Choosing a contractor decides how the next year of your life goes. NU Projects is a design and build studio on Fulham High Street, working on London homes since 2010. Below are ten things worth asking any firm about, and how we answer them.
1. Built in London since 2010
NU Projects has been building in London since 2010. The work is mostly prime residential: whole house renovation, extensions, basements and fit out. Every job runs under one contract, with one project manager and one site foreman. You can see finished work on the projects page.
2. What you hear while the job runs
You get a named project manager and a site foreman, and you keep both to the end. Cost and programme are reviewed with you as the work goes, not at handover. A change is priced before it is built, so the number in front of you is the number you pay.
3. The design is drawn for your house
No two London houses share a plan, a party wall position or a planning history. We survey, draw and price for the house you actually own. A single room and a whole house get the same process at different sizes.
4. Who is in the studio
Architectural designers and interior designers draw the work. Our in-house quantity surveyor prices it. Our MEP director takes the mechanical and electrical. They sit in one studio on Fulham High Street, so a drawing is costed by the people who will build it.
5. Materials and workmanship
Kitchens, wardrobes, libraries and fitted furniture are made by Cochrane Bespoke, our joinery partner. Finishes are specified and scheduled before the price is fixed. That is the difference between choosing a tile in a drawing and choosing it on site while three trades wait.
6. Energy and waste
Insulation, airtightness, heating and controls are decided at design stage rather than bolted on later. Better fabric lowers what the finished house costs to run. Waste is sorted on site and the transfer notes are kept.
7. How the price is set
The drawings are measured and priced line by line, then quoted as a lump sum. You see the cost plan behind the total, trade by trade. Published rates for this kind of work are on our cost calculator, with no form in front of them.
8. After handover
The job does not end at practical completion. There is a defects period afterwards, and we come back to put right what that period covers. You are handed the manuals and the warranties for what was installed.
9. Safety on site
Sites are run to CDM 2015. There is a construction phase plan, a principal contractor and an induction for anyone working there. A well run site is also a quicker one, because nothing stops.
10. How to check any of this
References are the part most people skip. Ask any contractor for two recent clients and telephone them. Ask what changed during the job, what the change cost, and how long it took to get an answer. Ask ours too.
If you want those answers for your own house, tell us about it on our contact page, or call the studio on 020 7731 6841.
Published 8 December 2025. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.