Recent content by Wolfhere

It is exempt from building regs

Yes, for a job like this the client can be the Principal Designer

Yes you do need Building Regs for them. Skylights do. A new door between the house and the garage will do because it is an alteration that affects fire safety. If the BCO is willing to add them to the application you have running for the RSJ then he is doing you a favour.

I think you need to tread carefully with this before you commit to buying the 2 properties. The council have given you the correct advice - it is a change of use and the requirements are the same as for converting a house into flats. The council is not being pedantic. Thermal upgrade will be...

As the building is 7 storeys you Building Regs application will have to go to the Building Safety Regulator. They will expect you to have a competent Principal Designer who can submit a code compliant proposal. From what I hear they are pretty brutal in how they go about it - there is no...

If it is a raised platform in the garden then it won't need Building Regs

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is with the new building control system following the Building Safety Act you have to have a Principal Designer and a Principal Contractor. It sounds like you can do the PC role but you should make sure your plan drawer is taking on the PD role.

Any glazing below 1100mm on an escape route has to have a fire resistance of 30 minutes integrity and insulation. Above 1100 is integrity only. Ask your Principal Designer if his partition achieves both.

If your building is more than 1m from the boundary you only need the fire resistance from the inside. The internal plasterboard will take care of this. Just to clarify the last sentence of my previous post you have no problem with surface spread of flame.

If your new building is within 1m of a boundary then the facing elevation will need 30 minutes fire resistance from both sides. It sounds like this is what the BI is asking for. You have no problem with external fire spread.

If it did transpire that it needs planning permission would you be objecting to it and on what grounds?

Finally a response that suits your needs! What your neighbors have done is not an eyesore and nor does it really, if you are honest (and I mean really honest), affect you or your property.

The private building control company is not licensed by the council. They are licensed by the government and are in competition with the council. As with council building control some of them are very good and some rubbish and most are somewhere in between. Taking on a job that has been...

Building control only keep drawings etc for 15 years. After that they throw them away.