Builders and project management in Dorset

Across Dorset it is mostly period and listed renovation, thatched and stone cottage work, and contemporary new builds, all of it fully project managed on a fee agreed before anything starts. Most of Dorset sits inside a National Landscape, formerly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which means design, materials, roof form and even external lighting get looked at far more closely than they would elsewhere, and a scheme that ignores that gets refused rather than negotiated. Every project begins with a look at the building and the site rather than a price guessed over the phone.

Yes. Much of Dorset sits inside a National Landscape, so the planning conversation starts earlier there than almost anywhere else we work. Ring and we will tell you what we usually find in buildings around Cranborne Chase and what yours is likely to need before anything is opened up.

It does, and so does the landscape around it. Dorset is thatch, cob, banded flint and stone, and each of those needs a specialist rather than a general builder. Thatch has its own fire and insurance considerations, cob will not tolerate cement and dislikes being left uncovered, and flint work is as much about the lime as the flint. On top of the fabric, the National Landscape designation means the setting matters: roof form, ridge height and materials are judged against how the building sits in the view, not only against the building next door.

Most of Dorset sits inside a National Landscape, formerly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which means design, materials, roof form and even external lighting get looked at far more closely than they would elsewhere, and a scheme that ignores that gets refused rather than negotiated. Whether your particular building needs consent depends on what it is, whether it is listed, and whether it sits in a conservation area or a National Landscape, and all three get checked at the first visit rather than assumed. Where consent is needed, the application, the heritage justification and the conservation officer conversation are handled as part of the job.

No. Dorset is inside the area we cover, so travel is in the fixed fee rather than added to it. The fee is agreed at the outset and does not climb with the value of the build, which is the whole point of doing it that way.

Getting out to look at a building in Dorset and talk it through is usually a matter of days. Starting on site is a different question, because a project of any size needs design, consent and trades booked in the right order, and that is measured in months rather than weeks. We would far rather give you a real date than a hopeful one, so ring and we will tell you honestly where the next slot is.

A network of masons, carpenters, framers, lime plasterers, roofers, leadworkers, electricians and plumbers built up across the South West over more than thirty five years, engaged directly at trade prices rather than bought through a main contractor. On heritage work in Dorset that network is most of the value, because the specialists who can do it properly are not people you find at short notice.