Homeowner topics
The topics homeowners search for, explained without jargon
Architects, structural engineers, planning permission, building control, extensions, loft conversions, renovations, costs and running the job. Each page explains what the decision involves, what it usually costs you to get wrong, and what to ask next.
The Construction Clinic is guidance and decision support for homeowners. We are not an architect, engineer, builder or directory service, and we do not recommend named firms.
Your design team
Architects for extensions and renovations: what homeowners need to know
What an architect actually does, when you need one, and how their fees and stages work.
Structural engineers: when you need one and what they provide
When structural design is required, what the calculations are for, and how it affects your build.
Approvals
Project types
Home extensions: the decisions that shape the cost
The decisions that move an extension budget most, and the order to make them in.
Loft conversions: what decides whether yours works
Head height, stairs, structure and fire safety — the four things that decide a loft conversion.
Renovations and refurbishments: pricing the unknown
Why whole-house work behaves differently to a clean new-build extension, and how to price the unknown.
Money and control
Construction costs: how a building price is actually built up
How building costs are built up, what allowances mean, and how to hold a budget together.
Project management for homeowners: who is actually running your build
Who runs your project, what good control looks like week to week, and what to keep in writing.
