- Location
- Kettering, Northamptonshire
- Main postcode district
- NN16
- Nearby (straight line)
- Wellingborough (7 miles), Corby (7 miles) and Rushden (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.
Is this right for your site in Kettering?
Where a yard in Kettering is narrow, an angled loading house lets trailers approach on a diagonal and can sometimes fit more bays along one wall. Manufacturing businesses around Kettering adding a dock to an existing building often find a loading house less disruptive than breaking out the slab inside.
Developers bringing forward industrial units in Kettering can specify loading houses at design stage, keeping the internal slab clear for whichever tenant takes the unit.
We keep the process simple for sites in Kettering. A free survey tells us what the dock needs; a fixed written quote tells you what it will cost and what is included. We then organise the installation, with specialist engineers under our management and a programme agreed around your shifts. Night and weekend work is available by arrangement. Before we leave, the new equipment is tested, demonstrated and handed over with its documentation.
One feature of the freight network near Kettering is worth a mention: the A14 here forms part of Northamptonshire's distribution cluster. Busy or quiet, a dock needs equipment sized for the vehicles it receives.
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.
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.
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?
- Dock height and the mix of trailers you load
- Control positions, isolators and any existing interlocks
- Headroom above the opening and which track type will suit it
- Escape routes and pedestrian doors close to the bay
- Drainage on recessed or sloping dock approaches
- Traffic routes for vehicles and separation of pedestrians
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.
Angled loading house
Set at an angle to the wall so trailers approach on a diagonal, useful on narrow yards and sometimes allowing more bays to fit along a single elevation.
Regulations and approvals in England
Workplace safety in England is regulated by HSE. For a loading bay in Kettering, that means doors meeting regulation 18 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, equipment maintained under PUWER and suitable safeguards against vehicles driving away too early. We check what applies at survey and design the bay accordingly.
Questions about loading houses in Kettering
Will you deal with building control and planning for a project in Kettering?
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 remove and dispose of the old equipment?
Yes, where it is part of the scope. When we replace doors, levellers, shelters or seals at a site in Kettering, removal and disposal of the old equipment can be included and is itemised in the quote, so it is clear what is covered. If anything should be kept, such as a frame or motor that is still serviceable, we agree that at survey.
Do you cover Kettering for loading houses?
Yes. We take on loading houses for businesses in Kettering and across Northamptonshire. 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.
Is a loading house cheaper than forming an internal pit?
Not always. A loading house includes a whole steel structure, so the equipment cost is higher, but it avoids breaking out the slab and losing internal floor space. The best comparison is made at survey, taking account of racking, services under the floor and how the building will be used.
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.
Loading houses near Kettering
Nearby places we cover, measured from Kettering, include Wellingborough (7 miles), Corby (7 miles) and Rushden (9 miles). Ask if your own town is missing.
Other loading bay services in Kettering
Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Kettering
For a written price on loading bay work in Kettering, request a quote and include photos of the bay if you can.