Loft conversions, house extensions, renovations, basements and new builds across London and Hertfordshire.
Services
Loft conversions, house extensions, renovations, basements and new builds across London and Hertfordshire.
Services
Loft conversions, house extensions, renovations, basements and new builds across London and Hertfordshire.
Services
Loft conversions, house extensions, renovations, basements and new builds across London and Hertfordshire.
Services
Call 020 8037 7332 or get an instant estimate online.
Measured survey · London & Hertfordshire
Measured building survey: the existing drawings every extension, loft and planning application starts from
By Anderson & the LCCL Construction Team
Finchley N3 · Design & build, LABC award winners 2024 and 2026
Before anything is designed, the house is measured — every room, wall thickness, ceiling height, window, floor level, the roof and the garden — and drawn up as existing plans, elevations and sections. Every planning application needs them, every structural calculation depends on them, and every guide price becomes a real estimate because of them. LCCL carries out the measured survey on every design and build project and offers it as a standalone service for clients who need existing drawings for their own architect, a lease plan or a planning application. This page explains what is surveyed, what you receive, how it is priced and how it fits the design stage.
Quick answer
Included at no separate fee in every LCCL design and build contract. As a standalone service, priced per property after a free call — the number of floors, the roof and the garden decide it.
Existing plans, elevations and sections are a validation requirement on every planning application and lawful development certificate.
Half a day to a day on site for a typical house; drawings issued within a week.
A free 30-minute phone call with our team, no obligation.
Fee
Included in design & build
Standalone
Priced per property
On site
Half a day – 1 day
Drawings
PDF + DWG within a week
LABC Building Excellence Award 2024
Best Residential Extension in London — Bohun Grove, East Barnet EN4: rear extension, hip-to-gable loft conversion and whole-house renovation
LABC Building Excellence Awards 2026
London Regional Winner, Best Conversion or Alteration — Weech Road, Hampstead NW6: penthouse loft conversion and full renovation
One contract
Architecture, structural engineering, planning, construction and project management — all under one contract
Guaranteed & insured
12-month workmanship guarantee; 10-year LABC structural warranty
What a measured building survey from LCCL includes
Available on its own, or included in every LCCL design and build contract.
Site visit by our survey team with laser measurement of every room, wall, opening, ceiling height and floor level
Roof measured inside and out — ridge height, pitch, structure, chimneys — for loft feasibility and the permitted development volume check
Garden and boundaries measured for extension feasibility, the half-garden rule and party wall distances
Existing structure noted: load-bearing walls, beams, chimney breasts, the stair, the existing services and drainage where visible
Existing floor plans at every level, drawn to scale
Existing elevations — front, rear and sides where accessible
Existing sections through the house and the roof
Site and location plans to the council's validation standard
Drawings issued in PDF and DWG, dimensioned, within a week of the visit
A short note of anything found that will affect the design — head height, damp, structural alterations, drainage — before you spend money on drawings
What does a measured building survey cost in London in 2026?
Within a design and build contract there is no separate fee. Standalone surveys are priced per property.
Property
What is surveyed
Fee
Flat or single floor
Plans, ceiling heights, windows; elevations where relevant
Priced per property
House — two or three storeys
All floors, roof, elevations, sections, garden and boundaries
Priced per property
Large house, basement or new build plot
As above plus topographical survey of the plot, levels and trees
Priced per property
What the survey feeds
Service
Notes
Structural calculations
Spans, wall thicknesses and loads come from the survey
Why there is no figure on this page: the fee depends on the number of floors, whether the roof and garden are surveyed, and access — a two-storey terrace and a four-storey townhouse with a basement are different days. We give you a real number after a free call rather than a misleading one here. The figure on your itemised estimate is the figure you pay — nothing is added afterwards. If you go on to build with LCCL, the survey fee is absorbed into the project price.
What the survey saves: the wall that turns out to be 340 mm not 225 mm, the loft with 2.05 m to the ridge, the extension that would take more than half the garden, the drain running exactly where the new foundations go. Found on the survey these are design decisions; found on site they are variations. It is the lowest-cost hour on any project.
Measured surveys by purpose
Extension or loft feasibility
The survey answers the first questions before any design fee is spent: is the roof high enough, how much permitted development volume is left, how deep can the extension go, where are the drains and the neighbours' foundations.
Planning or lawful development application
Existing plans, elevations and sections are a validation requirement on every application; without them the council will not register it. Ours are drawn to the standard every London borough accepts.
Renovation, lease plan or sale
A whole-house survey for a renovation design, or an accurate floor plan for a lease, a licence to alter or a sale. Issued in DWG so your architect, agent or solicitor can use it directly.
Planning
What the council needs from the survey
Every application is validated against a checklist, and the existing drawings are on it.
Application
Existing drawings required
Scale
What we provide
Lawful Development Certificate
Existing and proposed plans, elevations, sections; site plan
1:50 / 1:100; 1:1250 site
Full set from the survey
Householder planning application
As above plus location plan
1:50 / 1:100; 1:1250
Full set from the survey
Prior approval (larger home extension)
Site plan and a description of the extension
1:1250
Site plan and dimensions from the survey
Basement or new build
As above plus topographical survey, levels and trees
Various
Topographical survey added
Structure & building regulations
What the survey gives the engineer
The structural calculations for any beam, floor or foundation start from the survey: the span, the wall thickness and construction, what the wall carries, the depth of the existing footings where they can be seen. Building control's full-plans application uses the same existing drawings. A survey done once, properly, is used by the architect, the engineer, the estimator and the inspector — which is why we never design from a sketch.
A survey drawn to the council's standard is what stops an application bouncing at validation — the most common cause of a lost fortnight at the start of a project. Ours are prepared to the standard every London borough and Hertfordshire district accepts.
How long planning takes · Permitted development rights guide
Projects that started with our survey
Bohun Grove, East Barnet EN4 — rear extension, hip-to-gable loft and whole-house renovation
LABC 2024 Best Residential Extension in London
Semi-detached family home One programme loft + extension + renovation
A total renovation of a family semi: a rear extension opening into a full-width kitchen and dining space with floor-to-ceiling glazing and skylights, a hip-to-gable loft conversion with a rear dormer, two Lusso Stone bathrooms, enlarged bedrooms, new windows throughout, a regulated outbuilding and landscaping.
Because the loft and extension ran under one contract, the steelwork for the open-plan ground floor and the loft floor was designed together and lifted in on the same day — one crane hire, one scaffold, one building-control file.
See the Bohun Grove project · All projects
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ANDERSON · FOUNDER, LCCL CONSTRUCTION
Anderson's advice: budget for the steelwork, not just the kitchen
Clients budget for kitchen units but forget the structural steelwork when opening up ground-floor walls. On a Victorian terrace that is typically £4,800 – £19,200 inc. VAT (£4,000 – £16,000 + VAT) for the load-bearing opening, depending on its width — we price it on every proposal so there is no surprise.
Get the structural design done early, from a measured survey, and the steel arrives on site the week it is needed rather than holding the programme.
How a measured survey runs with LCCL
Half a day to a day on site, drawings within a week — and, if you build with us, straight into design.
WEEK 0
Free consultation call
A 30-minute phone call about the property and what you need the drawings for — feasibility, a planning application, a renovation, a lease plan. Scope and fee agreed.
SITE VISIT
Half a day – 1 day
Every room, wall, opening and level measured; roof and garden included where the project needs them; existing structure and services noted.
WITHIN A WEEK
Drawings issued
Existing plans, elevations, sections, site and location plans in PDF and DWG, with a short note of anything found that will affect the design.
NEXT
Design
If you build with LCCL, the survey becomes the base for the concept, the planning drawings, the structural calculations and the itemised estimate — and the fee is absorbed into the project price.
IF NOT
Your drawings
The DWG set is yours to give to your architect, agent or solicitor. No obligation.
“We are very happy with the services from Lccl, Alex has done a great job on design and construction. We have used Lccl in the past for our rear house extension and have come back to instruct Lccl for our loft conversion too to our house in North London.”
Mia M · Google Reviews
“The Lccl construction team built my extension with a quick and clean service, they worked non stop through the winter weather.. I would highly recommend this company!”
Chris Dunn · Google Reviews
“LCCL Construction was the right company to help with my loft conversion. I heard of other people's challenging experiences with building works so I was very careful which company I chose. LCCL Constructions was professional, trustworthy and worked to the…”
KashImaging · Trustpilot
Measured survey questions we get asked most
A precise measurement of the existing property — every room, wall, opening, ceiling height, floor level, the roof and the garden — drawn up as existing plans, elevations and sections. It is the base for every design, planning application, structural calculation and estimate.
Within an LCCL design and build contract, nothing extra. As a standalone service it is priced per property after a free call, because the number of floors, the roof, the garden and access decide it. If you later build with us, the fee is absorbed into the project price.
Half a day to a day on site for a typical house, and the drawings are issued in PDF and DWG within a week.
Yes — existing plans, elevations and sections are a validation requirement on every householder application and lawful development certificate. Without them the council will not register the application, which is the most common cause of a lost fortnight at the start of a project.
Yes. The DWG set is yours to give to any architect, agent or solicitor. There is no obligation to build with LCCL.
Yes — the head height from the ceiling joists to the ridge, the roof structure and the permitted development volume are all measured, and the short note that comes with the drawings tells you what they mean before you spend money on design.
A measured survey records dimensions and layout for design; a structural survey assesses the condition of the building for a purchase or a defect. Ours is a measured survey, with the existing structure noted so the engineer has what he needs — not a condition report.
Yes — for renovations, licences to alter, lease plans and planning applications on flats across Central and North-West London. Elevations are included where the works affect the outside of the building.
Where we survey
From Finchley N3 we cover North London, North-West London, Central London, South-West and West London, and Hertfordshire — and we also work across the rest of London, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Kent and Essex. Standalone surveys are carried out within reach of a site visit from Finchley N3 — all of London and Hertfordshire.