Overview of the grants proceedure. 
 
To get an idea of how the NIHE Grants Service works we will give an example of a typical applicant who needs access to a W.C. on the ground floor of their home. 
 
1. The first point of contact is likely to be your G.P. They may suggest, or you may ask them to refer you to, an Occupational Therapist (O.T.). The O.T. will visit you in your home to assess your needs, and will then make a recommendation for a downstairs W.C. extension. 
 
2. This will be the basis on which the Grants Office will assess you for a grant. You may need to visit the Grants Office to complete a test of resources (TOR) to find out what level of grant you are eligible for. 
 
3. A Grants Officer will then visit your home to assess the technical aspects work required, in light of the O.T.s recommendations and will prepare a 'schedule of work'. 
 
4. The Grants Office will send you the schedule of work, along with a request that you employ an architect to draw up plans for the extension. 
 
5. Once drawn, either you or your architect must submit them to the Grants Office for approval. 
 
6. The Grants Office will then send the plans to your O.T. for their approval. 
 
7. Once your plans have been approved by both your O.T. and the Grants Office, they will ask you to get Planning approval, Building Control approval and a builders estimate. Your architect will get the first two but you will usually have to ask a builder for an estimate based on the plans and the schedule of work. 
 
8. Once you have all three you must return them to the Grants Office. You should also submit your architects invoice at this time. 
 
9. The Grants Office will assess all the documents and hopefully approve your grant. At this point you will know exactly how much the grant will be, and your architects fees will be added to it. 
 
10. Only now can you arrange for your builder to begin work. If you start any work prior to this, without permission from the Grants Office, you may jeopardize your grant payment. 
 
ADP can take some of the worry out of this process for you. We will ensure that you get approvals from your O.T., the Grants Office, the Planning Service and Building Control. You only need to get a builders estimate. If you are eligible for FOLD’s Staying Put service they will help you appoint a builder. 
 
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