Your team and the process
What do the stages of the RIBA Plan of Work 2020 mean on a home project?
Short answer
The RIBA Plan of Work 2020 divides a building project into eight stages: 0 Strategic Definition, 1 Preparation and Briefing, 2 Concept Design, 3 Spatial Coordination, 4 Technical Design, 5 Manufacturing and Construction, 6 Handover and 7 Use.
On a house extension or renovation they come down to: deciding whether to build at all, writing the brief and surveying the house, choosing a design, coordinating it and applying for planning permission, preparing the Building Regulations and tender information, building, completing, and living in it. The 2020 edition is the current one. There is no 2025 or 2026 Plan of Work.
Is there a 2025 or 2026 Plan of Work?
No. As of 28 September 2026 the publisher's Plan of Work page presents the 2020 edition, with its overview and template, as the current model. A guide that refers to a "2025 Plan of Work" or "2026 stages" is describing the 2020 stages. The page says the 2020 guidance was based on nearly seven years of feedback from the construction industry.
The stages on a home project
The stage names are the Plan of Work's. The descriptions below are ours, written for a typical house extension or renovation in England.
| Stage | On a home project | Who is involved | What you have at the end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 Strategic Definition | Decide whether building is the answer at all: extend, convert, or move. Check the planning history and constraints of the house | You, possibly a designer for an early view | A decision to go ahead and a first idea of budget |
| 1 Preparation and Briefing | Write the brief: rooms, sizes, quality, budget and timing. Commission a measured survey. Appoint the design team | You, the designer, the surveyor | A brief, a survey, written appointments, an order of cost estimate |
| 2 Concept Design | Develop options, choose one, take pre-application advice if useful | Designer, sometimes the structural engineer for an early view | An agreed concept and a first cost plan |
| 3 Spatial Coordination | Develop the chosen design so the structure, services and spaces fit together. Prepare and submit the planning application | Designer, structural engineer | Planning drawings, an application or lawful development certificate, and a decision |
| 4 Technical Design | Prepare the Building Regulations drawings, specification, structural calculations and schedule of works. Apply for building control approval. Tender and appoint the builder | Designer, engineer, building control, tendering builders, principal designers | Building control approval, a chosen builder and a signed contract |
| 5 Manufacturing and Construction | Build, with building control inspections and the contract administered | Builder, contract administrator, building control | Practical completion |
| 6 Handover | Put right defects, settle the final account, obtain the completion certificate | Builder, contract administrator, building control | A completed, certified building |
| 7 Use | Live in it, maintain it, and record what worked | You | The building in use |
Where the planning application falls
The Plan of Work's planning note says applications are generally submitted at the end of stage 3, once the design is coordinated. Its overview records that applications made at the end of stage 2 have become common enough to need their own guidance, and warns that an early application creates project risks. On a small home project an application at the end of stage 2 can work where the structure and layout are simple and the survey is sound, but the risk of changes after permission is higher. Decision periods are in how long does an extension take.
Where the costs and the legal steps fall
The stages line up with the cost and legal milestones.
- Cost. NRM 1, the RICS cost planning standard, places the order of cost estimate at stages 0 and 1 and formal cost plans at stages 2, 3 and 4. See what a cost plan contains.
- Your duties as client. Under regulation 11K(1) of the Building Regulations 2010, a designer must not start design work unless satisfied that you are aware of your duties as client. That conversation belongs at stage 1.
- Principal designers. Where more than one contractor will work on the project, the principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed in writing. Regulation 5(2) of the CDM Regulations 2015 says as soon as is practicable, and in any event before the construction phase begins; regulation 11D(3)(b) of the Building Regulations 2010 says before the construction phase begins. The CDM principal designer's duties concern the pre-construction phase, so the appointment belongs early in design, not at the end of stage 4.
- Building control. A full plans application must be decided within five weeks, or a longer period agreed in writing (regulation 14A(6)). It belongs in stage 4, before the builder starts.
Stages as a tool, not a rule
The Plan of Work is not law and nothing requires a home project to follow it. Its value is as a shared vocabulary: an appointment that says "stages 1 to 4" tells you where the designer's work stops. What a design appointment should cover at each stage is in design appointment stages.
Sources
- The RIBA Plan of Work 2020 and overview publisher's page
- RICS: NRM 1, 3rd edition, sections 2.2 and 3.4 rics.org
- Building Regulations 2010, regulations 11D, 11K and 14A legislation.gov.uk
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, regulations 5 and 11 legislation.gov.uk