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No requirement to add a sarking felt membrane but you will need to add insulation below the rafters and create cross ventilation above the insulation. Obviously if the roof tiles are getting towards the end of their life it would make sense to strip the roof and add a vapour permeable sarking...

Where is this? Not the Brighton area by any chance?

The whole porch exemption and glazing areas for conservatories is a bit of a grey area. The Building Regulations were revised and the wording for these items was very poorly drafted leading to considerable scope to "interpret" the rules however you choose. When you start to look at these things...

It is not a matter of intent it is a matter of fact. If the building is demolished it is as if it never existed in Planning terms. How or why the building was removed is irrelevant. The enforcement action and prosecution is not for demolishing the old building it is for building the new one...

I was involved with a similar case. Homeowner converted old barn (chicken shed) to provide ancillary residential accommodation. They or the builder had the bright idea of demolishing the existing building and building up from the original footings all without planning permission. By the time I...

Two points. 1. For something like this you really need a specialist planning consultant not a bunch of idiots on the internet. 2. Surely you have a claim against the builder for negligently undermining the existing building? I hope they have a good public liability policy.

To be fair the engineer has probably specified that pad foundation as a worst case scenario. He hasn't got X-ray vision so he doesn't know what the existing foundation is like or the sub-soil. Dig a trial hole first and if there is a good foundation on good firm sub-soil he or the building...

In a Google link that someone else posted I noticed the Companies House Register shows the two current directors of PWC are Chartered Surveyors. It might be worth applying some pressure on PWC by mentioning that you are considering lodging a complaint with the RICS Professional Standards. I...

The British summer lasts no longer than 2 weeks. I'm sat in my office in the middle of August looking out at drizzle and pondering whether I should put on a jumper.. Bring on the global warming.

There was a case a few years ago when one of the big private building control firms went bust. I seem to recall people had to pay the local council for a new application. My memory is a bit hazy but I seem to recall that some councils were accepting written inspection records (if they were...

So if I'm reading this correctly Building Regulations applications were submitted for the work? Were they Full Plans Applications or Building Notice applications? If it was full plans and the plans were approved then at least they had a set of approved drawings to follow. If it was a Building...

Normal mineral fibre quilt won't burn or melt, that's why they use it for fire barriers. It does not contain asbestos.

You guys are over complicating this. In practice if cracking or some other damage is found the adjoining owner just needs to contact the party wall surveyor. The surveyor will visit and compare the reported damage with the condition survey. If the surveyor agrees that the damage is new and...

Your flat roof is already joined to the flank wall of his house. What is the difference? Have you spoken to the original roofing company to see if they could do the necessary work to seal the new junction and include it in your original warranty? Obviously the work would be done at the...

It is rather sad that neighbours can't get together and agree a mutually beneficial arrangement. It is possible to build a parapet wall detail on the boundary or a tapered box gutter that doesn't allow rainwater run off to spill down the face of the wall. From the photos the OP hasn't got a lot...

In my opinion the best solution is to allow the neighbour to butt the extension up to the existing wall and ensure the existing flat roof is made good and sealed against the new extension. It is unreasonable to expect the neighbour to step his extension away from your wall just so that you can...

And yet that is exactly what the neighbour has done with his car port and fence and now expects the OP to leave a clear gap so he can have access? How do we have semi detached houses and terraced houses if building up to the boundary is so problematic. The OP should build up to the boundary...

A line of junction notice under the Party Wall Act entitles the neighbour to dig a foundation over the boundary and can grant access to do the work.

I just thought I would jump in as this is very misleading. If there is a Party Wall Award in place a fundamental part of that is a detailed condition survey. So if done properly it will be very easy to identify any damage present before the work commences and therefore quantify any damage...

Potentially you are making the situation worse by having the stairs discharge in to the kitchen. So assuming it is a 2 storey house I would say you'll need to ensure all the 1st floor windows are fire egress compliant (min. 450 x 450mm opening casements, sill height not above 1100mm etc.) and...