Ravi, a long-standing architect client, came back to us for another residential project – this time a house on Boldmere Road in Pinner. As with previous jobs, he needed:
- Accurate existing floor plans and elevations
- Clean, editable CAD files plus PDFs
- A survey and drawing turnaround that fit neatly around his client’s availability
He also flagged early on that:
- The house “isn’t that big”,
- His client had a tight budget, and
- Access could only be arranged on Fridays.
So the brief here was classic Ravi: keep the quality high, keep the scope focused, and make Friday work.
Agreeing scope, fee and Friday-only access
Ravi first asked us to “create existing plans elevations as per usual” for 83 Boldmere Road. Based on his standard requirements, we prepared an initial quotation that:
- Included plans, elevations and coverage of the garage and larger garden area
- Reflected the time needed for a full measured survey and clean existing drawings
Ravi’s feedback came in two key steps:
- He clarified he didn’t need the garage surveyed, and asked us to review the price.
- He was clear that £600 was the level at which the project would be viable from his side.
We responded by:
- Trimming the scope to exclude the garage
- Updating the quotation to reflect the reduced workload
- Keeping enough time in the fee to maintain our normal standards (e.g. proper cross-checks and a well-structured CAD file)
Once Ravi confirmed he wanted to go ahead, he explained that his client could only provide access on Fridays. We:
- Offered Friday 14th November, with a 3:00–3:30 pm arrival window
- Issued the initial invoice and made clear that this would secure the slot
- Received payment and immediately confirmed the surveyor’s details and timing
With that, the job was locked in and the Trello card moved to Confirmed.
How we carried out the survey
On the agreed Friday afternoon, our surveyor Ali Uddin attended site. Because we work with Ravi regularly, there was a clear shared understanding of what “as per usual” meant in terms of detail level.
On site, Ali:
- Walked the exterior first
- Quickly assessed the overall footprint and garden proportions, as the garden had been described as “slightly large”
- Used a laser disto and tape to collect key external dimensions – front and rear wall lengths, offsets, projections and relationship to boundaries
- Captured photo references from front, rear and the sides to support elevation modelling later
- Captured internal geometry
- Worked room-by-room to measure:
- Internal wall lengths
- Door and window positions and sizes
- Ceiling heights and any changes in levels
- Picked up stair geometry and floor/ceiling build-ups, so Ravi would later have reliable information for sections and structural thinking
- Worked room-by-room to measure:
- Checked consistency before leaving
- Cross-checked critical internal dimensions against external wall lengths
- Verified that we had enough information to model front and rear elevations accurately
- Took a final set of check photos to cover any awkward corners or junctions
By the time Ali left, we had a full set of measurements and images ready for drafting.
Turning the survey into plans and elevations
Back at the office, our CAD technician Zoha led the drafting for 83 Boldmere Road.
Using the survey notes and photo set, she created a draft drawings pack that included:
- Existing floor plans to the level Ravi normally expects for planning and design:
- Room layouts
- Wall thicknesses
- Openings, stairs and key level information
- Existing elevations, co-ordinated to match the plans and photos
- A clean file structure in CAD (DWG) with logical layering, ready for Ravi’s own annotations and design work
We exported:
- A PDF draft set for quick review
- Kept the DWG file ready to release upon final payment
Once happy with internal checks, Zoha issued the draft pack and final invoice to Ravi.
Managing expectations and release of final files
The communication on this project was simple but time-sensitive:
- Ravi asked for an update on two live projects (Boldmere Road and another address).
- We responded with clear expected completion windows, confirming that Boldmere would be ready first, and then the second project the following week.
- As soon as Boldmere’s draft was ready, we moved the card to Approval / Finalisation / Pending and sent:
- The draft PDFs
- The final invoice
Ravi quickly requested the final invoice to be resent so he could settle the balance. Once payment came in, he immediately followed up asking:
“Hi I have made the payment please can you send me the files… As I want to start working on them now.”
We then:
- Confirmed receipt via our standard email:
- Acknowledging payment
- Sending the payment receipt
- Issuing all final drawings and related files (DWG, PDFs and photographs)
- Moved the card to Completed in Trello to close out the project internally.
Final outcome
For Boldmere Road in Pinner, we delivered exactly what Ravi and his homeowner clients needed:
- A lean, focused scope (plans + elevations, no unnecessary garage survey) to suit their budget
- A Friday-only survey arrangement, respecting the client’s access constraints
- A full, accurate set of existing drawings in both DWG and PDF, plus supporting site photos
- A turnaround of around 10–12 days from survey to final issue, even with price negotiation and scheduling constraints
Ravi could start design work immediately after receiving the files, confident that the measured base was accurate and CAD-ready—another example of how we aim to be the quiet, reliable engine behind our repeat architect clients’ projects.
Project Details
| Service Type | Measured survey & existing drawings (plans, elevations, CAD + PDFs) |
| Time Taken | Around 10–12 days |
| Budget | £550–£650 |
| Location | Pinner, north-west London |
