Aldershot Extensions, Surveys and Structural Engineering

Aldershot is unusually terrace heavy for this part of Hampshire, so the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is in play on a large share of projects here. If the property is semi detached or terraced, or if the foundations for any new element sit close to a boundary, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is likely to apply and notice has to be served before work starts. We can confirm the position once we have seen the property, and serve the notices as part of the same project rather than leaving you to arrange it separately.

Two months for work to a party structure, and one month for excavation and for building at the boundary line. Work should not start before the notice period expires and consent or an award is in place.

Yes, where the wall is load bearing or where removing it affects fire separation or means of escape. Building control will want to see calculations for the beam and the bearing detail before the work is signed off.

Yes. Alongside Aldershot we regularly work in Farnborough, Farnham and Camberley, and across the wider Hampshire border area from our office in Fleet. Bear in mind that some of those neighbouring towns sit under a different council to Aldershot, so the planning and building control route can change from one to the next even over a short distance.

Yes. The garrison has a substantial heritage footprint, with listed buildings and designated areas across the former military estate. Where any of that applies to a property, permitted development cannot be assumed, and on a listed building even internal alterations can need consent. We establish which of these apply to your address at the start, because it can change the structural solution as well as the paperwork.

Damp related issues, roof covering and flashing wear, movement historic enough to be stable, and previous alterations carried out without adequate structural support are all frequent findings on period stock.

Yes. Aldershot is fully within our normal working area for building and structural work, from the Wellesley development, North Camp, Manor Park and the garrison through to the surrounding streets. On the newer Wellesley plots there are often estate management conditions as well as the planning position, and those are worth reading before design work starts rather than after.

Aldershot falls under Rushmoor Borough Council. It is the local planning authority, with Hampshire County Council above it for highways matters such as skip permits and any scaffold that reaches the pavement. That matters because a set of calculations and drawings has to be submitted to the authority that actually covers the address, and on this patch the boundaries run close together, so neighbouring towns can sit with entirely different councils.

Yes. Planning permission and building regulations are two separate systems. An extension that is entirely permitted development still needs building regulations approval, and that is where the structural calculations, insulation, ventilation and fire safety detail are assessed.

It can. Across Aldershot the underlying ground is commonly Bagshot sands over the heathland belt, with made ground possible on former military land, and that has a bearing on foundation depth, on how a new bearing is detailed, and on how close to mature trees a foundation can sensibly go. That is a general description of the area rather than a statement about any particular plot, so where foundations are involved we design against what an investigation on the site actually shows.