Choosing exterior cladding: a homeowner’s planning guide

This page is a planning briefing. It is written so you can decide whether cladding is even the right project, which questions to take to a supplier, and where official rules may apply. It is not a catalogue, not a quote, and not a substitute for a site survey.

This guide explains the decisions to investigate before speaking with a supplier. It is not an installation manual or a substitute for product-specific certification, planning advice or an assessment of your building.

There are currently no merchant recommendations or affiliate tracking links on this page. Any commercial link added later will be clearly labelled as advertising.

Cladding is a finish applied to a structure. The structure, the existing weatherproofing, the insulation strategy and the fire strategy all come first. A sample that looks right in a showroom can still be the wrong system for a particular wall.

Before you compare colours, write down: the wall construction you believe you have (solid masonry, cavity, timber frame, or mixed — confirm this on site); whether the wall is already insulated; the exposure of the elevation (wind-driven rain is not the same in every UK postcode); nearby boundaries and means of escape; and whether the work is a repair, a refresh, or a change of appearance.

If you cannot answer those points, a reputable supplier or a qualified designer should survey before you buy materials. Buying a full elevation from a photograph is a common way to order the wrong length, the wrong trim pack, or a system that cannot be fixed as the manufacturer intends.

Homeowners usually meet cladding as a set of branded boards. It is more useful to think in families, then ask each supplier how their system is certified for your wall. The families below are categories for investigation, not a preference list.

PVC or uPVC-style cladding is often discussed for lower routine painting and a factory colour. Typical talking points include joints, trims, thermal movement, colour stability and how the system is ventilated. Check the manufacturer’s current literature and any independent certification for your building height, fire strategy and exposure.

Timber cladding is often discussed for appearance and repairability. Typical talking points include species, treatment, board profile, maintenance cycles, and detailing at sills and heads so water cannot sit in the end grain. Durability claims are not interchangeable between species or coatings, so check the exact specification.

Fibre-cement and similar mineral boards are often discussed for dimensional stability and a painted or through-colour finish. Typical talking points include weight (which affects fixing and handling), cutting on site, and the manufacturer’s fire classification for the exact product rather than a generic category claim.

Metal systems (for example coated steel or aluminium) are often discussed for long sheet lengths and a different visual language. Typical talking points include condensation control, noise in rain, galvanic issues with mixed metals, and specialist installers. Performance is system-specific, so ask for the documents covering the proposed build-up.

Brick slips, render systems and other rainscreens exist in the same decision space. If a salesperson treats “cladding” as one product, ask them which system, which backing, which cavity, and which certificate they mean.

Changing the external appearance of a house can engage planning control. Permitted development rights, if they apply at all, are not identical across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and they can be removed by a previous permission, an article 4 direction, a listed status or a conservation area.

Do not assume a like-for-like colour swap is automatically permitted. Do not assume a rear elevation is invisible to planning. Check the current guidance for your nation and property with the local planning authority before you order, and keep a written record of the advice.

If you are a leaseholder, the freeholder’s consent and the building’s fire strategy may matter as much as planning. Flats and houses in multiple occupation are not interchangeable with a detached house for this purpose.

Exterior cladding can affect weather resistance, structure, moisture, and fire. Building regulations (or the equivalent in your nation) may apply even when planning permission does not. Confirm the correct approval route for your project with building control or another appropriately qualified professional.

Fire performance is not a vibe and it is not transferable from a neighbour’s house. Ask for the classification of the exact product and the build-up (board, cavity, insulation, cavity barriers, openings). Ask how the system is intended to behave at the eaves, around windows, and at compartment walls. Do not accept a category slogan in place of a certificate.

This publication does not tell you how to install cavity barriers, how to cut boards, or how to detail a window. Those are manufacturer and installer responsibilities. Using a qualified professional is appropriate wherever the work affects weatherproofing or fire.

Most cladding failures discussed in public reports are detailing failures: water at sills, unsealed penetrations, blocked cavities, or boards fitted without the movement gaps the system needs. You do not need to become an installer to ask whether those details are in the quote.

Ask how the system is ventilated, where water is supposed to go, and what happens at the abutment with a roof, a conservatory, a soil pipe or an extractor. Ask whether existing insulation will be left as-is, upgraded, or disturbed. Ask who is responsible if the substrate is found to be rotten, damp or out of line once the old finish is removed.

Thermal movement, colour batching and trim availability matter more on a whole house than on a sample. If a supplier cannot explain lead times for matching trims, treat that as a project risk, not a footnote.

Cladding quotes are sometimes bundled with fascias, soffits, bargeboards and guttering. Those components have their own ventilation and fire questions, especially at the eaves. A fascia replacement can close a roof void that was previously ventilated, so check the proposed detail against the roof construction you actually have.

If the eaves work is in the same contract as the cladding, ask for it to be specified, not implied. If it is a separate trade, ask who sequences the work so flashings and gutters still drain.

We do not publish typical square-metre rates. Public “average cost” articles are often out of date, regionally skewed, or based on a specification you will not actually buy.

What you can usefully compare between quotes: whether scaffolding is included; whether waste removal is included; whether the price is for a named system or an equivalent; whether opening trims are counted; whether making good of sills and cills is included; VAT treatment; and how variations are priced if the substrate is worse than expected.

A lower materials price is not a saving if the system cannot be certified on your wall, or if you must buy a second trim pack because the first colour batch has closed.