For some time, I have been contemplating adding an extension to the back of my house to provide more space for my adult children and later on, for elderly parents.

I have never done anything like this before, and after speaking to a number of possible builders and the Council, I became overwhelmed by the complications, difficulty and expense.  I was ready to give up on the whole thing as being too hard and not worth it.

I decided to give it one last try. Everyone had told me the next step was to get a plan of my site.  I didn't understand why I needed to start there, but since everyone else thought I did, I decided to make a couple of calls as one last ditch effort.  I jumped onto Google and found two or three different possible firms, including East Coast Surveys. That call to East Coast Surveys was the turning point.

First and foremost, they answered the phone!  Which other firms did not do.  And then they listened to me.  Angelina was lovely - we discussed my ideas, she understood my circumstances and told me she thought the project was a good one, and she said it would be easy and straightforward to get the plans done.  After we had chatted for a while, I felt comfortable enough with her to ask her the burning question 'Why do I need this plan?' - and she explained it to me - the first time anyone had actually made sense as to why I needed the survey plan.
(I understand that it creates an independently-verified representation of the current site, that designers, builders and Council can all use confidently, knowing that it is accurate and up-to-date.)

They quoted a very reasonable price, and I decided to go ahead with it. The plans have been done. I am now working with a designer, whose very first comment was how excellent it was that I had the plans and how good the plans were.  She has been very comfortable about going back to Mark at East Coast Surveys to ask a question or two about technical aspects of the survey plan, and this gives me confidence that as we settle the designs, the designs will be based on completely accurate and well-understood parameters.

I heartily recommend East Coast Surveys to anyone thinking about a project like mine.  I feel I can do this now, and it's all due to them, and their excellent, professional and supportive service.