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Lifts and loading houses · Horley

Loading houses in Horley

When you need loading houses in Horley or anywhere else in Surrey, 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 surveyRH6
Book a free survey0800 088 6248
Location
Horley, Surrey
Main postcode district
RH6
Nearby (straight line)
Crawley (4 miles), Redhill (5 miles) and Reigate (5 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.

Where does this fit at a dock in Horley?

Chilled stores near Horley sometimes favour loading houses because the building door closes at the wall line, keeping the cold envelope sealed when no trailer is docked. Manufacturing businesses around Horley adding a dock to an existing building often find a loading house less disruptive than breaking out the slab inside.

Any loading house proposed in Horley needs its planning and building control position checked, which we look at during the site survey before quoting.

Step one is a survey at your site in Horley, 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.

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.

What happens on site when a loading house is installed?

Installing a loading house takes the bay out of use from the foundation works to commissioning, but the building can stay secure because the existing wall and door remain until late in the job.

  1. Foundations: concrete pads or footings are formed in the yard and left to cure.
  2. Erection: the steel frame is lifted into place, usually by crane, and fixed to the foundations and building.
  3. Cladding and equipment: panels, leveller, shelter or seal, bumpers and lights are fitted.
  4. Door and electrics: the building door is fitted or adapted and the leveller and lights connected.
  5. Commissioning: everything is tested with a trailer before handover.

We ask you to provide yard space for the crane and deliveries, any drawings of drains or buried services, a power supply, and clear arrangements for keeping vehicles and people away from the lifting zone. Neighbouring bays may need to close briefly while the crane is working.

Guide price, Horley
£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?

  • Working hours, shift patterns and windows for out-of-hours work
  • Scope to convert ground-level doors into docks or add lift tables
  • Forklift and pallet truck loads crossing the leveller platform
  • Temperature requirements for chilled, frozen or ambient goods
  • Power supply at each bay, including three-phase availability
  • Headroom above the opening and which track type will suit it

Options to discuss

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.

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

Workplace safety in England is regulated by HSE. For a loading bay in Horley, 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 Horley

What details do you need from us to quote for loading houses?

To get started, send the site address in Horley, the number of bays or openings, approximate sizes, and photos of the dock from inside and outside. Tell us what vehicles you load, what goods you handle and any temperature requirements. Drawings help on new builds. We then arrange the free survey and confirm the details before the written quote is issued.

Which building and safety rules apply to a site in Horley?

It depends on which UK nation the site is in. England and Wales use Building Regulations approval, Scotland uses building warrants and Northern Ireland uses building control approval from the council. Workplace safety is regulated by HSE in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland, and energy rules differ between nations. For your site in Horley, we check what applies at survey and design to it.

Do you cover Horley for loading houses?

Yes. We take on loading houses for businesses in Horley and across Surrey. 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 Horley

The same survey, quote and repair service is available in towns around Horley, such as Crawley (4 miles), Redhill (5 miles) and Reigate (5 miles).

Other loading bay services in Horley

Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Horley

Speak to us about your Horley loading bay. We will ask the right questions, then set out the next step clearly.

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