Full-plans building regulations drawings for Medway — the technical construction set covering structure, fire safety, insulation and Part L, drawn to satisfy building control so your builder can price and build with certainty, delivered in days and revised free until sign-off, with a free project check first.
Medway Council granted 96% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 9 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Medway contains Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm, Lower Rainham conservation areas (Cliffe designated 1973), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Before permission is required, Class B allows 40m³ of added loft volume on a terrace and 50m³ on a semi or detached house, and Class A allows a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house. Medway carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm and Lower Rainham remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Medway is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Cliffe (conservation area designated in 1973), Frindsbury and Manor Farm (conservation area designated in 1996), Lower Rainham (conservation area designated in 1989), Lower Twydall (conservation area designated in 1984), Maidstone Road, Chatham (conservation area designated in 2005), Meresborough (conservation area designated in 1989), Moor Street (conservation area designated in 1989), New Road, Chatham (conservation area designated in 1972), All Saints (ward of Medway), Fort Pitt (ward of Medway), Rainham North (ward of Medway), Rainham South East (ward of Medway) and Strood Rural (ward of Medway) — these are the Medway pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm, Lower Rainham, Lower Twydall, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Meresborough, Moor Street and New Road, Chatham. Medway Council weighs each proposal against Medway Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 24,730 homes here are 18% 1965-1972, 15% 1973-1982, 10% 1955-1964, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow-pitched roofs and integral garages typical of that period's building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building, over late-1960s and early-1970s houses (18% of 24,730 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (15%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%).
What is permitted in Medway turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Cliffe (conservation area designated in 1973), Frindsbury and Manor Farm (conservation area designated in 1996), Lower Rainham (conservation area designated in 1989), Lower Twydall (conservation area designated in 1984), Maidstone Road, Chatham (conservation area designated in 2005), Meresborough (conservation area designated in 1989), Moor Street (conservation area designated in 1989) and New Road, Chatham (conservation area designated in 1972). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Medway Council assesses materials, window detail and roof form against the area's own appraisal, so a scheme that would be waved through two streets away can need a full application here.
Beyond the designated areas, Medway takes in All Saints, Fort Pitt, Rainham North, Rainham South East and Strood Rural. Medway Council has 47 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in the district.
On stock, Medway is late-1960s and early-1970s houses (18% of 24,730 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (15%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%) — which is why shallow-pitched roofs and integral garages typical of that period's building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Medway Council decided 540 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 96%, with 94% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for Medway runs pre-1900 3% (190 homes), 1900-1918 0% (30 homes), 1919-1929 0% (10 homes), 1930-1939 6% (350 homes), 1945-1954 3% (170 homes), 1955-1964 30% (1,850 homes), 1965-1972 33% (1,990 homes), 1973-1982 4% (260 homes), 1983-1992 5% (310 homes), 1993-1999 4% (220 homes) and 2000-2008 3% (170 homes). That distribution is why pre-1900 detailing dominates the drawings here, and it is measured from council-tax records rather than assumed from the street name.
Medway Council also decides for All Saints, Fort Pitt, Rainham North, Rainham South East and Strood Rural, so a decision in Medway sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include Brompton Lines(1), Brompton Lines(2), Chatham Central & Brompton and Fort Pitt. Each removes a specific permitted-development right inside its own boundary, which is why the check is done on the address rather than on the town.
Published figures for Medway and Medway Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Medway |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 24,730 |
| Built pre-1900 | 190 (3%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 30 (0%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 10 (0%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 350 (6%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 170 (3%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 1,850 (30%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 1,990 (33%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 260 (4%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 310 (5%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 220 (4%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 170 (3%) |
| Built before 1919 | 13% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 11% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 66% |
| Conservation areas in Medway | 8 (Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 24 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 47 |
| Householder applications decided | 540 |
| Householder applications granted | 96% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 94% |
Dwelling stock from VOA council-tax data at 31 March 2025; conservation-area and Article 4 counts from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG); decision figures are Medway Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
Planning permission decides whether you can build; the Building Regulations decide that what you build is safe, warm and sound. They are two separate approvals, run by different bodies, and a Medway project usually needs both. The building regulations set is the technical layer beneath the planning drawings — construction sections, structural details, insulation build-ups and fire-safety provisions that a builder works from and a building control surveyor checks against the approved documents.
In practice that means Part A structure — beam and foundation details with the structural calculations behind them; Part B fire — escape, protected routes and, in a loft, a fire door and mains-linked alarms; Part L conservation of fuel and power — U-values, insulation and airtightness; plus drainage, ventilation and stairs. On Medway's stock, which runs to late-1960s and early-1970s houses (18% of 24,730 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (15%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%), the recurring challenge is meeting Part L in solid-walled period houses without ruining the room, and we detail the insulation to hit the numbers with the least intrusion.
Building control applies everywhere in Medway regardless of planning designation, but in conservation areas such as Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm, Lower Rainham, Lower Twydall, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Meresborough, Moor Street and New Road, Chatham the two processes interact — insulation and window details often have to satisfy Part L and a planning condition at once. Medway Council has 47 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in the district. We draw the construction details to reconcile both.
A full-plans set for Medway building control is checked against the Approved Documents. A typical extension or loft set covers each of these:
We produce the full-plans construction set — structure, fire, thermal and drainage details with the structural calculations — and submit it to your chosen building control body, whether that is Medway Council's own team or an approved inspector, so problems are settled on paper before they cost money on site.
Building control is a separate approval, but most Medway projects clear planning first, so Medway Council's live decision record below sets the context. Medway Council granted 96% of 540 householder decisions in the year to 31 March 2026, 94% of them inside eight weeks. We handle both stages, so the construction drawings follow through seamlessly once permission is granted.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
Tell us about your project and get a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. If you don't need planning permission at all, we'll tell you that too — for free.
There are two ways to get building control approval, and for anything structural in Medway we recommend the full-plans route — particularly on the borough's late-1960s and early-1970s houses (18% of 24,730 homes) and 1970s and early-1980s houses (15%), where opening up an old structure tends to reveal surprises. A building notice lets work start with no approved drawings — cheaper up front, but the surveyor rules on compliance as the build proceeds, so a wrong detail is discovered mid-work and rebuilt at your cost. Full plans get the whole set checked and approved before a brick moves, which is what banks, warranty providers and future buyers want to see.
Full plans also protect the project commercially. With approved construction drawings your builder prices exact quantities rather than guessing, and there is a completion certificate at the end — the document a solicitor asks for when you sell across Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm and Lower Rainham and the rest of Medway. Where a project sits in a controlled setting — Medway contains Cliffe, Frindsbury and Manor Farm, Lower Rainham conservation areas (Cliffe designated 1973), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal — the construction details also have to respect what planning has conditioned, and we draw the full set and manage the building control submission to reconcile both.
Every structural project needs building regulations drawings whatever the planning position. A few of the Medway neighbourhoods and property types where we prepare them most often:
Building regulations drawings for Cliffe's conservation area designated in 1973 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Frindsbury and Manor Farm's conservation area designated in 1996 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Lower Rainham's conservation area designated in 1989 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Lower Twydall's conservation area designated in 1984 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Maidstone Road, Chatham's conservation area designated in 2005 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Meresborough's conservation area designated in 1989 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
They are different approvals and most projects need both. This is how they split in Medway.
| Planning permission | Building regulations | |
|---|---|---|
| Question it answers | Should this be built here? | Is it built safely and efficiently? |
| Decided by | Medway Council planning | Building control body or approved inspector |
| Main drawings | Location, block, proposed plans & elevations | Structural, fire, thermal & construction details |
| Needed for permitted development? | No — a certificate is optional | Yes — always, before work starts |
In conservation areas such as Cliffe and Frindsbury and Manor Farm, a planning condition can dictate materials that the building regulations details must then also satisfy.
A fixed process built around how Medway projects are approved and inspected — most construction sets are ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Medway postcode and scheme. We confirm whether you also need planning, which parts of the regulations apply, and whether Medway Council building control or an approved inspector suits the job.
We measure the existing structure so the construction details, spans and junctions are drawn to the real building rather than an assumption — the base sound structural calculations depend on.
Chartered designers and engineers produce the full-plans set — structure, fire, Part L thermal, drainage and details — with the structural calculations that support every beam and foundation.
We submit the full-plans application to your building control body, resolve any queries before work starts, and revise the drawings free until the set is approved and the work signed off.
They are two separate approvals. Planning permission, decided by Medway Council, answers whether a scheme should be built at all — its size, look and impact on neighbours. Building regulations, checked by a building control body, answer whether it is built safely and efficiently — structure, fire, insulation and drainage. A Medway project usually needs both, and even permitted-development work that skips planning still needs building control sign-off.
Yes — planning permission is not building control approval. The planning drawings show what the building looks like; building regulations drawings show how it is constructed, and no structural work in Medway can lawfully complete without a building control sign-off. The two sets are drawn together but approved by different bodies, so having one never removes the need for the other. Medway Council is the decision-maker.
For anything structural in Medway — a loft, an extension or removing a wall — we recommend full plans. The whole construction set is checked and approved before work starts, so a non-compliant detail is caught on paper rather than rebuilt on site. On the borough's late-1960s and early-1970s houses (18% of 24,730 homes) that certainty matters, and a building notice — which lets a surveyor judge compliance as work proceeds — risks costly rework. Banks and warranty providers also prefer the approved full-plans set that Medway Council or an approved inspector signs off.
Yes. You can use Medway Council's building control team or an independent approved inspector — both enforce the same regulations, so it comes down to price, availability and continuity. We draw the full-plans set to the same standard either way and submit it to whichever body you choose, then manage the queries and inspections through to the completion certificate.
Solid-walled period houses — common across Medway, including conservation areas such as Cliffe and Frindsbury and Manor Farm — are the hardest to bring up to Part L without losing room or altering the fabric. We detail the insulation to hit the required U-values with the least intrusion, using internal or roof-level build-ups and, where a planning condition protects the exterior, methods that satisfy both the energy standard and the heritage requirement at once. Medway Council is the decision-maker.
We price each Medway job individually, because the structural content and the size of the construction set vary from a single beam to a whole-house refurbishment, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full-plans drawings and structural calculations with free revisions until sign-off. The building control body's own fee is separate. Call 020 7864 7245 to start. Medway Council is the decision-maker.
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