Demolition statement

[Jack757]

Just quick question... we are at the start of our journey and not so consistent information and details being given to us by different Architects. Getting so confusing....

Who is it down to for providing the demolition survey. The architect, the builder/contractor or a planning consultant? Thanks.

[G and J]

Who are you paying to do it......don't mean to be flippant but will depend on contract you have with whomever...if none  of them has included, who is doing the demolition?

 

For info we did our own statement for our party wall agreement

 

You'll also need to get a demolition notice applied when the time comes.

[Jack757]

1 hour ago, G and J said:

Who are you paying to do it......don't mean to be flippant but will depend on contract you have with whomever...if none  of them has included, who is doing the demolition?

 

For info we did our own statement for our party wall agreement

 

You'll also need to get a demolition notice applied when the time comes.

No one at the moment. We are in the process of getting architect quotes, this is all new territory for us. One specific Architects wants us to use a planning consultant, which part of her huge fee is a demolition statement. This hasn't been mentioned anywhere else up to now and that's why I am curious when it comes into play. We will be employing a builder once the time comes to demolish the existing bungalow before starting the self build.  We will not need a party wall agreement as neighbours are further than the 6M away. 

[Mr Punter]

If it is for asbestos, the builder can get this done.  What did they quote for?

[Jack757]

2 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

If it is for asbestos, the builder can get this done.  What did they quote for?

As above to my response. No mention of asbestos at moment but then we haven't got that far. 

[Mr Punter]

Your builder and their contractors should provide you with RAMS (risk assessments and method statements) for all hazardous works (work at height, demolition, lifting operations, machinery operations, manual handling etc.)

[Jack757]

Just now, Mr Punter said:

Your builder and their contractors should provide you with RAMS (risk assessments and method statements) for all hazardous works (work at height, demolition, lifting operations, machinery operations, manual handling etc.)

Thank you, that makes sense. Wasn't sure why it has been factored in to an architects/planning consultants quote along with planning statement!

[Russell griffiths]

How much is the huge fee from the planning consultant 

our was about £4000 and she worked with us for 18 months getting the plans passed. 
your not mixing up all the survey fees and other documents with her cost are you. 
the rest of the fees took it up to £16,000, but the actual planning consultant I felt was very good value. 

[Mr Punter]

Why do you think you need a demolition statement?  Who is asking for it?

[torre]

16 minutes ago, Jack757 said:

planning consultant, which part of her huge fee is a demolition statement

A planning consultant's not going to get into the detail of a demolition notice, so I can only really interpret this as the consultant will include a statement arguing why it's reasonable to knock down the existing property as part of their service. Maybe it's a bit of fee justification/inflation? I'd ask what's included and why it's needed?

 

Unless there's something special about the existing property (listed but beyond repair, locally significant features, conservation area etc) then I don't think it will represent a significant piece of work, but something more akin to it having little architectural merit, poor repair, expensive to run and maintain, doesn't enhance the neighbourhood compared with your new proposal etc

[Jack757]

10 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

How much is the huge fee from the planning consultant 

our was about £4000 and she worked with us for 18 months getting the plans passed. 
your not mixing up all the survey fees and other documents with her cost are you. 
the rest of the fees took it up to £16,000, but the actual planning consultant I felt was very good value. 

More than that. No other architects mention needing one and no real restraints or problems to justify her extra costs to be honest. The quote was just for the planning policy statement, demolition statement, liaison with architect and LPA and responding to any queries from LPA. Just seems like throwing money away to be honest for something that another architect would include as a matter of course.

[saveasteading]

I hadn't heard of such a thing, so I googled it. Not to be relied on of course but often tells us what non-professionals are assuming.

 

It seems to me that it is intended to mean a method statement for the demolition phase of the project. This is routine and the builder will do it.

It doesn't get submitted but is a formal document which you should keep in case something goes wrong.... look they said it was all worked out.

Its actual purpose is to make the builder plan ahead and avoid danger or damage.

 

A demolition notice is online to your LA and routine.  I can't say if you need one as don't know the nature of the work.

You are at the start of your journey you say. Good luck. Does this involve major demolition or adapting an existing building?  At some stage of smallness it moves from demolition to simply being part of the works.

If it is  a lot of demolition then it may be worth getting a specialist demo company to do it... they think differently and efficiently.

 

You probably don't need an architect to engage a planner to either engage a builder, or just issue a generic ' be safe' document at your expense.

 

But tell us more.

[kandgmitchell]

I'd agree with @torre a planning consultant's demolition statement isn't going to contain any technical information about the actual process. They are going to explain why this particular building is justified in being taken down and replaced with your proposal. Planning consultants can be a bonus particularly in connection with contentious sites. Is your one of those? If you are knocking down a bog standard building that no-one would care about and propose a sensible well designed replacement that is unlikely to stretch the boundaries of the LA's policies, then your architect ought to be able to proceed with a planning application without additional help. 

 

If I recall correctly there is a requirement under Section 80 of the Building Act 1984 to give notice to the local authority of intended demolition as well as copying said notice to neighbours and the local electric and gas suppliers. The notice needs to state the method of demolition and you have to wait for a counter notice from the LA or six weeks have passed before you can start. But that would be after you have your other approvals in place.

[Jack757]

6 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

I hadn't heard of such a thing, so I googled it. Not to be relied on of course but often tells us what non-professionals are assuming.

 

It seems to me that it is intended to mean a method statement for the demolition phase of the project. This is routine and the builder will do it.

It doesn't get submitted but is a formal document which you should keep in case something goes wrong.... look they said it was all worked out.

Its actual purpose is to make the builder plan ahead and avoid danger or damage.

 

A demolition notice is online to your LA and routine.  I can't say if you need one as don't know the nature of the work.

You are at the start of your journey you say. Good luck. Does this involve major demolition or adapting an existing building?  At some stage of smallness it moves from demolition to simply being part of the works.

If it is  a lot of demolition then it may be worth getting a specialist demo company to do it... they think differently and efficiently.

 

You probably don't need an architect to engage a planner to either engage a builder, or just issue a generic ' be safe' document at your expense.

 

But tell us more.

Thank you for all the info... google seems to be a minefield of info, I just get more confused lol...

This is a bungalow and detached garage that will need demolishing and hopefully a 4 bed house put pretty much on the existing footprint. Only bottom part of garden green belt.

We've spoken to 3 architects so far (only 1 been to site, who I actually really liked) and they all seem to be saying different as to what we can and cant do. Only this one architect with his long distance planning consultant is saying we should build a chalet or another bungalow due to local planning policy when nearly all the other bungalows in the road have been demolished and built into huge 2/3 floor houses, bearing in mind we do not want anything to this scale, however next door is still a chalet, but next to them is a huge 450sqm 3 floor house! Don't know who to follow or who to take notice of to be honest!

[Jack757]

2 minutes ago, kandgmitchell said:

I'd agree with @torre a planning consultant's demolition statement isn't going to contain any technical information about the actual process. They are going to explain why this particular building is justified in being taken down and replaced with your proposal. Planning consultants can be a bonus particularly in connection with contentious sites. Is your one of those? If you are knocking down a bog standard building that no-one would care about and propose a sensible well designed replacement that is unlikely to stretch the boundaries of the LA's policies, then your architect ought to be able to proceed with a planning application without additional help. 

 

If I recall correctly there is a requirement under Section 80 of the Building Act 1984 to give notice to the local authority of intended demolition as well as copying said notice to neighbours and the local electric and gas suppliers. The notice needs to state the method of demolition and you have to wait for a counter notice from the LA or six weeks have passed before you can start. But that would be after you have your other approvals in place.

Thank you, that's interesting. The bungalow has had it and needs knocking down!

[kandgmitchell]

That's the joy of planning! No-one is able to say exactly what will get approved but some may well take the easy route and direct you down the path of least resistance. That's fine if you get what you want but you will do this only once on this site. If the architect you like is in tune with your ideas and is easy to work with then that goes a long way. Don't get bullied into engaging a planning consultant if the architect is confident in their grasp of local policies and can justify their design complies. I'd like to think most of this is common sense. Coming up with an outrageous scheme that doesn't suit the location, is patently overdeveloping the site and impacts on all the neighbours should be obvious to most people as being a potential problem. 

 

From what you describe this is not going to be a matter of planning principle as there is a dwelling there already, so this is likely to be a design led application rather than having to argue technical points of planning policy where a planning consultant would have a place.

[Tosh]

If there are other properties in the vicinity that have been replaced then I'd have a look on the planning portal and see what documents were submitted/approved under those applications. Judging by your discription my inital thoughts are you don't need  a planning consultant if there's other properties in the area that have been demolished/replaced. I'd just get the architect to do the planning drawings and submit them.  My architect wanted me to employ a civil engineer to plan the route for a 32mm water pipe across our site - at which point we parted company! Planners will tell you if you need anything more. Planning consultants are useful if you think you're going to get into a standoff with the LPA over the principle or design of what you're doing.

[saveasteading]

That's all good advice. If anything a planning consultant might even make your application more difficult flagging your proposal as potentially contentious.

There will be plenty more architects around if none so far make you comfortable. Its an important first stage.

 

You can do the homework as to precedent.. saves you paying time rates, then your architect can summarise... 'this fits with and is consistent with the nearby previous replacement projects' 

common sense will tell you if it looks contentious.