BUILDERS IN BOLLINGTON · SK10
JNR Construction is the design-to-build partner for Bollington’s stone cottages, terraces, and hillside homes. For SK10 homeowners, and architects who need a contractor they can refer without risk — major extensions, whole-house renovation, new builds, and refurbishment under CDM 2015.
20 Years. 400+ Projects. Federation of Master Builders.
Bollington sits north-east of Macclesfield in SK10, a former cotton-mill settlement of stone cottages and terraces built into the slopes below Kerridge Hill, with the Macclesfield Canal along its eastern edge and the Peak District fringe beyond. Its housing runs from mill workers’ terraces and stone cottages in the older streets to converted mill and heritage-adjacent property, larger detached homes on hillside plots, post-war and modern family houses, and rural-edge homes around Kerridge and the surrounding lanes.
None of that stands in the way of exceptional building work in Bollington. It does mean slope, masonry, and conservation character have to be read before the design is fixed. A rear extension stepping down a sloping garden, the whole-house renovation of a stone terrace, a roof or dormer visible from the hillside above — each one turns on foundation and retaining design, breathable fabric detailing, conservation controls, drainage, and getting plant and deliveries up narrow lanes.
JNR Construction engages before drawings are finalised. We establish what Cheshire East planning policy, the neighbourhood plan, Building Control, and your ground conditions allow on the site — then we build it as Principal Contractor under CDM 2015, with a dedicated project manager, foundations and drainage designed from site-specific evidence, and one point of accountability through to Completion Certificate.
Rear, side, and two-storey extensions on Bollington terraces, cottages, and hillside homes — retaining structures, stepped foundations, steelwork, drainage down the slope, and Parts A, C, and L compliance.
Whole-house renovation of older Bollington homes before you move in. Breathable repairs to solid stone and brick walls, damp and ventilation strategy, structural openings, insulation, and drainage renewal.
Architect-led new builds, replacement homes, and outbuilding conversions on hillside plots around Bollington and Kerridge. JNR acts as Principal Contractor under CDM 2015, from ground investigation to handover.
Loft conversions on Bollington terraces, semis, and detached homes — engineered roof structure, dormers and rooflights designed for hillside views, Part B escape routes, Part K stairs, and Part L insulation.
Structural steelwork for Bollington homes — goalpost frames and beams for open-plan kitchens, padstones and bearings into rubble-cored gritstone, engineer’s calculations and building control sign-off.
Conservation area and heritage work across Bollington — lime mortar and stone repointing, repairs to older masonry, slate and stone-slate roof detailing, and consent agreed before fabric is disturbed.
JNR Construction works as Principal Contractor on commercial refurbishment and fit-out across Bollington and the wider SK10 area — the former mill buildings and the village centre — offices and studios in converted mill space, independent retail, pubs and cafés. Every job runs under CDM 2015 with a single point of accountability, and the programme is built around keeping the business trading wherever that is possible.
Bollington’s commercial stock is largely nineteenth-century gritstone on sloping ground, much of it inside one of three conservation areas. Lime-mortar repair, structural assessment of mill floors never designed for office loadings, and level access on a hillside site are the three that shape the job.
Cheshire East records Bollington, Bollington Cross, and Bollington and Kerridge in its conservation area mapping.
Bollington sits within Cheshire East Council, which determines planning applications for the town and operates Building Control, unless a Registered Building Control Approver is appointed. Bollington Town Council is consulted but does not decide applications. For substantial extensions, structural alterations, retaining work, loft conversions, new builds, and commercial refurbishment, Full Plans is the safer route, and a Building Notice is not appropriate where the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies.
The Bollington Neighbourhood Plan was originally made in 2018 and modified in 2025, so it forms part of the development plan alongside the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy and the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document. Bollington is a Local Service Centre with conservation areas, landscape sensitivity, steep sites, and countryside and Green Belt constraints around its edges, so design, scale, and materials are tested against local policy early rather than at validation.
Cheshire East records Bollington, Bollington Cross, and Bollington and Kerridge in its conservation area mapping. The character that status protects is specific: former mills, canal-side structures, stone and brick terraces, industrial heritage, and hillside settlement patterns. Not every older Bollington property is listed, and not every street is designated, so status is checked by address before any assumption about windows, roofs, walls, or materials.
In a conservation area, work that would pass unnoticed elsewhere is judged on how it reads. Stone wall repair and repointing, roof coverings, replacement windows and doors, dormers, rooflights, and boundary treatments all attract scrutiny, and because Bollington is built on slopes, a rear roof or dormer can be visible from footpaths and hillsides above. Article 4 Directions can remove permitted development rights, so they are checked rather than assumed.
Sloping sites are the defining technical issue here. A level extension into a rising garden means retaining structures, stepped or deepened foundations, and a drainage strategy that works with the fall rather than against it. Excavation stability, temporary works, and the effect on neighbouring ground and boundary walls are designed in advance, and Building Control inspection points are planned around them rather than resolved when the trenches are already open.
Older Bollington masonry behaves differently from modern cavity construction. Solid stone and brick walls need breathable detailing, lime mortars rather than hard cement pointing, and a moisture strategy that considers ventilation alongside insulation. Getting this wrong traps water in the wall and shows up later as damp, spalling, and decayed timber, so fabric decisions are made at design stage and not left to whatever is easiest on site.
The River Dean and the wider Bollin catchment run through the area, and surface water on steep ground moves quickly. Lower-lying and watercourse-adjacent sites are checked for flood risk on the address rather than the town, infiltration is tested before any soakaway is relied on, and finished floor levels, thresholds, and external falls are set so water is taken away from the building and not pushed onto a neighbour below.
Ground conditions vary from one plot to the next. Mill and conversion sites can involve made ground, old foundations, culverts, and former industrial uses that bring Part C into play, and hillside plots can have shallow rock, variable bearing, or soft ground. Trial holes are used where there is uncertainty, an asbestos survey precedes any work disturbing pre-2000 fabric, and access for plant, skips, and deliveries on narrow lanes is planned before the programme is fixed.
We do not make assumptions about any of this. Every JNR feasibility in Bollington includes a site-specific check of conservation area and Article 4 status, listed buildings and their setting, neighbourhood plan and Local Plan policy, slope and retaining requirements, flood and surface-water risk, ground conditions, protected trees, public sewer records, access constraints, and the Building Control route.
Four stages. One dedicated project manager. No gaps between design and build on any Bollington project.
We engage before drawings are finalised. Julian Rowlands reviews the project brief, the site constraints, and the structural intent — identifying the risks that appear in construction but originate in design. We provide a realistic cost assessment based on the scope, not a low number designed to win the job. If the project is not viable within your budget, we say so at this stage rather than halfway through a build.
Every project starts with a site visit and a structured pre-construction conversation covering: the structural approach (what steelwork, what groundworks, what temporary works are likely to be required), the regulatory framework (which Approved Documents apply, whether CDM 2015 notifications are required, whether Listed Building Consent or Conservation Area approval is needed), and the programme implications (realistic timescales for both the pre-construction phase and the build itself).
This engagement costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It does give JNR enough information to provide an accurate preliminary cost plan — not a ballpark figure, but a structured document showing where the costs are concentrated and why.
Where an architect is already appointed, we engage directly with their drawing package at this stage, providing a buildability review and raising any technical queries before the design is finalised. This is the most cost-effective point at which to resolve structural ambiguities.
We do not begin construction until every pre-commencement obligation is satisfied. This is not caution for its own sake — it is the only way to protect the programme once the build starts.
Pre-construction work on a typical JNR project covers:
Building Regulations. Full Plans application submitted to the Local Authority Building Control or an Approved Inspector. Structural calculations produced by the appointed structural engineer and incorporated into the submission. We coordinate between the structural engineer, the architect, and the Building Control Officer to resolve any queries before an approval is issued — not after work has started.
Party Wall. Where the proposed works affect a boundary wall or involve excavation near an adjoining owner's property, Party Wall Notices are served under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. We assess which notices are required, prepare the notice documentation, and appoint a surveyor where the adjoining owner requires one. We do not begin works within the Act's scope without the notices being formally in place.
CDM 2015 Construction Phase Plan. On projects where CDM 2015 applies, the Construction Phase Plan is prepared and in place before the construction phase begins. This is a statutory requirement under Regulation 12(1) of CDM 2015, not a discretionary document.
Planning condition discharge. Pre-commencement planning conditions are formally discharged with the Local Planning Authority before groundworks begin. Conditions typically cover materials, drainage, ecology, and construction management — each requiring a formal submission and written approval.
Asbestos. On properties constructed before 2000, we require confirmation of a refurbishment/demolition asbestos survey before any strip-out works commence, per the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
JNR Construction is formally appointed as Principal Contractor under Regulation 5 of CDM 2015 on all qualifying projects. This is not a marketing claim — it is a legal dutyholder appointment, made in writing, before the construction phase begins.
As Principal Contractor, JNR's responsibilities include:
Site management. The site is run to a Construction Phase Plan that sets out the site rules, induction requirements, emergency procedures, and method statements for high-risk activities. Every trade operative on site is inducted. Unauthorised access is prevented. Facilities meeting Schedule 2 of CDM 2015 are in place from day one.
Trade coordination. JNR coordinates all subcontractors and specialist trades — structural steelwork, groundworks, M&E, plastering, joinery, glazing, roofing — to a sequenced programme. Trades are appointed against the specification, not substituted for cheaper alternatives without the client's knowledge.
Variation control. All changes to the agreed scope of works are formally issued in writing by the client or their contract administrator, priced by JNR, agreed in writing, and incorporated into the contract sum before the works proceed. Verbal instruction does not constitute a valid variation.
Progress reporting. Clients receive structured progress updates — what has been completed, what is on programme, what (if anything) is at risk — at agreed intervals throughout the build. You are not left waiting to visit site to find out what is happening.
Quality inspections. Staged quality checks are carried out at key milestones: prior to closing in any structural element, prior to first fix boarding, and prior to second fix. Building Control inspections are co-ordinated and attended by JNR's site manager.
Practical completion is not the end of JNR's accountability — it is the beginning of the documented record of everything that was built and how it was built.
At practical completion, the handover package includes:
Building Regulations Completion Certificate. Issued by the Local Authority Building Control or Approved Inspector confirming that the works have been inspected and comply with the relevant Parts of the Building Regulations.
CDM Health and Safety File. Required under Regulation 12(5) of CDM 2015 on all qualifying projects. The file documents the as-built structure, the materials used, the services installed, and any information that will be needed for future maintenance or alteration. It is handed to the client at completion and must be passed on with the property on any future sale.
Gas Safe and Part P certification. All gas work certified by a Gas Safe registered engineer. All electrical work certified by a Part P registered operative, with the appropriate Building Regulations notification.
O&M manuals. Operating and maintenance documentation for installed systems — heating, ventilation, mechanical plant — so the client understands how the building works and what routine maintenance is required.
Snagging record. A formal snagging list produced at practical completion, agreed with the client, and resolved within the defects liability period specified in the contract.
The defects liability period (typically 12 months under a JCT Homeowner Contract) runs from practical completion. If defects attributable to JNR's works appear during that period, we return and resolve them. The client has a direct contractual remedy — not a series of phone calls to a company that has moved on.
Front and Rear Extension & Remodel, Bollington
This total property transformation required more than standard building practices; it demanded complex structural engineering. We installed heavy structural steelwork to alter the load paths, safely supporting wide-span rear glazing to create a modern open-plan footprint. On the exterior, we executed the architect’s vision of a striking contemporary contrast, expertly integrating the new high-specification brick additions against the original white-painted property. The result is a bold, fully Part L energy-compliant home that perfectly bridges the existing structure with modern architectural design.
“I own one of Cheshire’s most prestigious estate agencies and am frequently asked to recommend reliable building companies. I have used JNR Construction for both domestic and commercial work and have first-hand experience of their workmanship and professionalism. The interior oak work has been expertly crafted. I feel fully justified in putting forward JNR Construction.”
It depends on the property. Some Bollington rear extensions and loft conversions fall within permitted development, but the route depends on conservation area status, listing, Article 4 Directions, planning conditions, earlier extensions, height, depth, materials, and boundary position. On sloping plots, height is measured from the lower ground level, which catches people out, and a rear dormer visible from the hillside is treated differently from one that is not. We check the address against Cheshire East records first.
It has to be checked by address. Cheshire East records Bollington, Bollington Cross, and Bollington and Kerridge in its conservation area mapping, covering former mills, canal-side structures, stone and brick terraces, and hillside settlement patterns, but many homes in the town sit outside any designation. Inside one, stone repair and repointing, roof coverings, windows and doors, dormers, rooflights, and boundary treatments attract closer scrutiny, and Article 4 Directions are checked rather than assumed.
Usually, but the engineering comes first. A level floor in a rising garden means retaining structures, stepped or deepened foundations, and drainage designed to work with the fall. Excavation stability, temporary works, and the effect on neighbouring ground and boundary walls all need designing before work starts, and the Party Wall Act often applies where excavation is close to a neighbouring structure. It is entirely achievable. It is not the same job as extending onto a level plot, and it should not be priced as though it is.
Because solid walls have to breathe. Older Bollington stone and brick walls were built to absorb and release moisture, and hard cement pointing or impermeable coatings trap it instead. The damage shows up later as damp inside, spalling faces, decayed timber, and accelerated erosion of the stone itself. We specify lime mortars and breathable materials where the fabric calls for them, and pair any insulation upgrade with a ventilation strategy, so the wall keeps working the way it was built to.
Drainage checks, always; flood risk, by address. The River Dean and the wider Bollin catchment run through the area, and on steep ground surface water moves fast and arrives suddenly. We check flood maps for the property rather than the town, test infiltration before relying on a soakaway, trace existing drainage and public sewer records, and set finished floor levels, thresholds, and external falls so water is taken away from the building rather than pushed onto the property below.
Yes. The JNR model is design-to-build partnership, not design-versus-build adversarial. We engage at RIBA Stage 2 or 3 — before drawings are finalised — with a constructability review, structural feedback, a planning, heritage, slope, and drainage risk assessment, and an early cost plan. We then contract under JCT and deliver as Principal Contractor under CDM 2015, building to specification without unauthorised material substitution. A dedicated project manager runs the site, the programme, and communication with neighbours.
Whether your architect’s drawings are ready, planning consent is in hand, or you simply have a Bollington address and an ambition to test against reality — a 20-minute conversation with Julian is where every JNR project begins.
