- Location
- Montrose, Dundee and Angus
- Main postcode district
- DD10
- Nearby (straight line)
- Arbroath (11 miles), Forfar (17 miles) and Stonehaven (20 miles)
- Survey and quote
- Free, with a fixed written quote
A loading house is an insulated steel structure built against the outside wall of a building, containing a dock leveller and usually a shelter or seal at its front. The building door closes at the wall line, while trailers dock against the house. Loading houses suit buildings whose floor is at dock height but which have no room inside for a leveller pit.
How does this suit sites in Montrose?
Chilled stores near Montrose sometimes favour loading houses because the building door closes at the wall line, keeping the cold envelope sealed when no trailer is docked. For older buildings in Montrose with a raised floor and little internal space by the wall, an external house can provide a modern hydraulic dock without major alterations.
Developers bringing forward industrial units in Montrose can specify loading houses at design stage, keeping the internal slab clear for whichever tenant takes the unit.
Step one is a survey at your site in Montrose, which costs nothing and carries no obligation. Step two is a written quote with a fixed price and a clear scope. Step three is installation, scheduled around your operation and carried out by specialist installation engineers working under our management, including evenings or weekends if agreed. Step four is handover, when the equipment is tested in front of you and the paperwork is passed over.
Does a loading house need planning permission or building approval?
A loading house can need planning permission, because it is a new external structure, so we check this at survey rather than assuming it is not needed. The answer depends on the site, the size of the house and any planning conditions already on the building.
Forming a new opening in the building wall is a structural alteration that may need approval. In England and Wales that means Building Regulations approval, in Scotland a building warrant, and in Northern Ireland building control approval.
Energy rules can also apply to the door in the building wall. In England, Approved Document L (2021) Volume 2 sets a limiting U-value of 1.3 W/m²K for vehicle access and similar large doors in new and replacement work. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own energy rules, and we confirm the figure that applies to your nation and project.
The leveller inside the house is specified to BS EN 1398:2009, the dock leveller safety standard. Our guide to loading houses explained goes through the approvals in more detail.
When is a loading house better than an internal dock?
A loading house is usually the better option when the building floor is already at dock height but there is no practical way to form a leveller pit inside. It moves the whole dock outside the wall, leaving the internal floor clear.
- No room inside: racking, production lines or mezzanines sit right up to the wall.
- Difficult slab: the floor slab carries services or is unsuited to breaking out for a pit.
- Thermal control: the building door closes at the wall line, so the leveller sits outside the heated or chilled space when no trailer is docked.
- Security: the building can be closed at the wall line while the house itself stays open to the yard.
- Narrow yards: an angled house lets trailers approach on a diagonal and can fit more bays along one wall.
Where the building floor is at yard level, a loading house alone will not solve the height difference, and a recessed approach or lift table is usually needed instead.
The same published guide range applies across Scotland; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.
What does the free survey cover?
- Age and condition of the equipment already in place
- Drainage on recessed or sloping dock approaches
- Temperature requirements for chilled, frozen or ambient goods
- Clear opening width and height for each door
- How often each door cycles during a typical shift
- Whether planning, building control or a building warrant may be needed
Options to discuss
Leveller choice
A hydraulic swing-lip leveller for general trailer loading, or a telescopic-lip leveller for precise placement, end-loading and trailers that cannot be reversed tight to the dock.
Shelter or seal front
A retractable or inflatable shelter, or a foam dock seal, across the front of the house, chosen to suit your trailers and how tightly the bay needs to seal.
Planning, building control and safety law in Scotland
Energy standards for buildings in Scotland are set out in Section 6 of the Building Standards Technical Handbook. For new or replacement loading bay doors in Montrose, we confirm the figure that applies to your project and check what applies at survey, rather than relying on rules written for elsewhere in the UK.
Questions about loading houses in Montrose
Will you deal with building control and planning for a project in Montrose?
We check at survey whether the work is likely to need approval. Forming a new opening or dock pit may need Building Regulations approval, a building warrant or building control approval, depending on the nation, and external structures such as loading houses can need planning permission. Where approval is needed, we explain what is involved, work with your designer or agent, and build it into the programme.
Do you cover Montrose for loading houses?
Yes. We take on loading houses for businesses in Montrose and across Dundee and Angus. We survey the site, provide a fixed written quote and manage the installation, with specialist installation engineers working under our management. Visits are arranged in advance at a time that suits your operation, and the same single contact stays with the job through to handover.
How long does installation take at a site in Montrose?
It depends on the equipment, the number of bays, the condition of the dock and whether any building or electrical work is needed. We agree a programme with you after the survey, setting out which bays are out of use and when. Larger jobs are usually phased so that part of the dock stays open, and out-of-hours working can be arranged.
Can a loading house be used for a cold store?
Yes. Loading houses suit chilled and frozen operations because the building door closes at the wall line, keeping the cold space sealed when no trailer is docked. The panels, door and shelter or seal are specified to suit the temperatures involved, which we confirm at survey.
What door is used with a loading house?
The building wall behind a loading house usually has an insulated sectional door, which closes the building at the wall line when no trailer is docked. An existing door can sometimes be kept if it is in good condition. In England, replacement doors need to meet the Approved Document L limiting U-value for large doors.
Loading houses near Montrose
Close neighbours of Montrose with their own pages here: Arbroath (11 miles), Forfar (17 miles) and Stonehaven (20 miles). Choose one to see coverage details for that town.
Other loading bay services in Montrose
Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Montrose
Send a few photos of the dock and a short description of the problem, and we will come back to you about your Montrose site.