detached house

Planning modern family homes

The planning and appropriate construction of a quality family home is a complex task requiring carefully selected specialists and a team that works together effectively, and, above all, it requires a high level of quality.

A modern family home is not primarily recognisable by its external appearance, but instead by

• being precisely designed and constructed using good quality materials and technologies,
• being energy-efficient, in other words its overhead costs are low and, at the same time, it provides those living in it with a healthy climate and space to live in,
• having an aesthetic external appearance and interior spaces reflecting quality, wisdom of design and precision.

All this shows that the planning of a modern family home is a serious task, lots of work, and a process involving a great deal of thought.

The energy-conscious family home

In accordance with the expectations and requirements of this age, our aim is to design energy-conscious. Energy-conscious planning is a comprehensive engineering task, which can have an impact on every element of the building:

• appropriate orientation,
• good mass arrangement,
• suitable material selection,
• carefully designed details and building engineering,
• the use of renewable energy sources.
• These all contribute to success.

A+ energy efficiency rated houses and passive houses are especially energy-efficient. Their planning is carried out by our certified passive house planning team.

During our activity, we plan newly constructed family homes and undertake the energy-conscious refurbishment and extension of existing buildings.

Comprehensive planning, guaranteed quality

It is both in the client’s and our interest for our carefully drawn up plans to result in the quality buildings that were conceived on the plan sheets. With a view to this, we follow all the phases of the planning and construction of the house, starting from the selection of a suitable plot to the handing over of the keys:

• we are able to undertake the planning of the house as a general planner and ensure suitable collaboration between the structural engineer, the electrical and building engineering specialists and the landscape designer,
• we perform the selection of the appropriate building contractor,
• we select the appropriate technical inspector who guarantees your interests and quality.
• Only with this comprehensive service are we able to ensure a high level of quality.

The step-by-step process of family home planning

During the planning process, we determine the scheduling of the project and, along with this, the individual phases and deadlines of the planning process. These phases are as follows:

Plot selection

Specification of the planning programme

Concept Plan

Building Permit Plan

Tender plan

Working plan

Architectural supervision

Construction

Plot selection

Optimally, the planning of a family home starts with the selection of the plot. Our services include consultation before purchasing a plot, during which we assist you in selecting a construction plot that fits in best with your ideas.

Planning programme

After precisely determining your requirements and ideas, we set up a planning programme, which is an important basis of our collaboration.
The planning programme establishes:

• the habits and customs of the life of the family,
• the required spatial relations,
• the planned number of rooms,
• the types of the rooms and how they are to be used,
• the approximate sizes of the rooms,
• as well as ideas on style regarding the entire house.

Concept Plan

At the beginning of the planning process, after the planning programme has been drawn up, we create a Concept Plan According to the planning contract, we draw up 2-3 markedly different outlines or concepts, from which you can easily select the one you find the most suitable.

First of all, development outline plans are drawn up for the plot, which take into consideration the orientation and the environmental features as well as the development indicators and the requirements of the authorities.

The purpose of the outline plan is to establish:

• the positioning of the building within the plot,
• the spatial relations,
• the ground plan arrangement,
• and the mass form.

In general, the outline plan includes the following:

• general plan in 1:500 scale,
• ground plans in 1:200 scale,
• cross-sections in 1:200 scale,
• mass outlines drawn in freehand, or with a simplified 3D model,
• sketches and freehand outlines
• short specification

Building Permit Plan

Authority administration

In possession of the Concept Plan and the concrete ideas, our planner checks the plans with the competent construction authorities and the specialist authorities, and maintains continuous communication and collaborates with the competent authorities during the planning process.

Design contract

A basic condition of starting the planning process is the signing of a design contract which sets down, among other things, the deadlines, the data provision obligations, the designer’s fee, i.e. the rights and obligations of both parties.

Geotechnikai Drawing up a geotechnical expert opinion

Not a compulsory element of the Building Permit Plan, however, it is worth performing a soil mechanics survey before the planning is started. This helps us determine the load-bearing capacity of the soil, the type of foundation to be selected and the height of groundwater.

Content of the Building Permit Plan

The precise content of the construction permit plan is specified in Decree No. 37/2007 (XII. 13.) of the Ministry of Local Governments and Regional Development.

The plan documentation is handed over to you as a paper-based document; however, it must be submitted to the authorities electronically via the so-called ÉTDR system.

Of course, we are able to carry out this technical task for you.

In case of a family house, the content is as follows:

Specifications

• architectural specification
• structural specification, with calculations
• building engineering specification
• energy calculations
• building electrics specification
• landscaping, environment adjustment description
• description of public utilities within the plot

Specialist authority consultations documented with memoranda and reports
Service provider and authority preliminary permits

• public utility declarations
• chimneys authority declaration

Plans

• general plan in 1:500 scale
• ground plans in 1:100 scale
• the required number of cross-sections in 1:100 scale
• all façades in 1:100 scale
• colour plans in 1:100 scale
• visualisation plans, computer models, 3D visualisation

statistics data sheet

official general plan that must be obtained from the competent Land Registry

Tender plan

In the case of a detached house, the tender plan serves the purpose of you being able to select the best construction contractor, while in possession of the Building Permit Plans.

This plan is more detailed than the construction permit plan, but not as elaborated as the construction plan. An important new element as compared to the previous planning phase is thebill of quantities, which contains precise names of items, amounts and numbers in connection with all the materials, work processes and technologies to be built into the house:

bill of quantities,

• architectural costs,
• statics, supporting structure costs,
• building engineering costs,
• building electrics costs,
• landscaping costs.

The following contents are drawn up on the basis of the construction permit plan, elaborated in more detail:

Specifications

• architectural specification
• structural specification with calculations
• building engineering specification
• energy calculations
• building electrics specification
• landscaping, environment adjustment description
• description of public utilities within the plot

Plans

• general plan in 1:500 scale
• ground plans in 1:100 scale
• the required number of cross-sections in 1:100 scale
• all façades in 1:100 scale
• colour plans in 1:100 scale
• visualisation plans, computer models, 3D visualisation

Construction Plan

Is there need for a Construction Plan?

Perhaps you are right in questioning whether a Construction Plan is really necessary for the construction of a family house.

Government Decree No. 191/2009 (IX.15.) deals with this in detail. In this item of legislation you can read that if the house remains under 300 m2 and three storeys, etc., i.e. under a prescribed size, then, strictly speaking, a construction plan is not necessary.

But the question remains if it is possible to build a good quality house with good solutions for all its junction points without detailed drawings, insulation plans, a detailed foundation and reinforcing plan, etc.

If you do not have a Construction Plan, then the electrician and the plumber will decide by themselves where to put the cables and pipes because they do not have a plan in their hands to follow. And you do not have a plan either that you can refer to or complain about if any problems occur.

A precise recipe

The construction plan is nothing other than a precise recipe for the construction of the building. It states the specific solutions and materials, along with the technological instructions for the establishment of the structural details.

The content of the Construction Plan

architectural work

• floor plans of the levels 1:50
• cross-sections, in the required number 1:50
• partial cross-sections, in the required number 1:50
• plan view of roof 1:50
• façades 1:50
• stairway plans 1:20
• detail plans, junction point plans 1:5, 1:10
• carpentry plans (internal and external doors and windows, built in structures) 1:50
• metalwork plans (internal and external doors and windows, built-in structures, handrails, grills, shading) 1:50

statics work with precise calculations

• foundation plans 1:50
• plans of prefabricated structures – depending on structure 1:50
• plans for monolithic concrete structures with reinforcing plan, depending on structure 1:50
• stairway plans 1:50
• structural detail plans 1:10, 1:5
• bill of quantities for reinforcing, etc., depending on structure

building engineering work

• heating system plans 1:50
• water and sewerage system plans 1:50
• gas system plans 1:5
• ventilation system plans 1:50
• cooling system plans 1:50

building electrics work

• internal lighting, power connector and switching system plans 1:50
• low current system plans (telephone, alarm system, IT network system, entry phone) 1:50
• earth and lightning protection 1:100

garden plan, environment adjustment, external work

• planting plan 1:50
• plans for surfaces and supporting walls 1:50

drive, road connection plan 1:50

bill of quantities

• extending to all branches of the planning, to all materials built in and work processes

Architectural supervision

Our planning services may also include regular architectural supervision performed as the representative of the Developer, in the scope of which the architect collaborates with the technical supervisor to check the implementation of the architectural plans as experts, consults with the Construction Contractor about the current construction processes, and ensures the quality and professional standards expected by the Client during the construction process.