Lintels and Building Regs

[helium4amc]

Hi, long time reader, first time poster here. I have many answers to questions here since I bought a house in March. Hopefully my questions won't be a problem!

I have a Victorian terrace (~1904) in Plymouth which has had a leaky roof for some time, with water dripping onto two wooden lintels on the top floor of the house.

The first is a lintel above a window opening. The opening is 1500 mm wide and the lintel is 225 mm deep by 150 mm high (9" x 6") and 1800 mm long.

The second lintel spans the opening to the bay at the front of the house. It is 150 mm by 150 mm (6" x 6") and roughly 3000 mm long.

The roof is being replaced in the next few weeks with one that doesn't leak like a sieve and my questions are thus:

1. Do I need building control approval to replace the lintels?
2. Can I replace them like-for-like with (treated) wooden lintels of the same size?
3. Alternatively, is it legitimate to bolt together smaller pieces of wood (e.g. 2 off 150 mm by 75 mm for the second lintel)?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Andrew

 

[DevilDamo]

My view on it would be you would need to submit a BR application as this is a structural application... even though you will be replacing like-for-like. You could do this on a Building Notice and you may be asked to have some calculations produced to justify the proposed timber lintels. If you were going for steel, this wouldn't be so much of a problem.

 

[helium4amc]

Thanks for the quick reply DevilDamo. I gave the building control people in Plymouth borough council a ring to check and the guy there told me I don't need a building notice as I am replacing "like-for-like" (apparently, this counts even if I put steel or concrete in instead), which is good to know.

Thanks again!

 

[DevilDamo]

Ah ok, that's good to know then At least you have had confirmation from BC