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Lifts and loading houses · Leyland

Loading houses in Leyland

When you need loading houses in Leyland or anywhere else in Lancashire, we organise the job end to end and keep disruption to your loading operation as low as we can.

Guide £14,500–£32,000 per house ex VATFree site surveyPR5, PR25, PR26
Book a free survey0800 088 6248
Location
Leyland, Lancashire
Main postcode districts
PR5, PR25 and PR26
Nearby (straight line)
Chorley (4 miles), Preston (5 miles) and Blackburn (9 miles)
Survey and quote
Free, with a fixed written quote
Loading houses, in short

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.

Why do sites in Leyland choose this?

Where a yard in Leyland is narrow, an angled loading house lets trailers approach on a diagonal and can sometimes fit more bays along one wall. Racked warehouses around Leyland that cannot spare internal floor space for a dock can move the leveller outside the wall into a loading house instead.

Developers bringing forward industrial units in Leyland 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 Leyland, 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.

How much does a loading house cost?

A loading house typically costs £14,500 to £32,000 per house, supplied and installed, excluding VAT. That covers the insulated structure with its leveller and shelter or seal; the figure for your site depends on size, layout and what has to happen to the building and yard.

What moves the price:

  • Size and layout: straight houses are simpler than angled ones, and larger houses use more steel and panel.
  • Leveller type: telescopic-lip levellers cost more than swing-lip.
  • Front sealing: inflatable shelters cost more than retractable shelters or foam seals.
  • Foundations: ground conditions and buried services decide the size of pads or footings.
  • Building works: forming or enlarging the wall opening, and a new insulated door if needed.
  • Electrics and access: supply to the leveller and lights, crane access and any out-of-hours working.

These are guide budgets. After a free site survey we send a written quote that is the fixed price. VAT is added at the standard rate.

Can a loading house be added to an existing building?

Yes, loading houses are often added to existing buildings, provided the floor is at or near dock height and the wall can take a suitable opening. Adding docks without breaking out the floor is one of the main reasons operators choose them.

At survey we check:

  • the floor height inside against the yard level outside;
  • whether an existing door opening can be used, or a new one formed in the cladding or masonry;
  • drains, ducts and other buried services where foundations will go;
  • the space trailers need to manoeuvre, and whether an angled house would work better;
  • any planning or building control approval the project may need.

Where the existing door is in good condition and suits the new layout, it can sometimes be kept. If your building has floors at yard level, a wider loading bay conversion may be the better route.

Guide price, Leyland
£14,500–£32,000 per house, ex VAT

The same published guide range applies across England; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.

What does the free survey cover?

  • Forklift and pallet truck loads crossing the leveller platform
  • Dock height and the mix of trailers you load
  • Temperature requirements for chilled, frozen or ambient goods
  • Working hours, shift patterns and windows for out-of-hours work
  • Drainage on recessed or sloping dock approaches
  • Wind exposure at the dock, which affects door and shelter choice

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.

Straight loading house

Set square to the building wall, the simplest layout where the yard has room for trailers to reverse straight in. Usually the most economical arrangement for one or more bays.

Regulations and approvals in England

Powered doors and dock equipment installed in England may carry the UKCA or the CE mark, and doors are covered by the product standard BS EN 13241. We hand over the relevant documentation for each item fitted in Leyland. Planning and Building Regulations questions are never assumed either way: we check what applies at survey, so you know before work is booked.

Questions about loading houses in Leyland

Is VAT included in your guide prices for loading houses?

No. Our customers are businesses, so guide prices exclude VAT, which is added at the standard rate. The same guide range applies in Lancashire as everywhere else: for loading houses, it is £14,500 to £32,000 per house, excluding VAT. It covers supply and fit for a typical installation. Your fixed written quote after the free survey shows the net price, the VAT and exactly what is included.

Can you work alongside our main contractor on a new build in Leyland?

Yes. For new warehouses and fit-outs, we can supply and install the dock package as part of a wider project, working to the main contractor's programme, site rules and permits. We will need drawings, dock levels and the programme, and we coordinate pit details, power supplies and door openings with the relevant trades before installation begins.

Will you deal with building control and planning for a project in Leyland?

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.

How long does a loading house take to install?

The programme depends mainly on foundation works and manufacturing lead times, and we set it out in writing with the quote. On site, foundations must cure before the frame goes up, and the rest of the work follows in sequence. We agree dates with you so other bays can keep working.

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 Leyland

Sites close to Leyland get the same service, including those in Chorley (4 miles), Preston (5 miles) and Blackburn (9 miles), with every job run the same way.

Other loading bay services in Leyland

Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Leyland

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