as buyers’ solicitors often ask for one.
All structural work needs building regulations approval. We deal with building control, book the inspections at each stage and make sure you get the completion certificate.
Work on a shared wall, or digging close to a neighbour’s foundations, comes under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. You have to serve notice on the neighbours before work starts. If a neighbour dissents, surveyors are appointed to agree an award setting out how the work will be done.
Notice periods can hold up a start date by one to two months, so we get this moving early.
With the drawings approved, you get a written price and a start date. Grant leads the job on site.
Brickwork, carpentry, plastering, plumbing and electrics are all covered under us, so the design is built by the firm that checked it. If a detail on the drawings doesn’t work once the walls are opened up, we talk to the architect or engineer and sort it, then tell you what changed.
Ready to start?
Call the office on 01273 950800 or Grant on 07885 325954 to book a free site visit.
Our office is at Stanford Gate on South Road, Brighton BN1 6SB. We design and build across the city, including Hove, Preston Park, Seven Dials, Fiveways, Patcham, Withdean, Kemptown and Hanover, and out to Rottingdean, Portslade, Shoreham and Lewes.
House Extensions · Loft Conversions · New Builds & Flat Conversions · Refurbishment & Renovation · Structural Repairs
Call Grant on 07885 325954 or the office on 01273 950800. We will come out, look at the job and give you a free, no-obligation quote.
I can confirm that Grant has worked for me on two projects. The first project was to build two semi-detached houses in Hove. The second project was to convert an 1850s listed building in Brighton into four top-end apartments.
Grant is a very practical builder and gets on well with people, particularly neighbours, helping projects run smoothly. He works to a high standard and, should you decide to have him work for you, will leave you with a feeling that you would willingly use him again.
Grant and his team carried out our flat conversion (converting the top two floors of our Victorian house to two self contained flats) last year.
For our works they started on the agreed date and finished within days of the predicted finish date. For us the work was all to a very good standard and we have been very pleased with the finished job.
The team were friendly and approachable, happy to change or add little things as the conversion evolved. Grant and John were always at the end of the phone if needed. I would not hesitate to recommend them and if I need further construction works carried out would look to them first.
Tell us a little about your project and we will call you back. If you have drawings or photos, mention it and we can arrange a site visit.
County Structures Ltd
Stanford Gate
2nd Floor, South Road
Brighton
BN1 6SB
