Building regs for a potting shed

[flubber33]

So, my wife would like me to build her a potting shed. 4m high dual pitched roof, 2.1m eaves, 9m long, 4.5m deep.Behind house principle elevation so no planning permission required. This clearly exceeds building regs 30m2 rule though!

Outline plan is:

1. 3 bays, each 3m wide, left and middle bays open, right bay stud walled and wood clad for the tool shed
   
2. stone pillars at front corners and at the 'bay' joins, so 4 stone pillars at the front
3. rear block wall at 3m back
4. rear roof pitch extending out past the rear wall by 1.5m with 4 rear oak posts bolted into 300mm circumference, 800mm deep concrete footings drilled with a hydraulic auger to the bedrock (we have 18 inches topsoil, then clay, then bedrock at about 800mm). This rear 1.5m is general garden storage
   
5. stone pillars circa 300mm square on 600mm square pad footing
6. rear block wall of concrete block rendered on the inside. 600 wide 600 deep footings.

I refuse to engage an engineer at £1k plus for structural calcs for a potting shed...... and I'm not keen on the building inspector telling me to do this that or the other.... for a potting shed......

Question is, do I really need buildings regs for a shed?

 

[Notch7]

So, my wife would like me to build her a potting shed. 4m high dual pitched roof, 2.1m eaves, 9m long, 4.5m deep.Behind house principle elevation so no planning permission required. This clearly exceeds building regs 30m2 rule though!

Outline plan is:

1. 3 bays, each 3m wide, left and middle bays open, right bay stud walled and wood clad for the tool shed
   
2. stone pillars at front corners and at the 'bay' joins, so 4 stone pillars at the front
3. rear block wall at 3m back
4. rear roof pitch extending out past the rear wall by 1.5m with 4 rear oak posts bolted into 300mm circumference, 800mm deep concrete footings drilled with a hydraulic auger to the bedrock (we have 18 inches topsoil, then clay, then bedrock at about 800mm). This rear 1.5m is general garden storage
   
5. stone pillars circa 300mm square on 600mm square pad footing
6. rear block wall of concrete block rendered on the inside. 600 wide 600 deep footings.

I refuse to engage an engineer at £1k plus for structural calcs for a potting shed...... and I'm not keen on the building inspector telling me to do this that or the other.... for a potting shed......

Question is, do I really need buildings regs for a shed?

If you want a compliant structure, I dont see a choice. Building inspectors usually only aporove trench footings. Anything else is 'to engineers detail'.

If you dont do regs, it wint make much difference other than potentially no insurance cover and il would get picked up numpty solicitors the house changes hhnds in the future.

You could use private building inspectors, they are often more pragmatic on details, but the foundations wil, be the same issue.

 

[nickjb]

You say its clearly over 30m2 but the 30m2 is for the internal floor area. If those dims are external and depending on wall thickness you are only a smidge over. You could make it a little smaller to be exempt or just chance it.

That said if the construction is fairly standard you shouldn't need to do much to comply with building regs. You can build on a notice and if you get a good inspector they can be pretty friendly and helpful to home owners in my experience.

 

[Nakajo]

That said, the numpty conveyancer will *still* ask for the completion certificate.

 

[tony1851]

That said, the numpty conveyancer will *still* ask for the completion certificate.

Not only that, the numpty solicitor will also ask for 'proof of planning permission'. When seller advises that it's permitted development and doesn't need planning permission, numpty solicitor will ask for proof and thereby put nervous buyers off and risk loosing the sale - all because s/he is clueless.

 

[^woody^]

Isn't a "potting shed" just a posh greenhouse, which is exempt?

 

[Nakajo]

Have we just uncovered a building control loophole?

 

[^woody^]

Have we just uncovered a building control loophole?

Only for the vegetables amongst us

 

[DIYhard]

You say its clearly over 30m2 but the 30m2 is for the internal floor area. If those dims are external and depending on wall thickness you are only a smidge over. You could make it a little smaller to be exempt or just chance it.

A potting shed will usually have benches along the walls. An extra-thick wall below the bench top could substantially reduce the internal floor area and still be OK for the gardener (provided there was toe-space for standing close to the bench).

Building Control might regard this as cheating, so where do they actually take their floor area measurements? Must declare a personal interest, as I intend to build a garage (with workbenches) as spacious as possible within the 30m2 limit.

 

[flubber33]

You say its clearly over 30m2 but the 30m2 is for the internal floor area. If those dims are external and depending on wall thickness you are only a smidge over. You could make it a little smaller to be exempt or just chance it.

That said if the construction is fairly standard you shouldn't need to do much to comply with building regs. You can build on a notice and if you get a good inspector they can be pretty friendly and helpful to home owners in my experience.

Internal floor area is an interesting one. I’ve just finished a summer house to 29.99m2 int floor area, but I’ve noticed since then that the word ‘internal’ has been removed from the planning portal building regs section, which rather makes me think they cottoned on to my extra thick skirting boards.....

 

[flubber33]

A potting shed will usually have benches along the walls. An extra-thick wall below the bench top could substantially reduce the internal floor area and still be OK for the gardener (provided there was toe-space for standing close to the bench).

Building Control might regard this as cheating, so where do they actually take their floor area measurements? Must declare a personal interest, as I intend to build a garage (with workbenches) as spacious as possible within the 30m2 limit.

When I asked this question for my summer house build, I was told it was the internal floor you can stand on and as my attached verandah isn’t an internal floor, I built my summer house with an extra 15m2 under the roof.