Will i need planning permission?

[andy2306]

Hi,

Im in the process of renovating the kitchen and dining room, There is currently a brick load bearing wall between the two which i want to remove to make an open plan kitchen and dining room. Im also raising the inglenook style fire place to fit a large cooker in the breast. On top of this i want to fit consertina doors to a width of 3.6m in the external dining room wall in place of a window and small double patio doors.

Im not sure what i need to do to start with? Get builders in quotes? Get plans drawn up, Contact the council? Building regs?


Thanks

Andy

 

[Richard C]

You won’t need planning permission but its notifyable work & you will need to submit a Building Notice. Unlikely you’ll need plans but you will need to submit structural calculations & possibly sketches for the support beam that will be required for the load bearing wall & your LABC will want to inspect the beam installation & the installation of the bi-fold doors. 3.6m is quiet a wide opening, are the existing doors & window under the same lintel? If installing a new lintel or even a beam is involved, they will most likely want calculations for that as well.

You need to start with a builder; get at least 3 quotes, make sure they know what they are doing & you need to make it clear if you want the builder to take responsibility for the Building Notice submission; they wont necessarily do it automatically & the responsibility is on you to ensure the work complies with Building Regulations, not the builder.

You will need forced extract ventilation (fan) in the kitchen & venting up a flue as a means of extraction (if that’s what you had in mind) is a really bad idea & unlikely to be accepted on it's own. You would need a considerable size fan to shift the vertical column of air in the flue & you will suffer condensation & a build up of congealed fat on the inside of the flue. Any new electrical work in the kitchen must be done by a Part P registered electrician & certified complaint.