What regulations?

[gingernuts]

See my poor diagram.

My house (black box) has a porch (yellow box), and the internal garage (green box) has a door to it from the porch.

I'd like a door from inside the garage to a lean to shed (orange box) on the outside so I could easily access the shed and the garden from the garage. I've indicated the position of the proposed door as the blue box.

I asked the local authority and they said it didn't need planning permission and I'd need to get building regs approval.

What regulations do I need to adhere to? It will be a smaller than normal door as the lean to shed is about 6foot high (they said that would be OK). What about steps up/down, door and frame material, anything else?

Thanks.

Untitled

• gingernuts
• 6 Oct 2013
• 1

 

[tony1851]

Why bother applying for building regs?
Just do it and avoid paying the wages of those jobsworths at the council.

 

[gingernuts]

I just don't want to run into trouble when/if i come to sell. The previous owners here had done various alterations and didn't get regs sign off and i made them get it done before i'd buy and i don't want to be in that situation myself. I just like to do things by the book.

Thanks

 

[tony1851]

OK.
There would be no need for a fire door between the shed and the garage;
A step or steps do not come under Building regs as long as the difference in level is not more than 600mm;
Width/height of door doesn't matter;

You might need a beam over the door to support whatever is above. This makes it structural, at which point building regs come into play. Do you really want to pay some council bod £xxx to spend 60 seconds looking at it and to get a piece of paper to say it's OK?
If you sell the house, who's to know it wasn't done thirty years ago?
It's not like it's a big extension or conversion.

 

[gingernuts]

Thanks again. It's useful to know it doesn't need to be a fire door and there isn't a step issue.

I don't want to pay a council bod £100 but i do want to do things by the book unfortunately. It will need a concrete lintel (two in fact as it's a cavity wall).

Thanks again, that has been very helpful.