Self-build Project Planner

A step-by-step guide to building your own home

Prepare Site ➳ Groundworkers create site access ➳ Clear site and strip vegetable soil; stacking material to be retained out of the way ➳ Set up site hut and equip with drawings and safety equipment ➳ Set up toilet ➳ Secure lock-up/lorry container (hired in or purchased) to be positioned ➳ Water board to bring supply to stopcock on boundary ➳ Plumber to connect water standpipe ➳ Surveyor marks out building on cleared site and transfers the lines to profiles well clear of any construction work ➳ Bring in bricks and blocks and stack clear of future construction ➳ Set up mixer station close to cement store and sand heap

Foundations/oversite ➳ Groundworkers excavate foundations ➳ Wait for approval of building control and warranty inspectors ➳ Position any reinforcement bars, mesh or cages in the trenches ➳ Position any compressible material or slip membranes required within the trenches ➳ Lay ducts for services to enter through the foundations ➳ Arrange foot scaffold if necessary and shutter for any steps in the foundations ➳ Pour concrete footings and tamp to level ➳ Obtain approval from building/warranty inspectors to proceed ➳ Bricklayers build up foundation blockwork to damp-proof course ➳ Install cranked air vents ➳ Install drainage exit lintels ➳ Fill cavities with lean-mix concrete to level with external ground level ➳ Bed and lay damp-proof courses, linking these with any radon membranes or barriers

Start the Superstructure ➳ Groundworkers to dig service trenches and lay pipes and ducts to proposed stopcock/meter positions ➳ Load out concrete floor beams to each bay and position ➳ Install drainage and vent pipes proud of the oversite ➳ Infill floor beams with blocks ➳ Lay coursing blocks and position ventilator grilles ➳ Brush grout ➳ Arrange for building control/warranty inspection ➳ Commence building superstructure ➳ Install templates for future windows and doors, etc. ➳ First lift of scaffolding required

Superstructure ➳ Bricklayers continue superstructure brickwork and blockwork, including work on any chimneys ➳ Install and bed lintels, including fireplace lintels ➳ Install flue liners as work proceeds ➳ Build in meter boxes for gas and electricity ➳ Electrician to install temporary consumer unit within electricity meter box ➳ Service suppliers to carry out their work to the boundary ➳ Plumber to reroute water supply to stopcock position ➳ Electricity providers to install meter and connect ➳ Second scaffolding lift required ➳ Arrange crane to lift first floor beams onto each bay and position (if required) ➳ Position the plasterboard batten clips ➳ Lay infill blocks ➳ Brush grout

Superstructure Continued ➳ Continue building superstructure to wallplate ➳ Third and then fourth lift of scaffolding required ➳ Wallplate to be scarfed, bedded and tied down with proprietary wallplate straps ➳ Warranty inspection sometimes required ➳ Carpenters to build end trusses as templates ➳ Continue building up gable ends and chimney ➳ Additional lifts of scaffolding required at the gable ends ➳ Plumber to fit lead flashings, trays and skirts to chimney ➳ Plumber to install vent pipes and flashing skirts as they come through the roof ➳ Bricklayers to top out and fit chimney pot ➳ Bricklayers to point chimney flashings

Construct Roof ➳ Carpenters to sling roof trusses, and trusses to be fixed down to wallplate ➳ All binders and bracing to be fixed at node points

➳ Layboards to be fixed to valleys ➳ Dormers to be constructed at this point ➳ Fascia and soffit to be fixed together with any necessary ventilation grilles or strips ➳ Warranty inspection sometimes required ➳ Any roof tanks must be installed at this point

Roof Covering ➳ Roofers begin to cut and lay undercloaking to the verges ➳ Roofers to felt and batten ➳ Tiles/slates to be laid ➳ Ridge/hip tiles to be laid and bedded ➳ Valley tiles to be laid, or fibreglass or lead valleys to be laid ➳ Plumber to dress down flashings and skirtings ➳ Decorators to paint/stain fascias, soffits and barges

Exterior & Interior Fittings ➳ Plumbers to fix guttering ➳ Window suppliers to fit external joinery ➳ Plasterers to carry out any external rendering ➳ Scaffolding to come down ➳ Plumbers to fit downpipes and connect to drainage upstands/gullies ➳ External decoration ➳ Carpenters to commence first fix by fitting door linings, building any studwork partitioning and fixing window boards ➳ Carpenters to fix plasterboard noggins and box in vent pipes ➳ Plumber and carpenter to liaise with building of any necessary stands in roof ➳ Carpenter to fix loft trap

First Fix ➳ Plumbers to lay flooring membrane and insulation, taping all joints and sealing up to the damp-proof course ➳ Underfloor heating (UFH) loops to be laid and fixed ➳ All first fix plumbing for hot and cold and waste within floor zones to be laid ➳ Internal gas pipework installed ➳ UFH pipework to be brought to manifolds and outlet positions ➳ Supply and fix company to pump in and lay level floor screed and leave for three days ➳ Protective hardboard/ cardboard to be laid on screed ➳ Electrician to fix carcass wiring for lighting and power circuits together with all backplates ➳ Consumer unit/units to be positioned ➳ Wiring taken to external lighting points ➳ TV aerial/satellite cables to be installed to required positions ➳ Internal telephone wiring to be installed to required positions ➳ Home entertainment/ smart systems/alarms to be carcassed

Drainage & External ➳ Groundworkers to begin digging the trenches for drainage runs ➳ Trenches backfilled to 150mm with pea shingle ➳ Drains laid to required falls ➳ Brick/concrete section manholes constructed, or purpose-made manholes, rodding eyes and gullies set in runs ➳ Building inspector to approve laid drains ➳ Drains haunched over with pea shingle ➳ Drainage trenches backfilled ➳ Work to connect to main sewer in road to be carried out by approved contractors ➳ Carpenter to finish boxings and noggings ready for plasterer ➳ Groundworkers to commence driveways and pathways ➳ Bricklayer to build any fireplaces and hearths ➳ Gas meter to be installed and connected ➳ Plumbers and electricians to liaise on all cross bonding and earthing

Ceilings/drylining ➳ Main staircase to be fitted by the carpenter and protectively covered ➳ Dryliners/plasterers tack ceilings ➳ All external and blockwork walls lined with plasterboard on dots and dabs ➳ All studwork walls and pipe boxings tacked with plasterboard ➳ All joints and angles filled and scrim taped ➳ All abutments of differential materials jointed with mesh ➳ All joinery to be sealed internally and externally with mastic ➳ Dryliners/plasterers to skim coat all walls and ceilings ➳ Decorator to paint/ treat backs of all skirting and architraves

➳ All roofing insulation to be installed

Second Fix Carpentry ➳ Carpenters hang internal doors ➳ Skirting and architrave to be fitted by carpenters ➳ Bottom tread of staircase to be fitted, balustrading and handrails to be fitted, as well as linen cupboard shelving ➳ Fit of loft door and ladder ➳ Timber floors to be laid by carpenters or specialists and protected ➳ Ceramic floor tiles to be laid by specialist tilers and protected ➳ Carpenters/specialist suppliers to fit/ build built-in bedroom and bathroom furniture ➳ Kitchen units to be fitted

Second Fix ➳ All wiring connected to consumer unit ➳ Boiler to be positioned, plumbed and then wired in ➳ Sink units to be plumbed in, earthed and cross bonded ➳ All sanitaryware to be fitted and plumbed in ➳ Radiators and towel rails to be fitted and plumbed in ➳ Underfloor heating loops to be connected to manifolds ➳ Electrician to check cross bonding and earthing to all sanitaryware, sinks, radiators, etc. ➳ Boiler to be wired in; control systems and room thermostats to be wired in ➳ Plumber and electrician to attend firing up and commissioning of boiler ➳ All pipework and connections to be flushed through and pressure tested ➳ Central heating to be left on ‘test’

Decorating ➳ Worktops, made from the previously taken templates, to be fitted ➳ House to be thoroughly cleaned with all debris and dust removed to outside ➳ Decorators to snag any holes, blemishes or rough patches on walls, making good ➳ Internal timber to be sanded smooth or rubbed down with wire wool ➳ Decorators to paint all walls and ceilings, mist plus two coats of emulsion ➳ Internal timber to be knotted, painted, primed, undercoated and top coat glazed, or internal timber to be two-coat stained ➳ Specialist tilers to fix ceramic wall tiles to kitchen and utility ➳ Baths to be filled, in order to settle, before tilers fix any wall/ splashback tiles ➳ Water meter to be installed

Landscaping ➳ Groundworkers or landscape gardeners to level the ground and prepare ➳ Topsoil from storage to be placed where required, with extra shipped if necessary ➳ Site hut to be removed or re-sited if intended for use as a garden shed ➳ Secure site storage to be sold off or returned to hirers ➳ Groundworkers to complete driveway surface ➳ Patio slabs to be laid ➳ Bricklayers to build any required dwarf/ decorative walling ➳ Lawned areas to be levelled ready for seeding or turfed ➳ Approved contractors to complete any bellmouth and kerbing to road

Completion ➳ Whole house to be thoroughly cleaned out ➳ All windows polished and all labels removed from glass and appliances ➳ All polystyrene packing to be removed from cookers ➳ All stabilising bolts to be removed from washing machines/driers ➳ Site toilet and any remaining plant on hire to be off-hired ➳ Readings to be taken on all meters ➳ Central heating switched to ‘run’ ➳ Telephone company to connect ➳ Contractors to install TV aerials and/or satellite dishes ➳ All trades return to work through items on the snagging list ➳ Carpets to be laid ➳ Local authority to be advised of completion to arrange for council tax valuation ➳ Energy Performance Certificate to be prepared and sent to building control ➳ Building control final inspection and issuing of Completion Certificate ➳ Warranty inspector’s final inspection and issuing of warranty ➳ Arrange protective covering for floor surfaces prior to delivery of furniture ➳ Switch self-build site insurance policy to homeowners’ policy