Building in an industrial unit

[Dougie212]

Hi there

My wife rents an industrial unit from the council. They are very open to the layout being changed to suit the needs of my wife’s business. There is currently a rather pointless block built office. She has proposed to the manager of the units to remove the office, build a block wall across the unit 4 metres from the end wall, creatung a storage area and work area. The space above the storage area then creating a 1st floor to house a new office. I have drawn something up (very basic) and the manager has agreed it but the centre manager has said it will need a building regs application submitting which I expected. Other than getting the drawings done a bit better, is there anything more I should cover before going to the building regs with out application? I’ll attach the drawings so you all get an idea of what we are trying to achieve. The joists are going to be 220 x 75. I ve tried a few builders and all 3 of them have given me either sob stories or that building in an industrial unit isn’t worth the hassle hence why we are taking the bull by the horns and starting things ourselves..

 

[^woody^]

Unless you are drawing and specifying this yourself, then I would leave it up to whoever you get to design this.

Fire safety and escape issues are the most pertinent.

I can't see why builders are not keen to work on commercial buildings. Only thing I can think of is that they have not got a clue about building, in which case you would not want to use them in the first place.

 

[Diver Fred]

What does the contract with the council say? Does the contract require the unit has to be returned to the state and condition it was in at start of contract?
If it does then weigh up the costs including those to remove what you install and reinstall what you have removed; to reduce costs it may be better to use timber partions.

I helped a mate clear his late fathers unit last year, we had to recover all the electrical fittings, shelving from the storage area and evan the 'kitchen' sink which he had installed. About the only item he was let off of was repaining.

 

[Dougie212]

Thanks for your replies!! We were going to do it as a self build project from a friend who is a builder, after our experiences wth getting people in. I am confident in doing the work and will have the guidance of a friend if we get stuck.
My only concern is that someone ‘a bit of a busy body neighbour’ has told us that as it is an industrial premises we aren’t going to be able to use 4m length joists to support the 1st floor, and will have to have an engineer calculate for a steel... my understanding was 4m length joists were ok to support the floor and a stud built office on top. About the unit being returned.. they would just need t returning to the main 4 walls unless the next tenant wanted the layout as is - why that didn’t happen for us I don’t know

 

[^woody^]

Thanks for your replies!! We were going to do it as a self build project from a friend who is a builder, after our experiences wth getting people in. I am confident in doing the work and will have the guidance of a friend if we get stuck.

Are you saying that you are going to do your own building regulation drawings and specification?

Joist size are least of your worries. What do you know about escape routes and alarm systems, and the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order for instance?