Additional Storey Structural Preparation Checklist

Write down in plain words what you are proposing — a new storey on top, a raised roof, or accommodation within a changed roof shape — and which of those you mean.

These describe genuinely different projects with different structural consequences, and owners frequently use the words interchangeably.

Write down what the new level would contain, including anything heavy that would stay in one place such as a bath, a large tank or fixed storage.

Permanent loads on a new floor are part of what an engineer has to account for, and owners rarely mention them unprompted.

Note whether the existing roof would be removed entirely, raised, or kept in some form, and record which of those you are assuming.

The fate of the existing roof determines much of the sequence and the exposure of the building, and it is worth stating before design begins.

Write down what you would not accept in the finished building, such as visible support in a room below or a changed window arrangement.

Constraints stated early let an engineer respond to something concrete, and they are much harder to introduce once a scheme exists.

Note why building upward is being considered rather than extending at ground level, because that reasoning shapes what alternatives are worth discussing.

Sometimes the reason is the plot, sometimes it is the view or the garden, and the answer changes what a designer will put forward.

Look into the roof space from the hatch without climbing about, and photograph what you can see of the timbers, the boarding and the underside of the covering.

A set of photographs from the hatch answers a surprising number of first questions and saves a visit being spent on access arrangements.

Do not move about in a roof space, stand on ceiling joists or move stored items to see further; leave that to people equipped for it.

Record whether the roof space has been converted, part boarded, insulated or altered, and note when that happened and who did it if you know.

Earlier work in a roof changes what is visible and sometimes what the roof is doing, and it is frequently undocumented.

Note anything sitting in the roof space that stays in one place — a water tank, a cylinder, boarding with stored belongings — and where each sits.

Loads in a roof are easy to forget about and are usually sitting exactly where they are least convenient for a new structure.

Record whether any chimney, flue or stack passes through the roof space or above the roof, and photograph each from inside and from the ground.

A stack passing through the area where new structure would go is one of the earliest constraints on what is possible.

Note what the roof is covered with, when it was last recovered if you know, and whether any paperwork or guarantee exists for that work.

A recently renewed covering changes how a scheme feels to an owner, and any paperwork attached to it is worth finding early.

Photograph the gutters, downpipes and where rainwater from the roof reaches the ground, noting anything about the arrangement that is unusual.

Raising a building changes where water comes from and where it arrives, and the existing arrangement is the starting point for that conversation.

Sketch each storey as a separate plan and mark the walls on each, so the plans can be laid over one another and compared.

Separate plans are what make it possible to see whether walls line up, and a single combined sketch hides exactly the information wanted.

Compare the plans and note which walls appear to sit above one another, measuring from a common feature such as a window or chimney on each floor.

Rooms line up less neatly than people assume, and an apparent alignment can be offset enough to change the conversation entirely.

Walls appearing to stack establishes nothing about whether load can pass between them; that is a determination for a qualified structural engineer.

Note what each wall appears to be built of where you can see through an existing opening, recording it as an observation at that point only.

What is visible at a doorway is not evidence about the rest of a wall, and saying so in the note keeps the record honest.

Record every opening that appears to have been formed or filled since the building was built, including boxed-in beams and unexplained bulkheads.

Earlier alterations change how load already travels through a building, and they are the first thing an engineer looks for.

Note where beams are already present, including anything you were told about at purchase, and find any paperwork relating to them.

Existing structural work sometimes comes with drawings and calculations, which are the most useful documents an owner can produce.

Note any wall that stops short of the far wall, appears to have been shortened, or does not continue through to the outside of the building.

Walls that do not run the full width behave differently from what the room suggests, and those junctions are worth pointing out.

Note which way the floorboards run in each room and whether the floor is boarded, a solid surface or something else, recording each as an observation.

Board direction is one of several things an engineer weighs up, and it is far easier for you to look now than during a short visit.

Note anywhere the floor moves noticeably underfoot, describing where it happens and what you were doing, without drawing any conclusion from it.

How a floor feels is an owner observation with genuine value, and it is information no drawing contains.

Record any floor that has been replaced, strengthened, levelled or altered, including anything done for a bathroom or a kitchen, with dates where known.

Floors are altered more often than owners remember, particularly during bathroom work, and those alterations are rarely documented.

Note where pipes and cables appear to run through or beneath floors, particularly anything you know was installed after the building was built.

Service routes through floors constrain what can be done to them, and the household usually knows about work that no paperwork records.

Photograph and date the ceilings on the floor below, noting any existing crack, stain, sag or unevenness before any work is contemplated.

Ceilings below new work are where consequences show, and a dated before record is the only way to distinguish new marks from old ones.

Search the property papers for anything describing the foundations, and if nothing does, write that absence down as an explicit entry.

A stated absence is a fact your professionals need, and it is more useful than a file that simply never mentions the subject.

Note whether any ground investigation, trial hole or foundation inspection has ever been carried out here, and find whatever record survives.

Earlier investigation can sometimes narrow what is needed now, but only if its existence is known to the person scoping the work.

Where the building has been extended, note that the foundations beneath each part may differ, and record what is known about each separately.

A building of mixed ages is likely to have foundations of mixed kinds, and treating it as one structure is where assumptions start.

Write down what you or others have assumed about the foundations, and label each statement clearly as an assumption rather than as information.

Assumptions about foundations harden into accepted fact faster than almost anything else in a project, and labelling them is the only protection.

Note what neighbouring properties have had done, recording it as background rather than as any indication of what the ground here allows.

Houses in a row were often built in phases on ground that varies across a short distance, so a neighbour's project may have no bearing here.

What was possible on a neighbouring building establishes nothing about this one; ground and construction vary over very short distances.

Ask what would have to be opened up or investigated before a firm view is possible, and write the answer down as a list of separate items.

A list of specific investigations is something you can plan and sequence, whereas a general warning that more may be needed is not.

Ask who arranges each investigation, who carries it out, and whether it forms part of the appointment you are already making.

Owners regularly discover late that investigation was never inside anybody's scope, which stalls the project at its least convenient point.

Decide and record whether the household can remain in the building while investigation happens, and which rooms could be out of use.

Opening up floors and ceilings in an occupied house is a household decision, and it is easier made before a date is proposed.

Ask what happens to each opening after it has been looked at, who closes it and to what standard of finish it is returned.

Investigation openings are routinely left for the main works, which can be a long time in a house somebody is living in.

Ask whether investigation can be phased so that the most fundamental question is answered before further work is commissioned.

Sequencing the questions means the answer that could stop the project arrives before more has been committed to it.

Record that you will not open up, cut into or expose any part of the structure yourself, and make sure everyone in the household knows that.

Curiosity about what is above a ceiling is understandable and is exactly where avoidable danger and damage start.

Investigative opening up belongs with suitably qualified people who can support what sits above; never carry it out yourself.

Note whether the property is attached to another and where any shared wall sits in relation to the work being considered.

Whether new load would arrive on or near a shared structure changes who has to be involved and when.

Whether work of this kind involves a neighbouring owner is not a matter to settle between households; confirm locally what procedure applies.

If the property is leasehold or part of a converted building, find the lease and note what it says about the roof, the airspace and alterations.

Ownership of the roof and the space above it is frequently not what an occupier assumes, and it can end a scheme before it starts.

Note any service that rises through the building to the roof, including anything that appears to serve another dwelling.

Shared services running upward are common in converted buildings and can turn a straightforward scheme into a wider discussion.

Note how scaffolding and materials could reach the roof, including whether that involves land you do not own or a shared access.

Access for work at roof level is a real constraint on what is practical, and it usually involves at least one other party.

Decide and record whether the household expects to remain in the building during the work, and what would happen if that turned out not to be possible.

Building upward opens the top of a house, and the household's position on staying is one of the assumptions most worth testing early.

Write down a question for your buildings insurer and your lender about whether they expect to be told about work of this kind.

Each sets its own expectations, and a short question now avoids a difficult conversation once a scheme is under way.

Nothing here states what an insurer or a lender will decide; those questions belong with them directly.