Legal
Terms of business
This page summarises how we work. The binding terms for your project are in the engagement letter we send you before starting, which you must accept in writing.
Last updated: 3 August 2026
Who you are contracting with
AR Project Group Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, number 17213327, based in Northampton. Our registered office address is on the public record at Companies House.
Before we start
We agree a fixed fee in writing before any work begins, and we set out exactly what is included. We do not start work until you have accepted those terms in writing.
What is included
Whatever the engagement letter says, and nothing beyond it. Typically: measured survey, a model of the existing building, existing and proposed drawings, and — where you have asked for it — the application itself and correspondence with the council.
What is not included
These are not part of our fee unless the engagement letter says otherwise, and most projects need at least one of them:
- Statutory fees. Planning application fees, lawful development certificate fees and building control charges are paid by you, direct to the authority.
- Structural engineering. Beam and foundation calculations are carried out by a structural engineer. We will tell you when you need one.
- Party wall matters. If your project engages the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, you will need a party wall surveyor.
- Specialist reports. Ecology, arboriculture, drainage, heritage, flood risk, contaminated land. Councils ask for these on some sites and not others; we will tell you as soon as we know.
- Energy calculations and EPCs.
- Site inspection during construction, or contract administration.
What we can and cannot promise
We can tell you what the legislation says, how your local authority has decided similar cases, and how strong we think your position is. We cannot promise that permission will be granted, or that a certificate will be issued. Those decisions belong to the local planning authority. Anyone who promises you an outcome is either guessing or selling.
Free written enquiry replies
The written reply you get from the enquiry form is free, and it is a preliminary view based only on what you have sent us. It is not confirmation that your project is permitted development and it is not a substitute for a lawful development certificate. Whether a scheme qualifies turns on measured dimensions and the property’s planning history, and neither can be settled from photographs.
Drawings and copyright
We own the copyright in the drawings and models we produce. Once you have paid in full, you get a licence to use them for the project they were prepared for — including submitting them to the council and giving them to your builder. That licence does not extend to a different property, a different project, or resale.
If your project changes
The fee does not move unless the brief moves. If something turns up mid-project that changes the scope — a planning history nobody knew about, a structural problem the survey uncovers — we tell you what it means for the fee before doing the work, not afterwards.
Payment
As set out in your engagement letter. Invoices are payable within 14 days.
Your right to cancel
If you are a consumer and we agreed the contract without meeting in person, or agreed it during a visit to your home, you have 14 days to cancel without giving a reason and without cost. Your engagement letter will tell you clearly whether that right applies to your contract, and will include a cancellation form.
If you ask us in writing to start work during those 14 days and then cancel, you pay for the work done up to the point you tell us — proportionate to the full fee. If you do not ask us to start early, we will not start until the 14 days have passed.
Insurance
We hold professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance. Details of cover are available on request.
Complaints
We have a complaints procedure and we would rather hear from you than not. Read it here.
Liability
Our liability for any claim arising out of a project is limited to the level of our professional indemnity cover in force at the time. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
Law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.
Your project
Tell us what you want to build.
Send photographs, the address and a description. You get a written view of what looks likely, which route applies, and what would need checking properly before you spend anything.