What stage of plans to go out for building quotes

[Lower]

We're in the process of having an plans done for a fairly substantial kitchen extension. I've done plenty of DIY work to a reasonable level over the years but have never had anything built or done any structural work, hence this question.

We have the floor plans and approved them and the architectural technician is working on the elevations for approval before generating the plans to submit of planning.

Will elevations and floor plans contain enough detail for builders to quote or do i need to wait for full plans? I'm keen to start getting the conversations going with builders as soon as possible but don't want to waste anybody's time if there isn't going to be enough detail for them to quote.

 

[wessex101]

The building regulations drawings are usually adequate for obtaining good detailed competitive quotes, the Planning drawings do not usually contain enough details which leaves too much room for ambiguity and later claims for extras.

However, as I just posted in another thread, the good builders can be booked up months in advance so I usually send a copy of the preliminary or planning drawings to put them on notice that a job is in the pipeline and start talking about timing and budgets just to get the ball rolling.

 

[^woody^]

It depends how accurate you want the estimate to be. You won't even have a material or design specification on planning drawings.