the_r_sole

It's interesting as clearly your mileage may vary with an engineer but the points you've raised as positives of not using SER isn't really my experience at all, the engineers we work with always give us a fully detailed design and work with us to get everything detailed in the right way (as in, complements out design intention) We've had panel drawings produced by engineers who have also provided the SER without issue also? Maybe its just bad engineers who aren't giving a proper design service which some of you have experienced? For me the SER just confirms the design the engineer has produced is compliant and can get a discount on the warrant fee and speed up the process! One of my biggest problems at the moment has been getting information from a certain kit manufacturer to satisfy our engineer for the SER requirements... but I think the SER process itself has also become more stringent than previously. Maybe we've just been lucky with the SER engineers or unlucky with local authorities!

In my future house I'd like a grundofen type of fire (also heating ufh) and a twin stud construction with blown cellulose insulation

I like passivhaus as a concept and was planning on doing my certification this year but missed out... However if it was my own house I wouldn't adopt the full standard as there are definitely compromises i would make for my own preferences, i think you need to figure out why you want passivhaus (if you do) and then work backwards to understand whether you need to achieve the certification

I don't think they use the SER system in England at all - I genuinely can't think of the last project we've done without SER - maybe it's just the way the engineers proposals are set out but there isn't usually a huge premium for having the design certified or not - the last one I tried to do without SER was Perth and Kinross (on my folks house) and they said it would be three months for review!

Seriously? The SER costs buttons and speeds up the process no end when the engineer has done the design, there are some local authorities who can take months to turn around engineer queries, we literally use them for every project! ?

For that type of project it's light if anything, for high end clients they don't care about the costs, they care about the quality of the end result. If you're cost driven then you're not the right client for that practice. The only reason anyone ever puts minimum build costs on their site is to discourage enquiries from dreamers who think they can achieve that quality for buttons. He isn't targeting self builders looking to make savings on build methods/finishes/consultancy ... Some are more subtle than others

To be fair to him, it's the absolute perfect setup, only do projects you want to do with clients who really want you to do them. We all use some subtle types of qualifying in our websites/social media...

We don't have a house style - we are more driven by what style the client wants (but my previous office did have a style which was kept to) Strom are very particular, they state a minimum m2 price to deliberately cut people out of wanting to work with them, they'll only do the projects where the client wants to achieve that style/look and have enough money to deliver it. You wouldn't just phone them up and get them out for a chat... They are internationally renowned for their style and their focus is solely on their ideal clients.

Only speaking from direct experience here: Planning for the most part has been longer than before, we've some applications which are 3-4 months behind. Tendering - contractors are very busy so getting useful returns can be a challenge and any specialist items seem to be taking ages to come back Timber Kit - have got a client who has just been quoted a 19 week lead time on their kit (and warned of a timber price increase in the next couple of weeks) Some internal finishes seem to have longer lead time, tiles/sanitaryware seems to be the main offender here

from a professional point of view I can't say no ? But i've seen a lot of projects build from warrant information in the past, it's just that all the construction details might not be ironed out and properly coordinated in the warrant set so there might be some unresolved bits (usually the contractor can overcome that)

that's cheap, cheap on both the build costs and the percentage

Basically the drawings they do are only meant for warrant purposes, if you want them to produce construction information that needs a bit more information and coordination than just the warrant info - it just limits their liability, you'll find that all issues of drawings from any consultant will say they aren't construction drawings until they issue the construction set

For me, I don't see anything in the house design, they really could be a taylor wimpey or something like that - there's not really any feature or detail or interest in them, I know you are planning on selling these for profit but surely there could be something about them that might tempt someone to buy them over the nearest volume house builder development? These are two houses which could be anywhere, they don't seem to be designed at all for the plots they are on The garage on the boundary and then the other in the front garden is a bit strange and the shared entrance will put people off, more so if you build the front garage with a room in the roof, that house then will completely dominate the front of both plots. If you are just looking to sell them you'd probably make as much clear at the moment as you will building them out slowly, profits on development can disappear pretty quickly if you're using finance to fund it..

I used to have daylight bulbs in my office when I worked from home which are we fine for working but absolutely awful if you hit the wrong switch in an evening ?

don't assume anything, ask whoever has designed it for you what the purpose of it is. (also 120mm isn't a common kit size, you would usually have 100 (89mm) or 150 (140mm))

I know you didn't ask this, but what is the purpose of the inner 12mm plywood? Has the engineer asked for that?

I think you'd probably spend a lot on getting a decent finish on the underside of a slab tbh - that's why they usually use the horrific textured finishes on them!

Surface mounted services are going to look awful unless you really go for it and try to achieve that industrial aesthetic, I would definitely keep the service void and ceiling! I've done a house where all the services were surface mounted in galv conduit, but in the end it probably wasn't any cheaper than hiding them in the walls/ceiling - turns out electricians don't like having to be mm perfect with all the cable runs... who knew!?

In Scotland, the Accredited Details have insulated ingos, we always detail the ingos with them, depending on your window type and manufacturer, you might find that that structural opening doesn't change at all...

There's a few consultancies that can test the private water supplies - some local authorities don't do it the tests for new supplies, dm me if you need any contacts... and if you ever see a news story of a number of planning officers from different local authorities going missing in the same week, you'll never hear from me again ?

That's interesting and bizarre in equal measure! I've never seen that wording before (thankfully)

Once a planning application is registered and in the process it can't be made invalid, it can be refused, withdrawn or the local authority can determine that there isn't enough information to make a decision and request further information - I've been trawling my planning handbooks for anything that says an application which has been validated can then be invalidated later but drawn a blank so far. Revoking a permission due to fraud is a slightly different situation than the op has (hopefully!! ?) Was this application ever publicised @Moonshine?

be worth a chat with your window supplier to see if they can add a door into your order and shorten the lead time?

I would say costings which don't account for the construction method are going to be of very limited value. The wall construction has a big impact on all the details, how services are run, how windows are fixed, how cladding is fixed/finished etc etc

look up your rooflight installation manual and it tells you the size of opening you need in the roof