jamieled

We're just finishing up. I don't expect to spend any more money on materials. It's likely to cost ~£1300/sqm. That's for 137m2, all costs excl. Land. I think it's a reasonable cost given figures quoted by others on here. We did quite a lot of work ourselves, but also spent quite a bit on labour. If I remove the majority of the labour cost (excl. UVC installation and electrical work as I realistically couldn't do them myself) then it works out about £1050/m2. Our utilities costs were high as we're in the sticks. Everyone will give you different values, so make sure you understand the assumptions behind £/m2 values given.

Chucked a handful of cellulose into a fire out of curiosity. Given it's made from shredded paper I'd expected it to go up, but it just sort of smouldered. I think it's treated with borax or something like it.

In a word, no. There are two separate sets of certifiers in Scotland, certifiers of design (for example an SER engineer), and approved certifiers of construction (the people who do the work). There is a website somewhere where you can find a list of all the approved certifiers of design/construction. However, in my experience there isn't a lot of additional work when using a tradesperson who isn't on that list. You end up paying a bit more to building control, they inspect a bit more at completion but it's not a lot of hassle or extra money and gives you a bit more freedom in finding folk to work with you.

If you're connecting under G98 doesn't the inverter have to be fully type tested - i.e. using an inverter that doesn't limit export is not allowed under EREC G98 guidelines? The point of which is so that the DNO doesn't need to witness it? Under G99 witnessing is required.

Can't comment directly on your options as I don't know much about electric boilers, but your proposed setup is pretty similar to ours. We are not at passive standard, our main heating is via a woodburner in an open area. We have a couple of electric radiators downstairs but we haven't used them apart from checking they work. We have wired upstairs for electric radiators but based on experience so far I don't think we'll install anything. I did think about putting UFH loops in just in case but didn't bother in the end. When it gets colder we have the woodburner on most evenings for a couple of hours and that sorts us for a day. We're based in the highlands and the house gets quite a bit of solar gain due to its orientation. hot water from a direct electric UVC coupled to PV via an immersion diverter (which we still get some benefit from even at this time of year).

Haha. Oops. Just as well you clarified, passed me by.

Insofar as I get the baby bath out the cupboard, fill it up, clean the babies then empty the bath and put it back in the cupboard then yes. Does anyone actually 'install' a baby bath?

I think BC are generally overstretched. There's also not a lot of consistency within local authorities. I'm in the same LA as @ProDave and while I applied for a temporary habitation certificate the BCO told me the only difference between that and completion is some of the outstanding paperwork (I'm not convinced about this but didn't have a strong counter-argument). My temporary habitation certificate is still pending after several months - it was never rejected or accepted. I had a BCO inspect our house after my temporary habitation application and he subsequently gave me a list of the things I needed to sort for completion. I applied for completion over a month ago and haven't heard anything. Anyway, the point is that the delays are pretty typical. Using the ebuilding standards website will help the LA to accept or reject it one way or the other. Did you have any previous inspections - at foundation, structure or insulation stages? Did they say anything at that point?

When we had our air test done, one of the testers invited me to open an external door when we were at 50Pa. It was like a hurricane entering the house and nothing like 'normal' conditions. Does anyone know if SAP calculates ventilation heat loss using the 50Pa measurement, or is it just used as an index in order to calculate heat loss at a more realistic pressure difference?

The three months being from the document date seems quite clear apart from the 'usually ' bit. Can it be quoted back to them?

It took a week or two for hmrc to acknowledge our claim had been received so don't stress if they haven't got round to it yet.

Well done. Hoping for ours in the next few weeks.

Also used Royal mail recorded/signed for. Took a week or two for hmrc to acknowledge receipt.

It seems totally bonkers that the principle of planning can be established without properly considering flood risk. Although a sequential report is not a flood risk assessment it is related to flooding. The requirement seems strange given that self builders are not in the position of being able to compare different plots and then select one for development as land is so limited. Does the planning in principle decision reference flood risk at all?

I think as you suggest it will depend a bit on the type of report. Flood risk assessments are often development specific so an assessment for another development would need to consider risk both to and from that development. If it's an area of extremely low risk I'd imagine you'll be fine with your existing report as there will be an obvious answer. There may have been changes to estimated flood levels (if applicable) since the original report and also things like climate change allowances. However, if I were in your shoes I'd just use the original one anyway, the worst you'll end up with is being told it needs updated.

The monitor I have is hardwired so I doubt it's for power cut reasons.

It won't much. But there's increasing concern amongst regulators about cumulative effect from multiple small developments. It also removes the need to identify a threshold beyond which impact is likely - it's more straightforward to apply it to all development. On a related note we also know that permitted development has, in some circumstances, made a significant change to flood risk.

I do this sort of stuff but in Scotland where it's a bit different. Don't have a good handle on costs in England. Looking at the guidance it might be possible to work at it yourself if you have the inclination. This will give you some good background on sequential assessment (follow the links) if you haven't already found it: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-assessment-in-flood-zones-2-and-3

I guess they must have discussed it without me knowing then, no hydrants for a mile or so.

We have a house with off grid water and sewerage. We don't have any special measures in place for firefighting water. I don't think the fire service were consulted at warrant stage.

Options for what? Space heating? PV output will be at its worst in winter and will contribute very little to energy demand at that time of year. I would suggest PV can be beneficial if it's considered within a wider plan for how you manage heating, hot water and energy use generally. Financially it makes more sense to self install if you want value for money. I'm sure many installers will be happy to quote you, but make sure you understand how you are planning to use this PV before you ring them. There are a lot of questions to answer before jumping in.

Indeed. In many parts of Scotland the last few months would also have put paid to the idea of rainwater harvesting. It's often assumed we're a wet country, and on a global scale that's probably true. Doesn't mean we don't have supply problems in dry weather.

There should be enough information about to make an informed assessment of the likelihood of hitting water. The bgs website allows you to access to some borehole information for free. You may be able to identify a nearby site and ascertain what depth water was hit. Of course the level may be seasonally varying and it depends how close it is to your site. Nothing is guaranteed but it should be possible to remove a chunk of the risk. Water divining is still respected by some hydrogeologists and I've seen good results from it. You will probably always need some filtration, this doesn't need to be expensive. We use a surface water source which is typically considered to be of much lower quality and our treatment system capital costs were still <£2k. The exception to this is if you have known contaminants to remove (like nitrates) which is more difficult with a private treatment system. Can't help with 1).

We got a cheap deal on an airbnb for a few months over autumn /winter. Could be worth a shot?

If I go into a cafe I'm not looking for a quote for my lunch in a year's time. Many building firms/contractors are quoting for 6 to 12 months ahead. They are not experts in macroeconomics. It's easy to say they should have costed it in but I suspect while the potential problems re covid and brexit were generally known, few trades would have had enough insight into the relevant factors to accurately price jobs a year in advance. For a start, given the rate of change in materials prices I doubt even their suppliers would have been able to predict exact cost changes. If a client wants price certainty in a volatile market, they're going to pay for that through a risk allowance. Otherwise they carry the can for price changes (in both directions).