- Location
- Coalville, Leicestershire
- Main postcode district
- LE67
- Nearby (straight line)
- Loughborough (8 miles), Castle Donington (8 miles) and Swadlincote (9 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 Coalville?
Units in Coalville with floors at dock height but no room for an internal leveller pit are typical candidates for an external loading house. For older buildings in Coalville with a raised floor and little internal space by the wall, an external house can provide a modern hydraulic dock without major alterations.
Manufacturing businesses around Coalville adding a dock to an existing building often find a loading house less disruptive than breaking out the slab inside.
A single contact at Loading Bay Doors handles your project in Coalville from start to finish. The free site survey and fixed written quote come first, with no obligation to proceed. We then book the installation for times that suit the operation, including out of hours by arrangement, and manage the specialist engineers on site. At the end we commission and test the equipment, walk your team through it and provide the documentation.
What is a loading house made of?
A loading house is a steel frame clad in insulated composite panels, with a dock leveller built into its floor and a shelter or seal across its front. It is made to suit your building, trailers and yard rather than bought off the shelf.
- Frame: galvanised or painted steel, supported on legs or a sub-frame that sits on concrete foundations.
- Walls and roof: insulated composite panels, usually colour-matched to the building cladding, with guttering to carry rainwater away.
- Floor and leveller: a steel deck with a hydraulic swing-lip or telescopic-lip leveller set into it.
- Front: a retractable or inflatable shelter or a foam seal, with bumpers below to take trailer impact.
- Building door: an insulated sectional door in the original wall opening, closing the building when no trailer is docked.
- Extras: internal lighting, dock lights and traffic lights as required.
The insulated envelope reduces the heat or chill lost around the trailer compared with an open dock.
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 England; 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
- Headroom above the opening and which track type will suit it
- Control positions, isolators and any existing interlocks
- Traffic routes for vehicles and separation of pedestrians
- Escape routes and pedestrian doors close to the bay
- Gaps around trailers where heated or chilled air escapes
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.
Planning, building control and safety law in England
In England, Approved Document L (2021) sets a limiting U-value of 1.3 W/m²K for vehicle access and similar large doors in new and replacement work. That shapes door specification for sites in Coalville, so we confirm the requirement for your project and check what applies at survey before recommending a door.
Questions about loading houses in Coalville
Will you deal with building control and planning for a project in Coalville?
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.
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 Leicestershire 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 Coalville?
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.
Does a loading house need planning permission?
A loading house can need planning permission because it is a new external structure, and we check this at survey for every project. Forming a new opening in the wall may also need Building Regulations approval, a building warrant in Scotland or building control approval in Northern Ireland, depending on where the site is.
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.
Loading houses near Coalville
Businesses outside Coalville may find their nearest town in this list: Loughborough (8 miles), Castle Donington (8 miles) and Swadlincote (9 miles). Each page covers doors, docks, repairs and servicing.
Other loading bay services in Coalville
Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Coalville
Speak to us about your Coalville loading bay. We will ask the right questions, then set out the next step clearly.