Guides

Guides for planning your extension

Plain answers on surveys, drawings, planning and building warrants for homeowners in Glasgow, Edinburgh and central Scotland.

Cutaway 3D scan of a building, showing the inside rooms and the outside walls in one model.

Building warrants and planning

Altering a tenement flat in Glasgow: what to know before you start

Knocking through in a Glasgow tenement? You'll likely need a building warrant, your neighbours have a stake, and the walls are never where the old plans say.

2 November 2026 · 5 min read

Front elevation drawing produced from a 3D scan, with heights shown above datum.

Building warrants and planning

Planning permission vs building warrant in Scotland

Planning decides whether you can build it. The building warrant decides how it's built. Most Scottish extensions need a warrant, and many need both.

28 October 2026 · 5 min read

3D laser and drone scan of a detached house, showing walls, windows, roof and garden.

Surveys explained

Do I need a measured survey for a house extension?

Almost always, yes. Your architect can't design an extension onto a house nobody has measured. Here's what a survey is, when you need one and when you don't.

24 October 2026 · 6 min read