Apologies is this has been answered before or is in the wrong section. I've searched and I'm not clear on where I stand so I want to know if I need Building Control approval for some changes I was to make to my downstairs utility room/water closet.
The existing layout is pretty horrendous. The toilet is situated in the room almost 12 inches from the wall in the middle of the floor requiring some dodgy wooden framing to support the cistern. The boiler is in the toilet, on the external wall. The Toilet also contains the washing machine, which incidentally is actually 10cm wider that the door so I need to take down the existing partition to move it out. It's an awful use of space and I want to improve it.
I've attached a quick sketch of the location of the various items in the existing layout and my proposal. I want to rotate the toilet 90 degrees and move it to another wall, relocate the basin and install a shower. The soil pipe is directly under the toilet and the waste for the basin is located under the boiler. At some point there mush have been the intention to install a shower as there are hot and cold terminals in the corner where I intend to put the shower. The internal dimensions of the proposed bathroom will be 2.4m x 1.0m
This is where things get unclear for me. All the water and waste fixtures are present and require no modifications (apart from extending connections to the relocated locations). The floor to the utility room has a 20cm drop which I intend raise to be level with the floor in the kitchen (uninsulated concrete and COLD). As a result the fall from the shower and basin will be OK per my understanding of the regs. And from the relocated toilet to the soil connection in the floor should be the same. I've had some builders come round for quotations for the work and have had pretty similar estimates of the cost but very different opinions about whether building control needs to be notified.
I contacted the council office and they say that approval if required would be in the region of £180. I'm not looking to cut corners like the hideous cowboy efforts that the previous owner tried but at the same time it's a decent chunk of money that I'd rather not have to pay if I don't need to. Advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.
The existing layout is pretty horrendous. The toilet is situated in the room almost 12 inches from the wall in the middle of the floor requiring some dodgy wooden framing to support the cistern. The boiler is in the toilet, on the external wall. The Toilet also contains the washing machine, which incidentally is actually 10cm wider that the door so I need to take down the existing partition to move it out. It's an awful use of space and I want to improve it.
I've attached a quick sketch of the location of the various items in the existing layout and my proposal. I want to rotate the toilet 90 degrees and move it to another wall, relocate the basin and install a shower. The soil pipe is directly under the toilet and the waste for the basin is located under the boiler. At some point there mush have been the intention to install a shower as there are hot and cold terminals in the corner where I intend to put the shower. The internal dimensions of the proposed bathroom will be 2.4m x 1.0m
This is where things get unclear for me. All the water and waste fixtures are present and require no modifications (apart from extending connections to the relocated locations). The floor to the utility room has a 20cm drop which I intend raise to be level with the floor in the kitchen (uninsulated concrete and COLD). As a result the fall from the shower and basin will be OK per my understanding of the regs. And from the relocated toilet to the soil connection in the floor should be the same. I've had some builders come round for quotations for the work and have had pretty similar estimates of the cost but very different opinions about whether building control needs to be notified.
I contacted the council office and they say that approval if required would be in the region of £180. I'm not looking to cut corners like the hideous cowboy efforts that the previous owner tried but at the same time it's a decent chunk of money that I'd rather not have to pay if I don't need to. Advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.
