Shop front installation in London: glazing, doors, fascias and shutters

It depends mostly on the width of the opening, the glazing system, the door and the shutter, then on what the structure needs and whether the sign is lit. A framed aluminium front over a sound opening costs far less than a frameless or timber front that needs a new beam, propping and party wall notices. We do not publish a guide figure we cannot source; we price your front against the drawings and give a written fixed-price quote.

Changing a front is usually dearer than repairing one, because the old front has to be removed, the opening made good and new consents obtained. Replacing a broken pane or a worn door in the same frame is a small job. Changing the layout, moving the door or adding an illuminated sign brings in planning, advertisement consent and sometimes structural work, and those, not the glass, are what move the price most.

Usually, yes, for a new front that changes how the building looks: different materials, a moved door, a new shutter box or a deeper fascia. Like-for-like repair or replacement normally does not need it. In a conservation area expect closer scrutiny, on a listed building you also need listed building consent, and an Article 4 direction can bring smaller changes under control. Check with your borough's planning team before ordering anything.

Often. The 2007 advertisement regulations give many shop signs deemed consent within limits on height, letter size and lighting, but illumination is restricted more tightly than an unlit sign, and in a conservation area an illuminated sign generally needs express consent from the borough. A projecting sign over the footway can raise highway questions too. We check the position with the borough before the sign is made, never after it is up.

From the bottom up. The stallriser is built or clad first, then the frames are fixed into the opening and packed level, the glass is set and sealed, and the door is hung and adjusted. The fascia board goes on above, the sign is fixed and wired, and the shutter is mounted behind or above. Before any of that, the beam over the opening must be sound, which is why the survey comes first.

The low panel under the window is the stallriser, the vertical columns either side are pilasters, the board carrying the name is the fascia, and the moulding above it is the cornice. Glazing bars are mullions where they run up and down and transoms where they run across. A shop front as a whole is also called a shopfront, a storefront or, in older planning documents, a shop frontage.

Sometimes, but many London boroughs resist solid external shutters because they deaden the street at night, and in conservation areas they are often refused. An internal shutter or lattice grille behind the glass, or laminated security glass, is the usual alternative. An external shutter normally needs planning permission. Roller shutter installation is part of our scope either way; we fit the type your consent allows.

Partly. Survey, fabrication and consents happen while you trade. The day the old front comes out the opening is hoarded, so the shop usually closes or trades through a temporary door for the changeover. Out-of-hours and overnight fit-out work is part of how we work on shops and cafés, and we agree the closure window with you and, in a centre or parade, with the landlord.

If the unit is leased, almost certainly. Most commercial leases treat the front as structural or external and reserve it to the landlord, so changing it needs a licence to alter, which usually asks to see the drawings, the method statement and the contractor's details. Get it before the consents are applied for, because a landlord can refuse a design the borough would approve.

Usually a painted timber front with a stallriser, pilasters and a fascia in proportion with the building, often with a hand-painted or externally lit sign rather than an internally illuminated box. Aluminium can be accepted in slim, dark finishes on some streets. Your borough's shop front design guide, where it has one, says what it expects, and it is worth reading before your designer starts drawing.