Base dug, inspection not booked
The groundworkers have dug the base for an orangery. The building inspector needs to see the foundations before concrete goes in. Nobody booked the inspection, because the application was made by someone who has since left and nobody knew what stage it was at. The concrete lorry is cancelled. The customer, who has had a trench in their garden for three days, asks what is going on.
At the other end of the job, the completion certificate for a tiled roof conversion is still outstanding months later, and the customer's buyer is asking for it.
Why the paperwork gets lost
Conservatory and extension work involves more parties than a window replacement: the customer, possibly a planning authority, building control, a structural engineer, the roof system supplier, groundworkers and your fitters. Each produces or needs documents at different stages, and they sit in different inboxes.
- There is no list per job of which approvals, notices and inspections apply.
- Applications are made by one person and tracked in their head or inbox.
- Inspection stages are not linked to the build programme.
- Roof system calculations and specifications are filed separately from the job.
- Completion certificates are not chased after the build is finished.
Whether a job needs planning permission or building regulations approval is for your team, your designer and the local authority to establish. The tracker holds what they decide, and does not make that judgement.
What paperwork gaps cost
Missed inspections stop work and can mean opening up finished parts. Delayed approvals push start dates and leave customers waiting. Missing completion certificates cause trouble at resale, and customers come back to you to sort them. The office time spent reconstructing what happened is considerable.
A tracker for conservatory and roof jobs
- Each job records, as your team determines, which planning checks, building control route, structural calculations and roof specifications apply.
- Each document has an owner, a status and a due date, from application or request to approval or receipt.
- Inspection stages, such as foundations, drainage, structure or completion, are linked to the build programme, and the office is warned before the stage that needs booking.
- Correspondence with the local authority and engineers is filed on the job from email automatically.
- The build cannot move to the next stage in the plan without the inspection recorded, unless a manager overrides with a note.
- At completion, outstanding certificates are listed and chased until received, then sent to the customer.
| Item | Waiting on | Linked to |
|---|---|---|
| Planning check or application | Local authority | Start date |
| Building control application or notice | Building control | Start date |
| Structural calculations | Engineer | Order of roof and frames |
| Foundation inspection | Inspector | Concrete pour |
| Completion certificate | Building control | Handover pack |
After the tracker is in place
Every conservatory and roof job shows what paperwork it needs and what is waiting on whom. Inspections are booked before the build reaches them. Knowledge does not leave with a member of staff. And completion certificates are chased until they arrive, so customers have them when they need them.
The same tracker also works for porches, bi-fold openings in load-bearing walls and other jobs where your team decides approvals or calculations are involved.
Could this be you?
- Work has stopped because an inspection was not booked.
- Only one person knows where each application stands.
- Completion certificates are outstanding on finished jobs.
- Engineer calculations are hard to find when needed.