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The building regulations don't have a problem with stairs in a kitchen for a two storey house. As long as the ground and first floor rooms have doors or windows suitable for fire escape as Freddie suggested (which is very simple to achieve) then the stairs can be open plan and anywhere in the...

There is clearly some movement in the building and as it has been repaired and continued to move it would seem to be ongoing. Something is causing the movement and a stepped crack is a fairly classic symptom of subsidence. The seller commissioning a structural report is rather pointless, they...

To get back to the OP's actual question. Fall arrest anchors have to be very securely fixed to the structure of the building or be very heavy as they need to resist the dynamic load of a falling human body. I doubt very much that a DIY version at a reasonable price is available.

Technically you should get a dew point calculation, some insulation manufacturers will do it for free. My gut feeling is the dew point will be in the outer skin of brickwork so a vapour barrier might not be necessary. Having said that I would probably put a layer of polythene behind the...

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious. is it possible that the two storey side extension was done with a private building control company?

Submitting a planning application could be risky. Around here the planners rarely accept outbuildings etc. to the front of the property and I have seen enforcement action taken for innocuous bike sheds. Once you have an application refused you will be on the Council's radar and any attempt to...

If I'm reading this right we are looking at an 18 flat development and you are asking for free advice on a DIY Forum?

No. That only applies to 1st floor and above. You can have clear glass at ground floor level.

I make it 13.2m³ I spotted another mistake on my previous formula, it should be 1/3 (Base x Height) not ½ EDIT: Great minds think alike! EDIT 2: It makes you wonder what the hell this so called "architect" is doing?

P is the length of the ridge but you shouldn't need that figure for a hip to gable. Q is the length of the hipped section of roof. There are 2 calculations for the hip to gable volume, using the strange annotations on that drawing - (O x Q x W)/6 or 1/3 ( Base x Height) Where Base = ½ (O x W)...

I agree with the OP and Freddie. I would apply for a Lawful Development Certificate and show the volume calculation for the existing roof and additional space created by the hip to gable conversion. I wouldn't even mention lowering the existing ceiling as that has nothing to do with Planning.

It will certainly be very challenging but not necessarily impossible. Context is everything. I would say the main influence will be the street scene. If all the houses are homogenous then a significant change to the front of one house is unlikely to be approved. If the other houses consist a...

If the line of the rainwater downpipe and change in pebbledash render is indicative of the centre of the party wall it looks like the dormer cheek, even with tile hanging will be well inside the neighbour's own boundary so it doesn't look like there will be any encroachment. Ultimately you will...

The 45° degree rule is not universal that applies everywhere, it depends on the published planning policies of your local planning department. Having said that I have never seen it apply to a side elevation, the house would already breach the 45° rule if it did. Depending on the use of the room...

I doubt it very much. There are lots of restrictions on 2 storey side extensions such as distance to boundary and neighbours (terracing), set back to the front elevation etc. But the configuration of the existing roof is not normally an issue. I assume the hip to gable and rear dormer was done...

The terminology is rather confusing. The proposed extension will need planning permission, I assume the architect is saying that it is unlikely to be approved due to a local planning policy. I fail to see that the existing hip to gable conversion is relevant. Ask the architect what the local...

OP needs to read Section 11 of Part L - Renovation of a Thermal Element. In this case the thermal element is the external walls only measured internally, just the external walls not windows or doors. So it is more than 50% of the external walls thermal element (not including doors or windows)...

I read it that the private building control firm haven't gone bust it's just that the OP has taken so long on the build that they have closed down his application. I am a bit confused by the timeline, is it 4 years old, 3 years or 7? Anyhoo if your only concern is that the local authority...

You could ask the builder/architect to explain WHY they think sarking felt needs to be added to the existing roof to comply with Building Regulations for a loft conversion? Apart from anything else I would be interested to hear their reasoning because I certainly have never heard of it.

What stage are you at with Building Control? Has work already started or are you just getting quotes from builders? How do you intend to deal with Building Control - Building Notice or Full Plans Application? You can try to ask Building Control but until you have an application they probably...