Fast Response

[kcjones]

after deciding to shelve the idea of putting a small conservatory up at the rear of our house and instead putting up a one storey extension we sent a Householders Questionaire to the LA on Tuesday (yesterday) to see if we were right in thinking that we did not need Planning Permission.

Today we recieved an email to confirm that we indeed do NOT need the Planning Permission.

We are so pleased at the fast response and confirmation and will now sort out getting the Building Regulations.

We want to submitt all the plans an forms etc ourselves and would be grateful for any advise & help and also what do you think this stage will cost.

We are so excited as we have been wanting this extention for a while.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

There are several ways to get approval, I assume you'll be submitting plans for approval before you start the works. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/bu...tapproval/howtogetapproval/bcpresiteapproval/

If you willing to learn all that will be required to put some drawings together and learn to use some freebie cad downloaded of the web or shock horror do it by hand to produce some drawings will cost you zero except time and effort, to submit your application to the local authority will cost you around £560.

Here would be a good place to start: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/extensions/ and you'll certainly need to take a stroll through some of these: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/

Happy reading!

 

[^woody^]

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I can't see how anyone with no knowledge of building regulations can submit an extension plan and get it approved.

OK, well if you study for a year or so, maybe

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I do tend to agree ^woody^ however there are a few Posters who appear to have done so.

 

[DevilDamo]

We want to submitt all the plans an forms etc ourselves and would be grateful for any advise & help and also what do you think this stage will cost.

Submit the BR application using a Building Notice then, which requires very little detail as most of it is dealt with by a competent contractor on site.

Fee's vary for different aspects of work so depending on the exact nature and extent of your works will determine the BR fee applicable.

 

[^woody^]

It's very risky relying on a builder to meet the regualtions without any plans, and it will be hard to actually find a builder willing to take on the risk - unless for a cost premium ..... which in turn would be the cost of a decent set of plans drawn professionally

 

[garyo]

I made my own plans for a front extension based on what little I knew about building, and by running through a few iterations of review/refinement with the knowledgeable people on here. My background was a few years of DIY and a good amount of lurking on here since building a conservatory a few years back.

Don't forget that the building regs officer will also be happy to go through a few cycles of review/refine to bring the plans up to regs.

I'll find some links in a second for the kind of detail I produced using Visio, or you can browse my image gallery.

Gary

 

[DevilDamo]

Don't forget that the building regs officer will also be happy to go through a few cycles of review/refine to bring the plans up to regs.

I tend to disagree with that statement.

If a client has little knowledge of the construction process, then they could go down the Building Notice route, employ a competent contractor and let them get on with the works. If the client then starts to ask the BCO questions about complying with regs, then the BCO will be reluctant to give such advice as...

1. It's a BN and BN's are intended to be used by competent persons; and
2. The BCO's haven't and will not check/approve the submitted details.

If the client goes down the Full Plans route, then one would expect the client or clients' appointed agent to have quite extensive knowledge of the BR's and the construction process in order to produce the required details for a FP submission and to see it through the approval process.

BCO's are there as checking officers who will make sure your design/building complies with the BR's. They are not designers.

 

[garyo]

I tend to disagree with that statement

Perhaps I phrased it badly. I should have said, the BCO will tell you if you're not pointing something out on your full plans application. e.g. "Please demonstrate that there's room for aquate lead flashing upstand" "Please demonstrate how you're dealing with rainwater"

I imagine this varies from one BCO to another, but mine was happy to ask for more detail, and for me to resubmit. He did this three times... I've no idea why he didn't give me one single list of omissions at the start.

Gary

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I imagine this varies from one BCO to another, but mine was happy to ask for more detail, and for me to resubmit. He did this three times... I've no idea why he didn't give me one single list of omissions at the start.

Are you actually saying your BI sent you back your plans for amendment so that you could re-submit the lot three times?

 

[DevilDamo]

"Please demonstrate that there's room for aquate lead flashing upstand" "Please demonstrate how you're dealing with rainwater"

Well yes... they are issues picked up on a plan check. If you haven't correctly specified/detailed something, then they'll ask for it. That's normal practice.

 

[garyo]

Are you actually saying your BI sent you back your plans for amendment so that you could re-submit the lot three times?

Yes, but as devil says, they were due to omissions rather than changes.

I expect that it didn't really count as three rounds formal resubmission: I personally emailed him with revised plans which incorporated his feedback, and he then asked for futher inclusions. After a point he was happy and stopped asking for revisions. Time passed, and then I received a letter of approval.

Maybe I've been lucky and landed a BCO that can spot a DIY'er that could do with a break?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Maybe I've been lucky and landed a BCO that can spot a DIY'er that could do with a break?

You were lucky, all they'd have been obliged to do was reject your application for insufficient information, I bet he loved you! Frankly, you're not building a good case for a DIYer submitting their own application.

 

[IJWS15]

I do tend to agree ^woody^ however there are a few Posters who appear to have done so.

I did - but a few years ago!

 

[Lowfellboy]

You say planning permission is not required.
Have you applied for a Lawful Development Cert? If not, and say you come to sell your house, you will need this to show your project was allowed. The planning dept. will then ask for a full planning application as a retrospective LDC.
Even if you do not plan selling your house, lets say a neighbour applies for something similar to your extension, they get refused and say, but they were allowed....were they now...lets see about that.
In my opinion, and my opinion only, the only difference between Full Planning and LDC is about three sheets of form filling.