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You mentioned a smoke test earlier, has this been done? It sounds the obvious next step.

Did you have any discussion at all where a budgeting cost for the steelwork was mentioned? If this was a shock, what figure did you have in your mind and what put it there? I think you need a chat with your builder but try to frame the discussion in terms of maybe there's been a mistake in what the fabricator invoiced for, giving your builder the chance to look again at the figure without either side getting into an argument about them being responsible for overcharging. Maybe something like: "The cost for steelwork was a nasty shock with Christmas on the way. I was chatting with my (imaginary) friend who mentioned the supply cost seemed high compared with your installation. Would you be able to check with your fabricator what steelwork you were invoiced for, versus the plans, and share that with me so I can double check? I appreciate you've had to add your own margin on top of course". You do need to weigh this up against the value of any damage to the relationship if there's still lots of work in progress, but with the sums involved, I think you can at least have a conversation.

There are lots of variables re section sizes etc but as a single point of reference, last year our goalpost frame approx 3m x 6m was around 2k fabricated (posts were UC 203 x 46). For a sum as large as £28k I'd definitely want some detail on cost breakdown but yours was quite a long list and I can see there's plenty of installation effort there.

Maybe buildhub needs a league table of air test scores? After going to the trouble of trying to be airtight I'll definitely have to know how we've done! I'm not sure exactly how much value a future buyer might place on EPC but being able to boast a 100+ score and being carbon negative must be worth the cost of a test. (Alternatively, if it's really bad you'll know it's not worth running the MVHR all the time)

Posts set in the ground will be so much simpler and safer. Your drum will tip. If you really can't do that then for something temporary maybe drop a bulk bag of something cheap on each side and build a timber frame tight around it to support your gate. No need to mix concrete and you can reuse the MOT/sand etc later.

We used either Steico or Schneider internally, not heard of Gutex but they look interchangeable to me.

I think we need a fuller picture re your 'Lego" plans. I'm struggling to think of any scenario where it isn't easier to either take sufficient water to site or have it delivered, and build with standard materials. You'll struggle to cast interlocking blocks consistently enough to build with them.

Even with the best intentions I'd think really carefully before going down this route (bluntly I just wouldn't go this way) as it's very likely to complicate your dealings with HMRC, who will look at the arrangement between connected parties and, in addition to the paperwork @JohnMo listed, may ask you to show that the relationship is truly commercial - for example, if they believe the company may have charged its director below market rate etc, undercharging and offsetting that against other sales, suggest you owe tax and NI on any discount they assign. "Dear HMRC, I'd like to use my limited company to avoid personally paying reclaimable VAT on my self build at the point in time it would normally become due. Is that okay?" - does that sound like a good starting point, or a discussion you want to get into later with 10Ks - 100Ks at stake?

If fixing to the underside of the soffit can't you use a simpler cover, just a plain grill or a bull nose? It sounds harder to run the ducting to the soffit versus out of the gable end right next it.

Yeah, enough to rule out Velfac sliders even though we're using their windows elsewhere. Not really, as others said, it's a sales lead opportunity for exhibitors

We found one of the majors expos at the NEC (Homebuilding & Renovating) helpful in a couple of ways: 1/ it was a great opportunity to look at and get hands on with quite a few window and door manufacturers at the same time. 2/ it helped inject a bit of enthusiasm and energy after set backs and delays There's also a chance you'll encounter new or different materials and products that you might want to use, overall worth a day trip if the travel isn't too far Free expo tickets but around £15 parking.

Given you need to move the WC to make the open plan work at all, then I'd definitely go for something like option 1 - in the scheme of things, moving the WC that bit further isn't going to make that much difference and may even be easier - it looks like you have side access (there's a side window) so fairly easy to connect to the existing drains. Option 2 really compromises the open plan feel. I agree with @ProDave that you'd benefit from a door between hall and kitchen.

The long house? Think they budgeted around that but finished closer to 750. That episode was a difficult watch and really put any setbacks with our own project into perspective.

Uw varies by window size so I think there's a very good chance that Velux chart is based on a standard window size (1.2 X 1.4m) much larger than the average Velux and the Uw of smaller Velux windows will be worse, because a much higher percentage of the window will be frame

With a timber packer bolted into the web of your steel you could face nail joist hangers onto the packer. The hangers then also prevent any rotation and easily nail at different heights. Given you'll need SE calcs for this anyway, honestly I'd leave the design to them. The bolted on shims sound like quite a lot of work and will need additional specification by the SE.