Hi I'm new to this site and hoping someone might be able to give me some information and maybe advice.
We are in the process of regularising an existing loft conversion done some time in the past not by us. I was assured that as we were only altering the staircase the insulation would not need to be upgraded to current standards because of the rules about the regs not being retrospective and because these standards would simply not be practicable. The regularisation notes also say that only reasonably practicable alterations would be requested.
So the inspector came yesterday, happily approved all the new work, asked for one or two minor alterations and for another engineers report about the existing structure. This is fine, we don't want the ceiling falling on our children's heads. However there were a few points that are simply not feasible or I have questions about.
1) We are to either double board the ceilings on the 2nd floor or add a fire blanket under the loft floor. Can anyone tell me anything about the fire blanket, it's thickness cost etc so we can consider which way to go? We are looking at £600+ to do the ceilings plus the major mess and disruption. We already have 100mm of rockwool under the floor so there's not really much space.
2) He asks how we will ventilate the rood space. This seems then to be a shrouded request to install roof vents. Is this our best option or are there other alternatives?
3) He asks to confirm if we have a cellar, which we do, that has external access. Does anyone know how this is relevant and if it might mean yet more headaches?
4) This is the nail in the coffin and might mean regularisation is not possible. He's asked for insulation to 2006 levels. I can't find what thickness this is but a google shows that this was the year it was dramatically increased and my retired architect father says it's not much thicker now than then. We currently have 2100 head height on the stair landing so adding anything like the current thickness would mean we would no longer have legal head height and thus a non-functioning room. It's an entirely arbitrary year he has picked. I informed it that the people before me did not do the work and they moved in in 2005 so the idea of basing it on probably regulations required at the time is already out of the window. (Does anyone know what 2005 regs were?) Looking through my deeds, the house had a new gable end in 1998 which seems a probable time for the loft work to have been done, probably not before at least. (Anyone know what the regs were for 1998?). In submitting my form after discussion with building control I wrote that my understanding was that what we were doing was all that was reasonably practicable. In that conversation I expressed my concern about the insulation as there isn't room (it's very small conversion, we're only a two up-two down house). When the inspector left yesterday he said he certainly wouldn't be asking for current insulation levels so what's with asking for something only fractionally less? We shouldn't be having to do the insulation in the first place as this was existing work. Again my architect Dad says that under the other authorities he's worked with they have never asked for insulation or even floor structural work where existing work was being regularised.
Any guidance? I feel at a dead end. We would've done the staircase and submitted a building notice had we not been fairly well assured this wouldn't happen. What a waste of thousands of pounds!
We are in the process of regularising an existing loft conversion done some time in the past not by us. I was assured that as we were only altering the staircase the insulation would not need to be upgraded to current standards because of the rules about the regs not being retrospective and because these standards would simply not be practicable. The regularisation notes also say that only reasonably practicable alterations would be requested.
So the inspector came yesterday, happily approved all the new work, asked for one or two minor alterations and for another engineers report about the existing structure. This is fine, we don't want the ceiling falling on our children's heads. However there were a few points that are simply not feasible or I have questions about.
1) We are to either double board the ceilings on the 2nd floor or add a fire blanket under the loft floor. Can anyone tell me anything about the fire blanket, it's thickness cost etc so we can consider which way to go? We are looking at £600+ to do the ceilings plus the major mess and disruption. We already have 100mm of rockwool under the floor so there's not really much space.
2) He asks how we will ventilate the rood space. This seems then to be a shrouded request to install roof vents. Is this our best option or are there other alternatives?
3) He asks to confirm if we have a cellar, which we do, that has external access. Does anyone know how this is relevant and if it might mean yet more headaches?
4) This is the nail in the coffin and might mean regularisation is not possible. He's asked for insulation to 2006 levels. I can't find what thickness this is but a google shows that this was the year it was dramatically increased and my retired architect father says it's not much thicker now than then. We currently have 2100 head height on the stair landing so adding anything like the current thickness would mean we would no longer have legal head height and thus a non-functioning room. It's an entirely arbitrary year he has picked. I informed it that the people before me did not do the work and they moved in in 2005 so the idea of basing it on probably regulations required at the time is already out of the window. (Does anyone know what 2005 regs were?) Looking through my deeds, the house had a new gable end in 1998 which seems a probable time for the loft work to have been done, probably not before at least. (Anyone know what the regs were for 1998?). In submitting my form after discussion with building control I wrote that my understanding was that what we were doing was all that was reasonably practicable. In that conversation I expressed my concern about the insulation as there isn't room (it's very small conversion, we're only a two up-two down house). When the inspector left yesterday he said he certainly wouldn't be asking for current insulation levels so what's with asking for something only fractionally less? We shouldn't be having to do the insulation in the first place as this was existing work. Again my architect Dad says that under the other authorities he's worked with they have never asked for insulation or even floor structural work where existing work was being regularised.
Any guidance? I feel at a dead end. We would've done the staircase and submitted a building notice had we not been fairly well assured this wouldn't happen. What a waste of thousands of pounds!
