Bitpipe

Question I'd ask yourself is whether the bi-folds are more likely to be open or shut. In all your renders above, they are open - which creates a lovely uninterrupted view. In reality they are likely to be partially open or closed so you have the vertical bar effect - nothing wrong with this if it's the aesthetic you're looking for. We have 4.5m sliders so can have a 2m ish opening if we want but rarely want to tbh. Obviously if the weather is inclement, they stay closed but on hot summer days we keep them closed to keep cool air (night time purge) in the house and also to keep noise out. Other issue with a wide open garden facing aperture is you can get a lot of stuff blown in (leaves, tree dander & pollen etc).

Two issues in play here a) how do you work around your need to bolt braces to the slab without damaging any UFH pipes b) position of UFH pipes in insulated slab in a passive house. Regarding b) you will have a very low heat injection requirement so the UFH will run at a low temp (35oC or thereabouts) when it is even needed. if you're using an ASHP you may want to run the slab cool in summer. Response time is not that relevant in a passive house as there is never a major call for heat - its a steady low level injection of heat and usually only in the coldest of months.

No, a few mm of self levelling compound will take care of that. Our basement floor was tamped flat - had a few high spots and snots that were chiselled off and the floor installer got it dead flat with compound.

The trap I had was even worse than that, just concertina plastic pipe really.

As i remember, the only difference between a FD30 door lining and standard is that the FD30 is pre-routed for the intumescent strip, which you buy separately. When we built we could not get enough FD linings so adapted some standard ones. You also need the fire stop (https://www.howdens.com/hardware/screws-and-ironmongery/door-furniture/door-stops/2mm-x-21m-redwood-fire-check-door-stop-obj-sku-family-mod0064).

Our wonderful electrician wired the full 4 floors of our house flawlessly and seems to have a photographic memory of where everything is. A few years after moving in we were finally installing a light fitting in the hall but it would not work - quick call and he instructed which wall switch to remove and reconnect the live he'd disconnected for safety. He also used metal back boxes everywhere and the boarders cut them perfectly so no surprises when it came to second fix - we had a few cables for LED strips that needed to be fished out. So get a decent electrician and decent plastering team and all will be well. Worst case I learned you can get a hole cutter, chop out a disc of plastered wall, fix/find what you need do, glue a batten behind it and glue the cut disc back on. Smear of caulk around the cut line and a lick of paint - like it never happened.

+1 I supplied all the Velux kit, windows to flashing to insulation collar, blinds etc. Got the whole lot delivered as one order.

Just to the planners. TBH LA do not usually concern themselves with the legality of building (ownership of land etc) as that is a civil matter. They are focused on planning policy. One of our objections raised a covenant on the land and they basically said 'nothing to do with us' in the commentary. Remember, getting PP means you are allowed to build it - does not mean you can build it (legal reasons, building regs, laws of physics etc).

Agree with getting a formal refusal - all reasons are then down in writing and they also need to reference the planning policy and also acknowledge any community objections. We were rejected first time, resubmitted a new application (on the free go) where we addressed the majority of issued. LA were minded to reject that too for trifling reasons until our planning consultant (ex LA) called their bluff and said that if refused, both schemes would got to appeal. They folded.

It's not a million miles away for my area but I suspect our street could be about 20-30% more than what is shown for the area as a whole.

No doubt. Problem was basement stairs were directly underneath and similarly braced so would have been a 2 floor drop

This is your issue. Our stone baths were 180kg each. The temp MDF stairs were held up with 4 screws at the head. I ended up using a genie lift to get them to first floor level and even that was a bit heart stopping at times.

All depends on the street ceiling values. If other properties in your immediate area are going for similar then you should be ok - if yours is significantly more expensive than others then it may struggle to sell. If the house is well proportioned, designed and sits comfortably on its plot then you're probably OK. I remember some new build million plus 6 beds around us about 10 years ago that had postage stamp gardens and as a result took ages to sell.

Good luck with that, they are usually craned into position - unless it's a very lightweight bath with spa jets. If you have straight stairs you may stand more of a chance but curved are always tricky to navigate furniture through. If you're having wet services, what's your plan to get waste water to ground level? Sump & pump.

We have some large west facing windows on a passive house in Berkshire so can get quite a blast of summer heat. East and south glazing all have external motorised blinds. We're learning to manage it on those very hot days- key is cooling house overnight with stack ventilation (have velux in atrium roof) and closing windows to keep cool air in. keeping east blinds down until sun goes overhead pulling over some internal linen drapes on the west windows when the sun is on that side once its early evening, can relax window opening and drapes We considered a bris soleil or pergola to give more western shade and remove the need to use drapes but also thinking on solar reflecting film.

As did I but BC said that a sprinkler system would have sufficed also.

Our basement has a plant room, 3m x 1.6m. Contains all the power distribution (meter is in kiosk outside), solar PV termination, UVC, MVHR (Vent Axia Sentinel +), BT master socket, water main entry and gas boiler. Also handy space to store tools and the like inside. Rest of basement (100m2) is divided into 4 rooms: gym, den for each kid and a TBC room currently full of boxes Nice to have everything in one spot and I think the plumber & electrician appreciated not having to do all their work in a crawl space under stairs etc. My data & tv distribution is in loft as that's where we thought the telecoms were coming in originally. Note that if you're having a lot of wet services in your basement then you need a strategy to get water from there to ground level drainage. We have a condensate pump for the boiler and MVHR, UVC has a G3 complaint vent to the stairwell outside.

My uncle (now deceased) had a through floor lift which seemed much more robust than the stairlift and was less obtrusive.

What is your originally proposed floor build up from the joist up?

Top tip - DO NOT thread UFH through the pozi joists, you will struggle to do that without kinking it. We stapled spreader plates down on the pozi joists and laid the 16mm pipe - one bend sat within the gap between pozis and the other sailed over the joist, secured with a pipe clip. As our OSB floor deck was 18mm, we just left a gap where the over joist pipes sat. Protected with a few strips of ply during the build and then the final floor covering (in our case, ply and then resin) covered the whole lot. We did try the threading method initially but gave up after 5 mins when it was clear it would not work.

What else is in the office generating heat i.e. computers, displays etc? In this warm weather our passive tf house works well at keeping cool until the sun flips over to the west side where we don't have external shutters on the glazing and by that time the external air is warm so keeping both direct sun and warm air out of the house is a priority. As soon as the sun goes low, air temp drops considerably and the house can be stack ventilated until morning when the cycle starts again. We have blown cellulose so high decrement delay which seems to be working well, external shutters on east windows which is very effective at reducing solar gain. Need to sort the west aspect where we have large sliders - either a film or external structure to provide more shade. We have some linen drapes inside that are somewhat effective but insufficient. However the home office, in a NE room, is always warmer due to displays, laptops etc chucking out extra heat.

All works 'closely associated' with the build (assuming PP granted and going back down to ground level) are zero rated. Plant hire to you and professional services are standard rated. New utility connections are zero, utility moves (like a meter) are standard.

So I'm in the unfortunate position of needing to replace my external render system as the original has had a material failure. I may need to use another contractor for the replacement system as the original firm may not be in a position to do the works. So, question is whether it can be zero rated? We got our completion cert from BC in September 2018 so HMRC would argue that this is not work related to the build but 'renovation' and would be standard rated. However there seems to be caselaw here that suggests otherwise. New contractor is discussing with his accountant, fingers crossed. Anyone here had similar experience? http://www.marcusward.co/vat-when-is-the-building-of-a-house-complete-and-why-is-it-important/ VAT: When is the building of a house complete? (And why is it important?) By Marcus Ward 11th June 2019 Completion of a residential dwelling A technical point which comes up surprisingly often and seems innocuous is: when is a building “complete”? The following case is helpful, and I thank Les Howard for bringing it to my attention. The date that the construction of a dwelling is deemed to be complete is important for a number of reasons. The issue in the case of Mr and Mrs James was whether certain works could be zero rated via the VAT Act Schedule 8 Group 5 Item 2 (The supply in the course of the construction of a building designed as a dwelling…) or as HMRC contended, they were the reconstruction or alteration of an existing building and the work should be standard rated. Background The James used a contractor to plaster the entire interior of their house in the course of its construction. However, the work was demonstrably defective to such an extent that the James commenced legal proceedings. A surveyor advised that all of the old plaster needed to be hacked off and replaced by new plastering installed by a new firm. The stripping out and replacement works took place after the Certificate of Completion had been issued. The James claimed input tax on the house construction via the DIY Housebuilders’ Scheme. Technical HMRC refused the James’ claim to have the remedial work zero-rated because, in their view, the re-plastering works amounted to the reconstruction or alteration of the house which was, when the supplies were made, an “existing building”. They proffered Note 16 of Schedule 5 which provides that “the construction of a building” does not include “(a) … the conversion, reconstruction or alteration of an existing building”. They stated that zero-rating only applied if the work formed part of the construction of a zero-rated building. They had previously decided that the work of snagging or correction of faults carried out after the building had been completed could only be zero-rated if it was carried out by the original contractors and correction of faults formed part of the building contract. When the snagging is carried out by a different contractor, the work is to an existing building and does not qualify for zero rating. The James stated that the Customs’ guidelines on snagging do not take into account extraordinary circumstances. Their contention was that the re-plastering works were zero rated because they had no choice but to engage the services of a different contractor other than the one who carried out the original works. Decision The judge found for the appellant – the re-plastering works were zero rated. There was a query as to why The James applied for a Certificate of Completion before the plastering was completed. In nearly all cases such a certificate would crystallise the date the building was complete. The reasons were given as: the need for funds. The James could not remortgage the house without the certificate and they needed to borrow a substantial amount they could not reclaim VAT under the DIY Housebuilders’ Scheme until the Certificate of Completion had been issued they were aware that the building inspector was beginning to wonder why the building works were taking such a long time they needed the house assessed for Council Tax which could only happen when the certificate had been issued the Certificate was issued as part of the procedure required by the Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations of 2000 These reasons were accepted by the judge. Despite the respondents stating that: for the reasons given above the fact that the James had been living in the house for some time they had obtained the Certificate of Completion the new plastering work had been done by the new plasterer such that the house had been constructed before supply of the new plasterer’s services had been made the house was an “existing building” the judge was satisfied that in the circumstances the new plastering work was supplied in the course of the construction of the building as a dwelling house and that there was no reconstruction or alteration of an existing building in the sense contemplated by Note (16) to Group 5 Schedule 8. He observed that the Certificate of Completion records that the substantive requirements of the Building Regulations have been satisfied. But to the naked eye the old plasterwork was obviously inadequate and dangerous ad he could not possibly consider that the construction project had finished until the new plasterwork was installed. The James’ construction project was to build a new dwelling house. Plasterwork of an acceptable standard was an integral part of the construction works. The new plasterwork was done at the earliest practicable opportunity. Commentary Care should be taken when considering when the completion of a house build takes place. There are time limits for DIY Housebuilders’ Scheme clams and clearly, as this case illustrates, usually work done to a house after completion does not qualify for zero rating. So, if the owner of a house is thinking of, say, building a conservatory for example, it is more prudent in VAT terms to construct it at the same time as a new house is built, and certainly before completion. I would say that the appellant in this case achieved a surprisingly good result.

There is a bit of a leap from a simple RWH system for gardening to servicing internal systems (toilets etc). The latter needs mains fed buffer tanks to allow for drought, pumps and must be WRAS compliant - also needs independent plumbing to the WC. Some people have raised potential health concerns about virus in bird droppings that may get washed from roof into the system and be aerosolised when the loo is flushed. Realistically you can't bury IBCs so forget that, I stored mine underground which is a better way to think of it. However once you move below ground you need a decent pump to make it useful. In my experience, RWH was an easy way to meet the water usage calcs.

N.B. You shouldn't use any ground level drainage for harvesting as it may get contaminated with whatever it picks up off the ground - run that straight to a soak away. Roof drainage can go to RWH tank but once full, excess will go to soak away. RWH tanks are usually buried as being dark and cool inhibits nasties to grow, however this makes them expensive. You can DIY with IBCs (as I did) but mine are below ground level in a big concrete box covered with a deck that we needed to build for the basement anyway. You cannot bury IBCs without substantial protection as they will get crushed.