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I'm trying to find an M&E consultant to do all the plans for: electrics, lighting, pipework, service runs etc, etc. I've got an architect who's done the plans to get us through planning permission but they now need these details added which he says we need an M&E consultant for. After a LOT of Googling it seems like most M&E consultants don't do residential, they're all in for big commercial projects. Can anyone recommend anyone for a single family house or recommend a better way to search than I've used up till now? Also any idea what a fair price is for this service? Many thanks in advance.

I understand that full planning permission is valid for 3 years. But what about the various consultant reports that support a successful planning application? Do these have a sell-by-date? I couldn’t find a definitive answer on the web and was hoping someone might be able to offer some clarification. My reason for asking is that I wanted to recycle some of the consultant reports that I had commissioned as part of a successful planning permission application made back in spring 2017 for 4 detached dwellings in a plot that now sits adjacent to my garden. The current plan is to seek planning permission again for an additional single dwelling within the remaining space within my garden/grounds. For reference, I attach a rough outline of the plot for which the original consultant reports relate to, as well as the prospective new plot. As you can see, they’re right next to each other, so to my mind, some aspects of existing consultant reports could be shared? From memory, the reports made were flood risk, ecological, archaeological, geotechnical, perhaps one or two other typical reports that I could dig out. Might be worth redoing some reports, such as the geotechnical to be sure were not building on made ground. But I’m certain the prospective site is of lower flood risk and it seems mad to spend another 1-2k on a new report that presents practically the same geographic assessment. My first post on BuildHub. Any ideas/comments much appreciated. I’ll share the eventual outcome in case it’s of use to others.

I am of the view that there seems to have been an increase in the number of consultant reports required by self-builders (and developers, but that is not the topic here) over the last 20 years. My view is that this is in part down to Councils playing safe because it is more attractive to demand a report anyway when somebody else pays the expense, rather than the scarier prospect of not insisting on one. However, that is anecdotal. My suspicion is that we are in a position where a dynamic exists where some bodies want more reports to grow their businesses, in addition to protect whatever they say they are trying to protect. But I need to begin to get a handle on some evidence. I am trying to frame an FOI request to get data from a typical authority about 2 sample periods (perhaps Sep-Oct 2018, and Sep-Oct 2006), to get a snapshot sample. I think a more-complete request would be too much expenditure to get through, and to be justifiable as a load to place on Council Staff. Question 1: Does anyone have or know of any data on this? Question 2: Where is the definitive list of statutory, and hopefully non-statutory, consultees? Any comments are most welcome. Ferdinand