Design and build, one team from first sketch to finished home

It is a single contract under which one company designs and constructs your project. You get one price, one team and one point of accountability instead of an architect and a builder working separately. The full explanation is at the top of this page.

A design and build company takes on both the design and the construction of your project under one contract, and answers for both. At Madisons that means we connect you with the right architects and manage them, coordinate planning and building regulations, build under SMSTS qualified site management and finish to show home standard, with one price agreed before construction starts.

Not usually, once the whole journey is counted. The costly moment in the traditional route is when a scheme drawn without prices goes out to tender and comes back far over budget, and has to be redesigned. With design and build the people who will build it price it as it is drawn, so that loop does not happen. It is rarely the cheapest quote on day one, and it is not meant to be: our projects start from £25,000, and it is not always about money, it is about value.

Yes. It is a contract route as well as a way of working: one contract with one company covering both design and construction, so responsibility for the design sits with the builder rather than being split between an architect and a contractor. Larger projects often use a standard form such as the JCT Design and Build Contract. For a home, what matters is that scope, specification, price and programme are written down before construction starts, which is how we work.

Usually yes, for anything beyond the simplest schemes: you will need drawings for planning and building regulations. With design and build you do not need to find one yourself; we connect you with the architects we build with and manage them as part of the project. Craig answers do we need to get an architect? on film.

A turnkey build is a project delivered ready to use: design, approvals, construction and finishes handled by one team, so you turn the key and move in. Our design and build service is turnkey by default, down to sourcing light fittings and soft furnishings.

Yes. Every project is priced individually and you receive one clear, transparent quotation covering the full journey before construction begins. Projects start from £25,000, and our philosophy is simple: it is not always about money, it is about value. Buy cheap and you often buy twice.

Council timescales vary and no builder controls them, so we plan for them: as a guide, the design and approvals stage typically takes 3 to 6 months depending on planning. We coordinate the application and advise honestly on what is likely to be approved before you spend money on drawings. Many single storey extensions need no application at all.

We do. Structural design and building regulations compliance are coordinated by us as part of the project, not left between trades, and the works are delivered under SMSTS qualified site management. You are handed the completion paperwork at the end, along with your warranties.

If your project involves work on or near a boundary shared with a neighbour, party wall procedures may apply before work starts. The position depends on your specific scheme and site, so we flag it early in the design stage, tell you honestly what your project is likely to need, and build the process into the programme rather than letting it surprise the start date.

It depends on scope, and we tell you straight at the site visit. A major layout change or whole house scheme is usually faster and cheaper with the house empty; smaller schemes can often run around you. The programme is planned around your answer. Craig covers can we stay in the home?

We connect you with the right architects for your specific project and manage the relationship for you as part of the contract. On residential design and build projects we work with RocHaus Architects. What you avoid is the gap between a designer you found and a builder you found separately.