jamieled

This might not help you, but the only way I've seem this done (and how we did ours) is to stop the sheets at the side of the velux making sure the sheet drains properly into the side velux gutter. Then sheet above and below the velux, lapped appropriately and new sheet started on the other side of the velux. See @Cpd's Post above. I can't see how you can make your example watertight without having at least one cut sheet.

You can use any numbering system, as long as it's unique and clear. You don't need to use the invoice numbers at all if you don't want to. I just started at 1 and numbered them all sequentially which was accepted and easier for me to keep track.

Are you sure it's not the stove? Normally a new one emits a fairly unpleasant smell until the paint on it properly cures. Most manufacturers instructions I've seen make reference to this. How long have you been using it since installed?

They seem to swallow up a lot of timber since the expansion. One of the local timber harvesters sells pretty much everything he cuts to them (barring the sawlogs). Always see massive stacks of timber hidden near the factory.

Oops. Failed with those two then. But this is a self build forum, people are generally biased towards doing things themselves. That's not to say that either my haircut or contract documents are pretty though.

The 2022 change to red diesel use is mainly related to construction. It can still be used in agriculture and forestry.

Yep, they sent 3-4 weeks after sending it in to confirm they had received it and a letter about 2 months later noting it was a valid claim.

They typically want to see stuff itemised to check you're not reclaiming the vat on stuff you shouldn't, like tools. We submitted our VAT return end of July 2021. Had a letter re a successfull claim about 2 weeks ago, money hopefully coming soon.

Yep, I was similar and they were accepted.

Jdp in Inverness can get hold of graf plants at reasonable prices.

There is a grant scheme for assisting with the cost of high electrical connections in the North of Scotland. If your connection cost is high it may be worth a look. There are certain conditions attached.

There's only one type of Septic tank. Septic tanks are anaerobic, package treatment plants tend to be aerobic.

I rerouted the backwash from our filter straight to the soakaway rather than put it into the tank.

I have a pal who experienced this. They made him put that black and yellow warning tape down round the edge. Easily removed though....

Some water companies are using in line turbines on raw water supply pipes (scottish water for one). Helps if you have a hilly supply area. Doing it on the clean water side is problematic due to both pressure requirements and the need for cleanliness. Most waste water treatment plants are close to either a river or coastal water body in order to avoid pumping sewerage back to the plant so there'd be next to no head for turbine to work.

The UK suds website has all the tools you should need for your runoff and storage calcs. The ciria suds manual has most of the detail. If you have any specific questions on the methods then ask away.

@zoothorn think it is a 5 inch flue. It converts to twinwall just out of shot where it goes through the caravan roof. The cement board protects the caravan from the stove and the single wall flue.

@zoothorn couple of photos for you. It seems I actually used bricks for bearers, but timber would work just as well as the bearers don't heat up. Its a small windy smithy stove. None of this meets any regs. It was in a small touring caravan so not a huge amount of space. Think the bit of slate cost about 8 quid. It's about 30cm by 60cm.

Took a similar, but simpler approach to your example zoot. We have a small stove, about 4kw in the caravan. Put 3 timber bearers down, then a cheap slab of slate from b and q for the stove to sit on. Works a treat. Needed some cement board behind it to protect the caravan.

I used the highland pump centre for supply of my filters. They double checked my design using the sampling results. They work all over scotland I think. Otherwise if you want design, supply and install, highwater seem to do most of the work around us.

The basic point is that hmrc now accept that manual blinds are fixtures/fittings and so the VAT can be reclaimed.

May be of use: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-and-customs-brief-5-2021-vat-liability-of-installation-of-blinds-first-tier-tribunal-decision/revenue-and-customs-brief-5-2021-vat-liability-of-installation-of-blinds-first-tier-tribunal-decision

With my self-builders hat on I can say that we valued the architects input. We had a pretty clear idea of the design before we went to the architect, but they had some fairly valuable input which we both reckon enhanced it. To the OP - we paid a bit more than your £5k but that got us through planning and the building warrant. I'd say the help with the building warrant was just as useful - as a one off builder I have no interest in getting my head round everything so having someone who knows that stuff as their day job was invaluable. No need for CAD files really, I recall passing them on to a contractor for use once but that's it. With my professional hat on, the CAD file debate is a bit interesting. I've spent most of my career to date working for large engineering consultants. In more recent years, the use of BIM has increased and all big projects now use it. Any profession not handing over their digital design to the BIM model co-ordinator wouldn't get the job. This model is not just used for construction, one of the perceived benefits is that the client gets a fully integrated model on construction completion so any future work, including demolition, should be easier to manage. In these cases however, the requirement to hand over CAD/BIM files is a contractual deliverable. So the answer here might be that if it's important to a self builder to have access to CAD files, write it into the contract with your architect. Then you'll find out how important it is, based on who refuses to work with you.

There was quite a lot of anti vibration type matting kicking around on ebay last month.

Remember that SAP is short for Standard Assessment Procedure. It may be relatively good for some people, but the process needs to make a lot of assumptions about how you use the house - do you heat it permanently, to what temperature, your domestic hot water use pattern etc. Particularly in the case of having primary and secondary heat sources SAP makes an assumption about the proportional use which is unlikely to reflect reality. So I'd say if you want to understand how accurate it is, you need to 1) understand the assumptions its making about the big energy uses and 2) ensure it has the most representative information on your construction and DHW/heating.