Temp

It won't behave any different. After all the top layer is the same.

+1. There is a world of difference between.. Solid wood - not always stable, can be an issue with UFH. Laminate - A photo of wood stuck to something that might once have been near a tree. Engineered wood - typically 4-6mm of solid wood glued to 7-16mm of plywood. The latter is indistinguishable from solid wood once down. Its far more stable than solid wood so you can have wider boards with UFH with less risk of warping/cupping. You can even sand it as many times as solid wood because both fail once down to the groove (assuming T&G boards are used). Shop around as the quality of Engineered wood varies. You can buy it ready finished or use Osmo Hardwax oil. The good stuff can cost more than solid wood. Try asking this place for sample of ready finished.. http://www.woodsofwales.co.uk/ I have no connection other than as a customer some 13 years ago.

I stand corrected (but that's ok, I'm used to it, I'm married).

Re: Fire protection. I think this is still current. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/17/extensions/9 Re: Thermal Insulation: As much as you can get as per the cross section I posted. Ideally the roof members would rest on top of the beam rather than against the web so there is more room for insulation above the beam. Is there something (like a window on the first floor) stopping you making the roof thicker by putting the insulation above the ceiling joists? Edit: I see your diagram shows a "cold roof" construction that requires ventilation. Could you switch to a "warm roof" construction that puts the insulation above the rafters and UB and doesn't need ventilation? https://www.jtcroofing.co.uk/news/warm-flat-roof-cold-flat-roof/

It depends on the height of the roof/celiling. The beam is either "in the ceiling" or "in the wall" if you get what I mean. Ours are in the wall so the inside had vertical patches of plasterboard covering the beam and then the wall was plastered. It sounds like your beam is higher (or the ceiling lower) so the beam is best hidden in the ceiling as per that cross section. Either use taller ceiling joists and notch them for the bottom of the beam or fix battens to the underside so the plasterboard is a bit lower and covers the beam.

I think it will have to be. If the Building Owner is to be given new responsibilities some legislation will be required so he can pass on the costs. In my relatives case the maintenance charge is nothing to do with the Freeholder. Until recently maintenance went into a fund (possibly a trust) managed by a residents association. The things they could collect funds for was limited by wording in the deeds. I don't think the freeholder has any powers to collect "maintenance". Indeed I have no idea how the freeholder pays for insurance given the ground rent for about half the flats is now £1 a year (which he doesn't collect). For another flat the leaseholders are shareholders (£1) in a company set up to administer maintenance. Again maintenance of that block is nothing to do with the Building freehold owner.

That's quite small. The table I'm using for my computer would fit in but it would probably have to be assembled inside unless one whole wall was a door. Plan the layout carefully and think about reflections off the computer screen as it will be hard to rearrange things later. I assume you mean between the studs. That's what I did. Outside clad with ply (for anti racking) then membrane, battens and weatherboarding. Inside lined with plasterboard or painted plywood. As for the electrics.. You should get an electrician to do it (and he will notify the BCO under Part P) but can probably save some money if you lay the cable yourself. There are several different options depending on the exact set up. https://electrical.theiet.org/media/1695/electrical-installations-outdoors-a-supply-to-a-detached-outbuilding.pdf I went for figure 3.. An underground cable from the CU in the house to a so called "Garage CU" in the outbuilding. This was laid in conduit but probably no need. The Garage CU has two ways (one for power and one for lighting). An earth rod is installed near the outbuilding connects to the garage CU. You might consider making the eaves high enough so you can attach a sun sail and sit outside under that in summer?

Presumably the "Building Owner" will be the freeholder not the leaseholder. Its not clear the freeholder has any mechanism to charge the leaseholder. The ground rent in many cases is fixed. For one flat I know about its fixed at £1 a year following a lease extension in 2013. There is a parliamentary report out.. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8244/ I would agree with that. Only the government can sort out this legal quagmire. It may require retrospective legislation. The government has always been reluctant to do that though.

PS The BCO will almost certainly want the beam clad with plasterboard to meet fire regs. So no exposed inner edge should be showing.

Unless I'm missing something the UB/RSJ won't be 300mm wide. Has someone specified a particular size UB/RSJ for a reason compared to something like an insulated lintel? Whats the span? Heavy doors? Here is a section google forund..

djh over on the Green Building Forum posted a link to this commentary on the the proposed Building Safety Bill.. https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/what-is-in-the-governments-building-safety-bill-seven-key-takeaways-67235 It proposes defining who is accountable for safety at various stages and a new regulator that will check project handovers between stages. After construction the owner becomes the accountable person responsible for safety certification. They plan to introduce it for existing buildings.

You probably already know but.. They will let you use a spreadsheet to add it all up provided you keep the headings the same as the forms. But as above they want a printed copy with the original receipts sorted in date order. I numbered mine to match a column I added to the spreadsheet.

During our final site inspection our BCO checked .. Every pane of window glass for a coating with some sort of meter. Every pane of glass that should be safety glass for standards marks (etched in a corner). Watched our builder pressure test the drains. Checked opening windows for clear opening width. Asked about ventilation for our wood burner.

Toolstation and Screwfix also sell membrane support trays .. https://www.toolstation.com/eaves-felt-support-tray/p43994 https://www.screwfix.com/p/felt-support-tray-1-5m-5-pack/36622?_requestid=448357

That drawing shows a block laid horizontally on the inner leaf. You wouldn't do that in practice as it bridges the cavity, instead there would possibly be an insulated cavity closure all around the window. In which case I don't see why a DPC is needed.

This page has various drawings. This one shows over fascia vents above a vapour permeable membrane. Others show ventilation required with "conventional underlay" etc https://www.fastrackcad.com/CADFrame.asp?Company_id=107&LevelEC=1&Level0=Cembrit&Level1=02%24FIBRE+CEMENT+SLATE+APPLICATIONS

If the membrane is vapour permeable there is no need to ventilate UNDER it. However where slates or interlocking flat tiles are used its advisable to ventilate between the membrane and slates. This isn't necessary when textured hand made clay tiles are used because they don't lay flat and there are lots of gaps. So your sketch looks right. The vents are for the gap between membrane and slate and stop birds getting up there. They should also allow any rain that get blown under the slates to run down and escape.

+1 If plain tiles are used the bottom layer must also slope down.. https://chandlermaterials.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/Creasing-Tiles-Leaflet.pdf

https://www.proctorgroup.com/how-to-choose-the-right-membrane-for-open-jointed-cladding

The problem is that there is nobody certifying or approving non traditional construction techniques for life expectancy. The government should consider setting up a body (if the NHBC won't) to do this job. Its going to be important if we are ever to mass produce houses in factories in the UK.

In part. Our house is on a gentle slope and is split level. On the up hill side of each change of level we put a French drain under the house to route water out sideways to surface water drains.

That's what we have, just 90 degree bends with a short length of 110mm up to ground level. 80mm down pipe fits inside with the rubber boot covering the gap. Needed to use plumbers lube to get the rubbers in place on the down pipes but seems to work fine for us. Sorry I can't remember where we got the rubbers. We do have a filter that stops leaves getting into the rainwater tank but no silt trap. The tank is just for garden and car use so not an issue. Quite a lot of silt in the tank after 13 years.

Our rainwater down pipes are 80mm and the drains 110mm. We didn't want gullies and ended up using rubber adaptors that connect the two and stop stones entering. We have never needed access for rodding but could remove the lower section of 80mm down pipe if necessary.

I think this might be a job for a Planning Consultant that has handled similar cases. It looks like most councils handle applications for a dropped kerb differently to other planning applications (eg an extension). However it also looks like you can appeals to the Planning Inspectorate eg following a Planning Application where the "development" is a dropped kerb. Such an appeal would take the decision out of the hands of the council. The council could contest it but that costs them money so if they think they might loose they might not even fight it. Appeal Inspectors do put weight on formally ratified local plans but less weight on plans that have not been formally ratified. They are also required to take into account National Policies. These Appeals were refused.. https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewDocument.aspx?fileid=29689390 These Appeals were granted.. http://www2.guildford.gov.uk/councilmeetings/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=4648 http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/MVM.DMS/Planning Application/626000/626324/P_2015_00021 APPEAL DECISION.pdf More searching might turn up one involving loss of roadside parking.

He suggests they changed policy in 2019 and no longer allow dropped kerbs to result in the loss of on street parking. Perhaps ask if the policy change was put out to consultation (if not is it a valid planning policy?). When was it ratified by the council etc Perhaps you can find another policy that contradicts this one? How about finding out what their policy is on electric cars and C02 emissions? Then perhaps write to the chairman of the council and point out that this policy precludes you buying an electric car as you cannot run a cable across the kerb.