How to Choose a Loft Conversion Company in Nottingham

Find loft conversion companies with local experience

Checkatrade’s advice on hiring a loft conversion company is to check reviews, ask friends, family and neighbours, and ask other tradespeople which companies they recommend.

Put local experience first as well, Checkatrade says, meaning a company that knows local planning, building regulations and suppliers. Among the Nottingham loft conversion companies compared on memberships and guarantees, Lady Bay Loft Conversions takes care of planning permissions and building control certificates, and XL Lofts in Heanor has an in-house specialist architect.

Check FMB, TrustMark and other memberships

Ask whether the company, or its lead tradespeople, belong to a recognised trade body such as the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), Checkatrade advises, since membership schemes often include their own inspection standards and, in some cases, an insurance-backed guarantee.

A company that names a scheme on its website should appear on that scheme’s own register, so look it up before you meet.

Scheme	Where to look a company up	What the register shows
Federation of Master Builders	The Find a builder search, by company name	How long a member has belonged to the FMB
The Guild of Master Craftsmen	The members directory on findacraftsman.com, by name	Whether the company is a member
Which? Trusted Traders	The list of endorsed traders, by trade and town	Traders endorsed by Which?
TrustMark	The find a tradesperson search	Registered businesses, while the page for an unregistered business says “Business not found”

Roof Rooms in Ilkeston, for example, has been an FMB member since 2014 and is a corporate member of the Guild of Master Craftsmen.

Meet two or three companies and follow up references

Shortlist two or three companies and meet each one in person, Checkatrade advises, then speak to their previous customers and follow up the references. The good companies are usually busy, Checkatrade says, so be prepared to wait.

Compare the guarantees as well, since they differ in length. Roof Rooms gives a 10-year guarantee covering the structural work and all associated works, and M.R Conversions in Jacksdale backs all its work with a 5-year guarantee as standard.

Questions to ask a loft conversion company

Ask every company the same questions at the meeting and write the answers down, so you can set them side by side later.

• Do you, or your lead tradespeople, belong to a trade body such as the FMB?
• Does that scheme come with an insurance-backed guarantee?
• Can I speak to some of your previous customers?
• Who draws the plans, and who deals with planning permission and building control?
• Which parts of the work do you subcontract?
• What guarantee do you give, and what does it cover?
• When could you start?

Compare itemised loft conversion quotes like for like

Get quotes from several companies, itemised so you can compare them like for like, Checkatrade advises. For each quote, check whether architect plans are needed and included, whether the fixtures and fittings are in the price, and which trades it covers, such as the plasterer, electrician, bathroom fitter, painter and decorator, and carpenter.

Check whether the building regulations costs are included too, because building regulations approval is required to convert a loft into a liveable space, the Planning Portal says. Give every company the same description of the job, so each quote prices the same conversion.

Ask which of the hidden costs of a loft conversion each quote covers. On Checkatrade’s figures they include architect drawings at £1,000 to £2,000, structural engineer calculations, planning permission fees, party wall agreements and a bat survey at £400 to £750 if one is required, and together they can add 10 to 15%.

Many homeowners plan a contingency of 10 to 15% on top of the quote, Checkatrade says, and older roofs can reveal extra strengthening work once they are opened up.

Agree a written quote, not an estimate

A quote is a promise to do the work at an agreed price, while an estimate is only the trader’s best guess, Citizens Advice explains. A company cannot charge more than a quote without a good reason, such as extra work you agreed to pay for or an obvious mistake, and a rise in its own costs does not count.

Once you give a company the go-ahead, you have a contract, even if nothing is written down, and anything you took into account before agreeing is part of it, Citizens Advice says. If the company subcontracts some of the work, you still take any problem up with the company that arranged it.

If the conversion has to be finished by a certain date, say so and put the date in the quote. Unless you made that clear, a company that runs late has to be given a second chance to finish, Citizens Advice says.