London Home Renovation Planning Checklist 2025: From Idea to Start on Site

Design and planning phase: the purpose of the design phase is to produce drawings and a specification that are: sufficiently developed for competitive tender (contractors need enough detail to price accurately — floor plans, elevations, sections, specification notes); compliant with planning policy and Building Regulations (so that the tender price reflects the actual regulatory requirements, not a simplified version of them); agreed and frozen by the homeowner before contractor pricing begins (scope and specification changes after tender increase cost and reduce price certainty). CHECKLIST — design and planning phase: 1. Appointment of architect or principal designer (confirm scope of the architect's appointment: feasibility only? Planning application? Building Regulations drawings? Construction information? Site inspection and certification?); 2. Feasibility study completed (do the proposed works fit within the planning policy context? Is the structural approach feasible? Are the costs likely to be within the homeowner's budget?); 3. Planning permission status confirmed: (a) works are permitted development (PD) — no planning application required; apply for a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC) if any doubt (£103 application fee; 8-week determination; provides legal certainty and satisfies mortgage lender requirements); (b) works require a planning application — application prepared and submitted; fee paid (£258 for householder; £462 per unit for new build); 8-week determination period completed; permission granted (if conditions attached to the permission: review conditions carefully — some conditions require discharge before works begin; confirm with the LABC which conditions are pre-commencement); planning permission granted but appealing or under judicial review — do NOT start works; wait for the appeal or review to conclude; 4. Listed building consent confirmed (if the property is listed Grade I, II*, or II: listed building consent required for all external AND internal works — apply to the LABC; free application; 8-week determination; do NOT carry out any works on a listed building without listed building consent — criminal offence; if in doubt, call the LABC's conservation officer); 5. Conservation area constraints checked (if in a conservation area: check Article 4 Directions that may have withdrawn permitted development rights; confirm with the LABC that the proposed works are acceptable in the conservation area context; if a heritage impact assessment is required, confirm it has been prepared and submitted); 6. Building Regulations application prepared and submitted: (a) Full Plans application (recommended for all projects — provides the most certainty; the LABC or approved inspector reviews the full structural, thermal, fire, and access drawings before works begin and issues a Plans Certificate or Notice of Approval; any issues identified at the Plans stage can be resolved before the contractor prices or begins work); (b) Building Notice (faster but less certain — no pre-approval of the detailed design; the inspector visits the site at each stage and may require remedial works if the design is not compliant; not suitable for structural works or complex thermal or fire compliance situations; Building Notice is NOT available for works that include a new bathroom, new drainage, or a loft conversion in a flat); 7. Structural engineer appointed and structural calculations completed (confirm: structural calculations completed; structural drawings produced for inclusion in the Building Regulations Full Plans application and the construction tender; all structural details coordinated with the architectural drawings — beam positions, padstone details, foundation design, floor-to-beam connections; structural engineer's drawings reviewed and signed off by the Building Control inspector as part of the Full Plans approval); 8. Energy and thermal compliance check (Part L 2021 — whole-dwelling SAP/BRUKL report where required; U-values for new and existing elements meeting Part L minimum standards; glazed areas within Part L limits; overheating check for Part O where required); 9. Drainage design completed (layout of all below-ground drainage from the proposed works to the existing drain connection; Thames Water build-over assessment completed where new drainage is within 3m of a public sewer; drainage design included in the Full Plans Building Regulations application); 10. Fire safety strategy confirmed (Part B — escape routes, protected stairway, fire doors, interlinked smoke alarm system to BS 5839-6; confirm all Part B requirements have been addressed in the Building Regulations Full Plans application).

Party wall phase — CHECKLIST: 11. Party Wall Act compliance assessed by a party wall surveyor or experienced architect (confirm: which works are notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996? Section 1 notice for new wall on the line of junction? Section 2 notice for works to an existing party structure (party wall, party floor, party fence wall)? Section 6 notice for excavations within 3m or 6m of a neighbour's foundation?); 12. Party wall notices served to all affected adjoining owners (notice served with the correct notice period: Section 1 — 1 month; Section 2 — 2 months; Section 6 — 1 month; served in writing to the adjoining owner at their address or at the property if they are absent; note: party wall notices must be served 1-2 months before the intended start date of the notifiable works); 13. Adjoining owners' responses received and Party Wall Awards prepared where necessary (awaiting response — building owner must NOT commence notifiable party wall works until: the adjoining owner has consented in writing (within 14 days of receiving the notice), OR a Party Wall Award has been agreed between the appointed surveyors (typically 4-8 weeks after the surveyor is appointed); 14. Schedules of condition of adjoining properties completed and agreed (the schedule of condition — photographs and written description of the condition of the adjoining owner's property before works begin — is an important protection for the building owner as well as the adjoining owner; it provides the baseline against which any claims for damage caused by the works are assessed; ideally carried out by the party wall surveyor before works start); CDM (Construction, Design and Management Regulations 2015) — CHECKLIST: 15. CDM duty holder assessment: is this a notifiable project? (A project is notifiable to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if: the construction phase will last more than 30 working days AND have more than 20 workers simultaneously at any point; OR the construction work will exceed 500 person-days; most full London house refurbishments with extension involve multiple trades over 3-6 months and will exceed the 500 person-day threshold — check with the CDM Principal Designer); 16. CDM Principal Designer appointed in writing (for all projects with more than one contractor — and for any project where a client appoints a Principal Contractor — a CDM Principal Designer must be appointed in writing; the Principal Designer coordinates health and safety in the pre-construction phase and prepares the Pre-Construction Information pack for the Principal Contractor); 17. Pre-Construction Information pack prepared and issued to the Principal Contractor; 18. HSE notification (F10) submitted online if the project is notifiable; 19. Principal Contractor's Construction Phase Plan confirmed before works begin. Contractor selection — CHECKLIST: 20. Tender documents prepared (full tender pack issued to all tenderers: drawings, specification, schedule of works, contract conditions, programme requirements, contract sum analysis breakdown format); 21. Three or more compliant tender returns received and reviewed (all tenders are for the same scope and specification — like-for-like; all tenderers have visited the site; all tenders itemise exclusions and assumptions; all tenders include or clearly state their VAT status); 22. Tender clarification meeting held with preferred contractor (pre-award clarification of the scope, programme, specification assumptions, provisional sums, and any items priced as PC (Prime Cost) sums in the tender; confirm all PC sums are realistic and not underestimated to make the tender appear competitive); 23. Contractor's insurances confirmed: public liability insurance (minimum £2m — ideally £5m; check the certificate of insurance names the project address or is a general policy); employer's liability insurance (where the contractor employs staff); contract works insurance (all-risks cover for the works during the construction phase — confirm this is in place before work begins); 24. Contractor's regulatory compliance confirmed: CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) registration (confirm the contractor is registered under HMRC's CIS scheme as a subcontractor or contractor); HMRC CIS deduction where required (the homeowner may not be a CIS payer in their private capacity — confirm the contractor's CIS position); Gas Safe registration (where gas works are proposed — confirm the contractor's Gas Safe registered engineer's registration number); NICEIC or similar approved body registration (where electrical works are proposed — confirm the contractor's Part P certification scheme membership). Contract — CHECKLIST: 25. Contract signed by both parties (a suitable written contract is in place before work begins; suitable contract forms for a London home renovation include: JCT Home Owner Contract 2011 (JCT HOC 2011 — a simple, short form designed for homeowner projects without an architect contract administrator); JCT Minor Works Building Contract 2016 (JCT MW 2016 — a more formal contract with a contract administrator; suitable where an architect or project manager is administering the contract on behalf of the homeowner); JCT Intermediate Building Contract 2016 (JCT IC 2016 — for larger projects); 26. Contract sum confirmed (the agreed contract sum, based on the tender return and the pre-award clarifications, is clearly stated in the contract); 27. Contract sum analysis / schedule of values received from contractor (the breakdown of the contract sum by work package or stage — required for the stage payment schedule); 28. Payment schedule agreed (the timing and method of interim payments — typically stage payments aligned to construction progress milestones; or monthly valuations certified by the architect; the contract must comply with the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 payment provisions); 29. Retention agreed (where a retention is to be held: amount (typically 3-5% of the contract sum); release mechanism (50% of the retention released at practical completion; 50% at the end of the defects liability period); 30. Defects liability period confirmed (typically 6-12 months from practical completion — the period during which the contractor is obligated to return to make good any defects that appear in the works).

Logistics and preparation — CHECKLIST: 31. Site access route confirmed and agreed with the contractor (for a London terraced house, the primary site access is often through the house, through a side gate, or through the rear garden; the route for skips, materials deliveries, concrete truck access (where required — for foundation concrete or screed), and scaffold erection must be planned and confirmed before work begins; any access restrictions — underground utilities, narrow road access, residents' parking restrictions, skip permit requirement — must be resolved); 32. Skip permit obtained (in London, a skip placed on the public highway requires a skip licence from the London Borough — apply through the LABC or the skip hire company; lead time typically 5-10 working days; the permit specifies the permitted size and the permitted location of the skip); 33. Scaffolding permit obtained where required (for scaffolding that occupies the public highway or a parking space — a Section 169 licence from the London Borough; apply at least 4 weeks before scaffold erection date); 34. Neighbours notified (in addition to the legal requirements of the party wall notices, it is good practice to write to all immediately adjacent neighbours — within 2-3 properties each side and across the rear — before works begin: brief letter explaining the works, the approximate duration, the working hours, and a contact number for concerns; this reduces neighbourly disputes during the construction phase); 35. Working hours agreed with the contractor and compliant with the London Borough's Code of Construction Practice: standard permitted working hours for a London renovation project: Monday to Friday 08:00-18:00; Saturday 08:00-13:00; no works on Sundays or Bank Holidays; noisy works (drilling, breaking out, concrete cutting): typically restricted to Monday to Friday 08:00-17:00; the contractor must comply with the Borough's Code of Construction Practice — confirm the specific permitted hours for the Borough in which the property is located); 36. Existing utility services located and protected (gas, water, electricity, and telecoms services entering the property must be identified, marked, and — where they pass through the area of the works — protected from accidental damage; CCTV survey of the drain (pre-start drain CCTV) is strongly recommended before any excavation near existing drains — to establish the pre-start condition of the drain and to identify any pre-existing defects that would otherwise be attributed to the construction works); 37. Party wall surveyor site visit before works (the party wall surveyor carries out a schedule of condition inspection of the adjoining owner's property immediately before any notifiable party wall works begin — to photograph and record the pre-start condition as the baseline for any future claims); 38. Materials procurement confirmed (where the contractor is responsible for procuring long-lead-time materials — structural steel (typically 3-6 weeks from order to delivery), windows and glazed doors (8-16 weeks for proprietary aluminium bi-fold or sliding patio doors; 12-20 weeks for bespoke timber windows), roof lanterns (6-12 weeks for proprietary; 12-20 weeks for bespoke), kitchen and sanitary ware (4-12 weeks) — confirm these items have been ordered before work begins; a long-lead-time structural steel order placed too late will halt the project when the structural opening stage is reached); 39. Formal start on site confirmed in writing with the contractor (the date of the formal commencement of the construction phase should be confirmed in writing — this is the date from which: the construction phase begins under CDM; the construction phase plan is effective; interim payment dates are calculated; the programme milestones run); 40. Building Control inspector notified of commencement (the LABC must be notified of the intended commencement of building works at least two days before work starts — this is a legal requirement under the Building Regulations; notify the LABC or the approved inspector by the method specified in the Building Regulations approval).