mjc55

hmm. I think that the idea that some labourers would "muck in and do the screeding" a tad overconfident myself! It may well be that they can screed to a high degree of accuracy, obviously I don't know them. But, the potential for a dogs dinner is definitely there.

Seems a bit bedroom heavy to me! Do you need a 4th bedroom? More than 50% of the space is bedrooms/bathrooms, which are much less used than lounge kitchen areas. I would maybe think about a separate TV room so that the lounge can be a more relaxing area.

Cable running over the top of the door(??) is not in a safe zone (unless that is within 150mm of ceiling)

Any plans to add extra "primary construction types"? Only masonry or steel/timber frame at the mo, We are using Ecobrix (haven't thought about whether this makes any difference though).

Do you want feedback on here @SimonD or would you prefer directly by email?

That's interesting - why do you say that?

electrical symbols are a fairly standard set of symbols. My Architects Pocketbook lists them and they were what I used when I did my drawings as an Architectural Technologist.

Just camping, although we will register address.

We have nearly finished our office/store which we will live in whilst building the house. Around 24 sq. m. of space will be plenty for 12 months or so of living. Will save us 12k of rent plus other bills. we also have 2 containers on site, one for tools etc, the other will be for storage of furniture, clothing etc. It has also been a great way of checking out build process on main house as we will be using the same materials.

10 degrees is sub-optimal isn't it though? I thought 30 degrees was ideal.

Hmm, difficult that one. This as I understand it but others with more specific knowledge may be along to correct me later. The point about listing is that it should stay in the style that it was at the time it was listed. This is even if, to some, the style of any part of the building is ugly, inefficient or not up to current standards. It may be that there are more efficient windows around that match the style of your windows, I don't know. Again, others with more knowledge in this area may well be along to suggest what you might do. Conservation officers have a difficult job as many people want to upgrade to modern standards, but their job is to maintain an "historical" building in the manner to which it was listed (not built). I suspect that a conversation with your local CO would help.

IMHO it very much depends on your ground type. We managed to get our footings dug and filled last October, any later and it wouldn't have happened. The ground where we are building is clay and once wet is like porridge, it soon dries but once dry is like stone, you certainly wouldn't shift anything with a shovel. It has started to dry out now and already has formed a pretty hard crust, but, as I found out today when i walked where I shouldn't have, I got completely stuck with wellies nearly overflowing, the only way out was to release my foot from welly and with the help of my wife get out of the mire! I'm hoping that by the end of April we will be able to get on with the build but that is very much dependant on how much rain there is going forward. So, as I said, depends on your ground.

Sigenergy batteries (which we are considering) do have inbuilt fire suppression. I do not know how common this is.

Reminds of a story my late Father in Law told me. He was a builder up in Manchester for many years before he retired and ran his own, successful business. Many years ago he found an old railway line, at a tip I think, and used it as a lintel on an extension he was building. The BCO at the time was very unhappy but he got his structural engineer to prove that it was OK and (as far as I know) it is still built into the extension! Not sure you you would get away with that nowadays!

i think that you would need to ask whoever designed your foundation.