-rick-

How about this for an idea: get a CCTV camera covering the door and get a traditional wired doorbell (can hook up to a HA input or ESP32 if you want)?

Until this thread I hadn't looked at the BSA side of this (have previously looked at the CDM/HSE side). After some looking around it appears the following document is referred to as the way to assess competence for this role: https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/insights-and-media/insights/brochures/pas-8672-framework-for-competence-of-individual-principal-contractors/ I downloaded it and it's pretty big, obviously not aimed at self builds.

Thats for the HSE role, not the new building regs role isnt it? A quick google says: The Role of Principal Contractor Oversee and manage the construction phase of the project to ensure compliance with Building Regulations. Plan, manage, and monitor construction activities, ensuring all work meets regulatory standards. Act as the central point of contact for cooperation among duty holders, liaising with the Principal Designer to implement design specifications correctly. Possess a thorough understanding of construction processes, safety protocols, and regulatory requirements. Point 4 seems particularly hard for any self builder who doesn't already work in the construction industry. You can read the building regs cover to cover, go on health and safety courses and read/watch instructions on how to accomplish specific things. But is that sufficient?

Sometimes the plunger on the trv valve sticks. Try removing the TRV and manually manipulate the plunger, should free up if stuck. Edit: The TRV can be removed without opening the water circuit. Shouldn't require tools.

So the question is what does a first time self builder have to do to become competent?

I would assume that if the water circuit diverts to DHW then the flow through the fan coil would stop. However, unless you spent extra on controls the fan would keep going until the temperature in the non-flowing water normalised and at that point no further cooling would take place until the flow started again. I think most fan-coils sense the water temp so if it goes outside of range the fan stops, but it wouldn't be a big deal if it carried on - it would just circulate air, not provide cooling.

Living in a flat affected by cladding issues (which we hope will be solved for us soon), I personally don't want to go near anything even slightly questionable on my next property. I know 2 storey buildings are in theory much different, but we've seen repeated tightening of rules and from what we've seen mortgage companies and insurers have become extremely risk adverse over issues related to fire. We will soon be in a place where according to the fire safety rules our building is fine, but the insurers continue to feel its too high a risk for normal insurance so we are stuck paying exhortionate rates. Even if you assume because it's two storey the fire rules won't really apply, I think the general impact on the industry is just more risk aversion and along with trending higher costs due to climate related damage and a record of shoddy construction in this country. If insurers/mortgagers are on the fench with something now the safe option is to assume they will get more risk adverse in future.

What's the deed of covent for? We recently got asked to complete them as part of the new laws around remediation for cladding issues. There wasn't a charge for that though and we were told we only needed to complete them if we wanted to be protected from any future remediation costs. I don't think that protection is available if you are a professional landlord (>3 properties IIRC). Obviously this is irrelevant if they want the deed for another reason. As far as the fees to register tenants go, this is a thing that comes up. Some managing agents want to charge, some don't. If the lease restricts your ability to rent your place out and allows a fee to be charged to do so then your way out would be to argue the term in the lease is invalid/unlawful for some reason. I don't know how easy this is to do. ** I'm a director for the RTM for our block of flats and we are currently searching for a new managing agent. The issue of charging fees for tenant registration has come up and we are seeking an agent that doesn't charge but from the conversations we've had at least some of the agents work on the lease. They feel they have to strictly follow the lease and if the lease involves administration requirements for sub-lets then they have to pass the cost of that on - it's unfair to cover the cost in the service charge/ground rent as it's not something that applies to everyone nor on a consistent frequency. ** One of the other directors in our RTM is a landlord and is pretty firm that these fees shouldn't be needed and would be keen to argue over the terms of the lease but he is not a lawyer and I'm not sure of the actual legalities.

I read it as talking about new panels. So panels that have been around for a while and already have cert are ok. Though of course how long older panels are available is a question.

We do seem to be getting quite far away from Gary's topic so maybe should shelve this for now. At some point I'll likely start a new topic on Porotherm as the existing topics seem a bit lacking in some details.

Thought it was acceptance?

I wouldn't want to use without a service cavity for all the sockets etc. The videos I've watched suggest it is easy to cut with the right saw. Why do you say its a pain? As for coursing, I agree, I think it only makes sense if either building a solid wall with large blocks and EWI, or a block/block cavity arrangement with both leaves with porotherm.

Oh I'm not considering it for thermal properties at all. The main attraction is it's quickly diyable, the blocks are half the weight of concrete, comes supplied with the thinset mortar, you can get a quick applicator and the blocks are easy to cut. It's also much lower embodied carbon than block or brick. There are a good number of downsides too and until I get to the point of serious design on a new place I can't fully weigh them but the points above is why its a focus for when I get there. For context, the flat I currently live in has had problems with both cladding/fire safety and also water ingress. So for anything I do in future, I want to use things that are non-combustable and can survive getting wet.

But thinking more. If you are focussed on being a standard construction, then trying to come up with what seems like a novel approach for a new build (50mm cavity then IWI) would seem counter to that. A small uninsulated cavity with IWI is something done to retrofits and is likely a lot of extra work with a lot of compromises. Sticking with a standard cavity construction (though with a wider cavity for extra insulation) would seem like the safest bet.

Porotherm is currently top of my list for my build (if I can find a plot for it). I believe it would count as standard blockwork as far as mortgage lenders go (pretty sure I've read that somewhere but you should obviously check). Not sure it makes sense financially though unless you plan to diy. It's supposedly much easier/quicker to lay, but this means that bricklayers aren't keen and you will likely eat a lot of the time savings with the time they take to get up to speed and the higher cost of the blocks. Also questionable whether you'd want to use it on an external rendered wall (manufacturer supports that use but I've seen people here with concerns/issues with that so if I use it I think it'd need either EWI or some form of rainscreen to keep it dry).

The consultant didn't mention it, it doesn't ring a bell and a quick search through the local plan and core strategy for 'cluster' doesn't show anything relevant. I'll skim through it again for alternative wording later but odd's are no.

Sorry for the thread hijack: Have you talked about this elsewhere on the site? I didn't see one after a quick Google. Not got a plot yet so it's a bit early for me, but when I get there I'd like an insulated slab like the Kore ones so wondered if there are any lessons learnt that you could share?

Ok update! I found another consultant company. They were willing to chat on the phone for a bit during the intro call. Clarified a couple of things: 1. Infill exception is only valid for places that meet a certain definition for a village (have a pub, church, or similar). The plot I was looking at is technically in a hamlet so would be a no-go on that basis (with appeal case history confirming). In hindsight this aspect is something I could have probably answered myself if I'd framed the question in my mind in the right way, I knew that a lot hinged on whether it was infill and that being infill was uncertain but hadn't thought of a way of answering that without talking to a planner. 2. This doesn't stand: The planners definition of openness, is much less about this than whether there are existing buildings on the land. I do wonder though if a thread talking through the assessment of various plots would be useful. This site seems to have a lot on what to do after you've got one, not so much on finding them. I've got four or 5 now that I've seriously looked (mostly as excercises) that that I could talk about.

@Jilly My question was more aimed at how you ended up choosing/suceeding on a green belt plot. Based on my reading of this site, £25k for all professional fees seems pretty reasonable, certainly about what I've had in mind. TBH I assume the fees on a green belt plot would be a bit higher than that. Yes, it's very frustrating, and the sites that do show up either tend to sell almost instantly or have significant difficulties. The plot is up for auction and time is short, this is why I think this plot is off the cards for me. At this point I mostly want to know why the planning consultant suggested it wasn't worth a detailled look so that I can better make that assessment next time. With more time and the ability to negotiate with the vendor I'd be able to wait for my preferred planning consultant to become free in January and have time to work through some of the other issues.

I tend to think that a pre-app for a green belt plot will get a default answer of no. To get planning on green belt you need a lot of detail going through all the policies explaining why your plan works according to those policies, etc, and obviously thats something that would cost a fair bit (time + money) to prepare. I asked the consultant for a sample report and was told no. The reason for this thread was to ask for recommendations for another consultant. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

To buy a ready to build plot would require me to sell my current place to free up funds. I can't do that just now (cladding issues in the process of being resolved) but expect to be able to in a year or two. So in the mean time I'm looking for places that I could buy now and work on over the next couple of years getting planning. Price dependent I can afford to take some risk, but only of the 'relatively good chance of planning given its green belt' sort, not the 'complete longshot' sort. Potential to save money due to the uplift is of course a consideration but not the primary motivation. 25k to the planning consultant, or all the professional fees to get to the point of planning? If you don't mind could you say a bit more about what happened in your case? Indeed. I'm disappointed the first one I found is unavailable as he looked good. Second one don't know much about other than the first guys recommendation.

I was focused mainly on limited infilling in villages. The local plan does talk about allowing limited infilling in villages, but they list villages where they would consider it and this one is not on the list - so that was an open question for me how critical that list is and also whether the plot can be reasonably called infill. I was also thinking there might be a case to argue it's grey belt as on the local plan the plot is in an area that is shown as minimal contribution to the green belt purposes bar the 'preserving the green belt openness'. On that point the plot is surrounded by properties on all sides (there are open bits of land a little further away). Additionally, the plot is surrounded by trees/growth that hides what I would consider building on it from most angles. I do not have the deep pockets required for a Para 80 property, I also don't think the property is really open countryside. It is right on the border of non-green belt space.

For the last couple of weeks I've been evaluating a green belt plot, reading the relevant local plans, NPPF, nearby planning apps, etc. My conclusion to this was that I thought the plot had decent potential to get planning (relative to other green belt plots I've looked at - I know building on green belt is diffcult in the best circumstances). I've now spoken to two planning consultants. The first (my preferred) was too busy to help. The second, had a quick look and has suggested the plot is high risk, he would be willing to do a full appraisal on it for £1000 but isn't willing to have a chargable 30 min call to discuss. I have to assume he is correct as to the risk and my previous evaluation is wrong and therefore I don't want to spend £1000 on the full appraisal. But I'd very much like to get a better understanding of how he reached that initial determination both to confidently rule out this plot and as education for my continued search. So how do I move forward from here? I plan to discuss it in more detail here in due course, but I'm a little hesitant to advertise the plot here until I've confidently ruled it out. In the mean time does anyone have any recommendations for a planning consultant in the north London/Hertfordshire area who is willing to charge for a conversation vs only offering full blown written apprasials? Any other thoughts/suggestions greatly appreciated.

Definitely not ruling anything out. Just haven't found much that fits into this category that seems to work price wise. Thanks. Because I live pretty close to zone 1 and need to move quite a bit further out I can't really pull the 'I'm local' card, as much as I'd like to, seems a relatively common success story. Somehow I've not noticed that site before. Is it worth a membership? I have read "How to find and buy a building plot" thanks to a recommendation on here. Any similar suggestions (that don't just duplicate whats in it) would be appreciated.

Thanks. I have three main requirements: 1. Warm house with low bills (easy with new build, trickier with modifying existing buildings) 2. Space for a workshop area outside of the main living space - garage/garden room/etc 3. Relatively close to my divorced parents, both of whom are getting to the age where being close matters I'm trying my best to keep an open mind. Not keen on demolish and rebuild (at least not on a building that isn't already falling down) but definitely looking at the others along with buying a place to split off part of the garden or making offers to buy multiple bits of garden from different houses to make one plot. My current flat is mortgage free and assuming the cladding issues are resolved should cover the build with contingency. But obviously can't sell it right now without taking a hit to value because the issues are not yet resolved. In the mean time I'm more focused on finding plots that I could afford to buy from savings (which are much more limited than the value of the flat) though these are both tricky and rare. I don't want to take on debt. Ultimately I think I will have to wait until I can sell my flat before I can do anything but I'm keeping my eyes open now in case I get lucky and also to refine my knowledge so that when the time comes I can make quick decisions. Thanks