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I was quoted over £10k for a landscape visual impact assessment (this was the most likely tactic for council to refuse my planning application. I enddd up writing my own (despite some comments that it needed to be by someone with Landscape architectural post-nominals or such). At some point I’ll revisit my costings and share as much as I can - we bought land without any PP and worked very hard to achieve it, against some very strong advice that it was ‘nigh on impossible’.

>>> I can't think of any way to measure this accurately myself Err, a cheap rotating laser maybe? >>> I'm guessing this sort of thing is non-negotiable? Maybe not, get the person from the water company on site - the guys on the ground are often more realistic that the ‘rules’ say.

Isn’t it great when you’re surprised on the upside with someone’s work? Out of maybe 5 external contractors I’ve used, excluding trades, 1 has been great, 1 has been OK, and 3 have been varying levels of bollocks.

And that brings us back to mains sockets with USB-C. The vast majority of them will be more basic chargers so basically the same as a USB-A fast charger but with a usb-c connector. So that means even if you have a socket with a USB-C you can't necessarily plug your higher power device into it and charge at a reasonable rate. All devices have to support the lowest power standard but a laptop would take hours upon hours to charge at that rate. When I say higher power device, obviously laptops but it also applies to tablets and even the big high end phones. Anything with a big battery wants a higher power charge.

For what it's worth, the majority of my bench height sockets have both A and C. The one on my island is a high power one so can charge the laptop up while sat at it. Use them most days and if it ever becomes obsolete id just change them to whatever comes out next. USB-D 🤷🏼‍♂️

For laptops, monitors, etc. The charger will be physically quite a bit bigger if it's putting out that much power. I'd guess the more commonly available ones will go up to 30-60W max. If you have a USB-C laptop charger that will be 60-150W probably.

240w, goodness.

Yes, USB-C generally charges much faster than USB-A, although it really depends on what you are charging, the cable you are using, and the capability of whatever sits beyond the actual port. Some USB-C ports with Power Delivery (PD) can pump out 240W compared to a USB-A port rated at 2.4A pushing out just 12W.

I think there are two big issues with the "stuff": 1- it disproportionately affects lower budget builds. 2- it mostly has to be paid out early, sometimes years before even starting the build, this can be challenging financially. A lot of this is ripe for disruption but I fear the self build market is too small to make the development costs worthwhile. @Gus Potterhas written persuasively in other threads about the savings from getting a good designer/engineer in early. It seems to me the issue is that obviously makes that professional more expensive, and how does a self builder separate someone who is offering a better service from someone who is just charging more? There is no way of knowing whether a professional has settled for the first option they found or considered 10. This is why I try to do as much as possible myself, I'd rather die by my own mistakes, at least I will have learnt something!

Does USB C charge faster than the old ones? I have a multiple outlet charger and maybe its my imagination but I think it does*. *No science applied here,I'm guesstimating.

That lead to yet another amusing and informative visit to urbandictionary.com

@-rick- has some great advice there, and I would echo every comment, especially those related to making an electrician's job just a little more difficult! Connector types and abilities have changed greatly in a relatively short space of time, so you don't want something that might be obsolete in a couple of years, or not as performant as you'd like. I'd also add that cables and connectors are more prone to damage when they come out of a socket at a 90-degree angle, and it's also difficult to push furniture back against them (as an example). I'd much prefer a plug-in adapter where the cable exits at 180-degrees below the outlet. Hope I've explained that correctly! Like in this image...

Do you have BC Plan Approval? What is complicated about B5 compliance?

I never expected it to be cheaper I always expect it to be better than getting professionals to do it Many years ago I did build myself a car - great fun to do and use. No carnage. The problem with "professionals" is that its inherent to try to make as good a living as possible. To do this they must take the minimum amount of time and move on to the next job. If there is any competition they price low to get the work, then work down to the price doing all sorts of short cuts and bodges. Any whiff of its not so much the price as the quality of work that's important to me and its like having "mug" tattooed across my forehead and ridiculous numbers spring forth - and even if agreed, the speed at all costs working methods are so ingrained the attention to detail still doesn't happen. Example: One of my pet hates are the plastic inserts that are used to edge tiles. To avoid that I spend ages mitering the tiles around window reveals and the like giving an even grout line all through. I expect a professional could do that probably better and quicker than I can - but none do - or at least none that I've ever come across and I've seen a lot of tiled bathrooms in my life. You see mostly plastic, some up market metal can look better, and some make no attempt at all and just leave the tile edge on show. But we all like different things and that choice obviously suits most. Me - I'd rather do it myself and get a "better" result.

You might not agree with my assesment of lining pockets, but that its often 10's thousand i dont think is really debateable. As each year rolls by, more and more "stuff" gets added. Councils just demanding a report on everything, soil contamination, newts, bats, archealogical digs etc. Even where this is absolutely no evidence that its needed. But it generates an industry of people who are seen/licensed/recognised as experts in those field, who all charge handsomely for often very little. You suggest it can (could?) be reduced with a good planning agent. Sure. But again, more (unknown) costs. They charge handsomely too. Eventually (well in some places already have) we arrive at a point where its simply uneconomic to build at all as the "non building" costs just keep going up. Which of course happens everytime government "meddles" and adds more layers of complexity. I saw the £76K figure reported. In some of the comments a couple of developers (big ones) pointed out that the report did not include planning costs (which it didnt). One of them said his planning costs per unit were greater than the £76k. Ok, all anecdotal, but its all adding up. Theres someone on here who paid over £10k for a bat survey!! Thats just ludicrous. There are few people willing to enter into building there own house when there are so many costs that cannot be known before you start. Of course there are a few with unlimited cash, and thats great for them, but thats not most people. That so many on here manage to see it through to the end, is in itself amazing, and hats off to those that do. I couldnt cope with that level of financial uncertainty as i couldnt simply rustle up and exta 20, 30, 40k based on a councils whim. The thread started around comments about what stops more people self building.

You can often make contact with the fire service and I have found them quite helpful. Did the fire service speak to BC? Were they happy with your proposals? Did the fire service bring this up as an issue at planning stage? They will often relax some guidelines for a single dwelling.

I don't agree with that. we need legislation and control of it. Yes there are also specialists who write themselves in to planning control. The archaeologist or naturalist who says that it may be a sensitive site and that they themselves should be paid to research further. (I'm not mentioning these at random, and it bothered me a lot at the time) But a good planning agent or designer can cut through some of that. Also these costs come off the land not from the builder. An acre of farm land in SE England is worth £10,000. Get planning permission and that becomes 800k to £1M or even much more. £50k may go to the community. Someone's garden worth £30k to the house value sells for £200k with permission for a house. I'd be interested to hear the equivalents around the country. These windfalls are where the money goes. Another discussion might be on why the big sites sell for so much money when years before they were worth next to nothing... is there a value below which they will not stoop? and is there a value above which the developers wont increase. None of them.

Thanks for your reply. I do appreciate they are really busy, and not looking for them to come up with the solutions. We are having issues with the B5 compliance, we had contacted the fire service who said they needed to talk to the building control officer. Our officer said to forward the information over to him which we did immediately. This was 2 weeks ago and he is not replying to any of our attempts to contact him, even though he has mentioned the issue to our structural engineer while disusing a different issue. Its cost us money and time. We are now unsure of how to proceed.

Double C no question. USB A will hang around but anything new will come with C and adapters are easy to get. Having said that, personally I wouldn't get socket integrated USB at all. The prices are high, standards change, the standby energy use of them adds up and the risk of them breaking/costing you more money during their life is not great either. (Some types of electrical testing done during EICRs and fault investigation would require all these sockets to be disconnected before the test is run, that's going lead to the electrician charging more). I'd rather get something along these lines for when USB is needed (not a recommendation just result of quick search - in fact not sure the foldable pins is a good idea). https://www.amazon.co.uk/TEKRAT-Charger-Foldable-iPhone-Samsung-White/dp/B0DNRLYSZ1

Nice. Looks like I was half way there. Yeah, it’s deceptive but could be at little as 15mm so I was thinking 12 mm marmox and skim. Was hoping to avoid shimming though 🤣

This comment, and that of Ed, is so true. The building game is in the dark ages, everything is a one off, even for volume builders. Its bonkers. I cant understand why no big corparate has entered the marke with a disruptive product thats better. Its happened in every other sector one can think of, but building seems stragely "off limits" And so we continue to mess about, paddling in mud, mixing up concrete, mortar and plaster, and chopping up bits of wood in said mud to build stuff! One day someone will.......................................

Its not any lack of understanding or knowledge holding things back. Its simple, practical issues, like land availability, planning, and most important now (more than in the past) is that it makes no financial sense in most of the country. Its not uncommon to spend several 10's thousands on "stuff" that has nothing to do with actually building, but more to do with lining other peoples pockets for reports, surveys, etc etc. I saw a report recently that "stuff" was adding £76k per hhouse in costs, on average, across the UK. Dont know how accurate the number is, but its a lot, regardless. I long harboured a dream to self build, but my first 2 points scuppered any hope, before i even got the the "does it make financial sense" bit. Saveasteadings point that the only sensible way now is a light renovation. Which, having thrown in the towel on self build is essentially what im doing. Will it be nice when its done, yes. Will it be what i really wanted, absolutely not. Beyond project management, which has its place, though not for me, im really not clear what you are offering. Being blunt, sounds like another "cost" thats adds little if anything to the task of getting a house built. Maybe ive misunderstood?

We are putting a select few sockets with integrated USB ports in our build. We’ve given thought to where we *really* need / would value the fast charge ones (as they’re so much more expensive), but I’d like to throw out the question of whether we go for USB-C only or USB-A sockets. Worked example: Under the kitchen island (has seating) we will have a fast charge integrated USB socket (2 ports). Do we go double-C or A&C. I have my own initial thought, this thread is more to gather a bit of the wider view without leading the witness as it were. TIA

That's very tight to get insulation in there but anything would be a great improvement to prevent condensation etc. How many mm do you have to play with, it looks to be only about 15mm? I would get Marmox board and shim it level and screw it to the brick reveal, holding it back 5mm from the window frame. Squirt behind it with FM330 or other low expansion, airtight expanding foam. Then use a white acoustic/airtight sealant to seal the 5mm gap between the marmox and the window frame. The room side of the Marmox can be taped to the PIR. 3MM Gypsum skim over the marmox then. Consider adding some kind of check strap or other stopper to the window sash to stop it hitting the reveal and cracking it afterwards.

But the scheme is different in Scotland - heat pump mandatory on a new build so no grants for us.