Mr Punter

Can't you have a bit more wall and a bit less glass? 100m2 is a lot. You will probably suffer glare, overheating and unpleasant acoustics, as well as the poor insulation values. Bear in mind that if you are outside of conservation area and not listed, you may be able to have external shutters / shading after the development is completed as permitted development.

No issue as long as it is not throughout but it is unusual if the crack is through the blocks as well as the render. It is good to get render cracks sorted as water can get in behind it and freeze / thaw can take off large sections. It is very difficult to get the patches so they will not show, so unless they are serious I would just fill and paint. Any cracks in any brickwork? Are you on clay or made ground? If no to both I would not worry.

You could consider leaving a 6mm gap between the boards.

It will be easier to have the stair either completely outside or completely inside the balcony, otherwise you will need to cut through the main balcony framework. To connect at the edge the stair would need a small landing at the top. The stair people can make this to form the top tread as a quarter landing with some holes so that you can fix it to your balcony. Get them to also provide for the outside handrail to return to the centre post at the top.

If you are having Velfac outward opening windows where the sashes are the same size as the frame you need to render first and fit the window within the render - normally 10mm gap all round that is sealed with Compriband. Otherwise they would not open. Many other windows you render up to the frame or a render bead that butts to the frame as the sash is smaller than the frame.

You cannot close off the base of the cavity. If you want insulation down to the ground make it 25mm thick so as not to impede the flow of air through the vertical battens.

With the spiral stair you will need to account for the entire diameter of the staircase being lost from the balcony. 1/4 for the landing and 3/4 cut out for headroom and protected by handrail. 1500mm is a sensible minimum.

How so? I am all for less waste.

You need to avoid having ANY uninsulated window reveal exposed to cold outside, as the cold will track through to the inside and cause damp and mould issues. You can get around this either by moving the window outward to the frame overlaps the insulation or adding some insulation around the outside reveal - which is often not practical as it reduces the effective opening size.

Run 2 x ducting from the house to the side of the gates where the control box will be - 1 for power and 1 for CAT 5 x 2. Also run duct across to the other gate. Work out where you want the lights switched from. You may need a loop inside the drive if the gates are to open when you drive up to them. You will need 230v to the control box which will house the power supply to the gates. You can use the 230 for the pier lights as well but it will need a switch wire from wherever you want to control it. Run the 230v in SWA. You will need a spare way on the fuse box. Gates and access control is quite complex and there are safety concerns. I would get a proper gate person to do the whole thing.

Is this Mid-Sussex? It does look correct. I can understand why kitchens open to other spaces present a considerable fire risk. I am not sure why the door should be any different to the others. I always spec fire doors throughout, just omit intumescent when not needed. I also like interlinked smoke alarms in all habitable rooms. The fire doors feel more substantial and often give better soundproofing. With fire risk, unless you are being asked to do something very costly with little reduction in risk / consequence, I cannot see the point in trying to save a few quid. Imagine a future owner gets drunk, leaves the stove on, goes to bed, falls asleep on the bog. Could happen. Every other week in my house!

There was on the youtube link. Deffo sips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wz9KRTgVCc

I have seen pics and it looks more like £50k

I have a service lift, as the kitchen is on the 3rd floor. I use it for food and bins. If you have a passenger lift you need to be tied into a maintenance contract and there are lots of regs that apply. The service lifts are fairly simple. Good for 50kg and cost £8,000.

It was suspicious that the hotel was due to close at the end of the month as Total did not renew their contract.

I have put CAT5 into new builds with 2 points in most rooms wired back to a patch panel in the services cupboard. Very seldom used by anyone. Most customers don't understand the difference between WiFi and internet so explaining Ethernet is a challenge too far for me.

If there is not much you can get rid the culprit trees / shrubs and cut the roots out internally. You can re-line sections, but probably simpler to replace the offending run.

Probably above the minimum threshold but will need to make up elsewhere and floor insulation is simple to fit, just chuck it down. 120mm Celotex would work.

Lowering the tone of Buildhub was not my primary objective. The proposed urinal was never a solution to shitting needs, but they can be fulfilled by walking 6 minutes to the public loos. Or crap at your own house. Portaloos are gross.

I like the urinals in some European cities. Not just stag nights but quite useful. Pissoir makes it sound quite posh as well.

But not addressing the smell, cost and practicality issues.

I understand that we are required to make reasonable provision and I think the urinal does this. The urinal is also Covid compliant as the only thing you need to touch during the process belongs to you (or at least I hope so).

OK just to say I am supposedly a "professional" builder / developer but I am contemplating fitting a urinal, connected to mains drainage, for use during construction and I am interested in peoples views on this. As background, the site, for 3 flats, is an infill and very tight. Although we could fit a portaloo, it would get in the way of materials etc. Also, they stink, are fairly expensive to rent, I hate the noise from the door banging and dislike the lingering odours from less civilised previous visitors. There would be a cold water tap nearby and about 400 metres away there is a public loo should an operative have the need for a more substantial visit. I know it does not cater for women / trans etc but for the most part it would work very well for the site. It can be mounted on the rear of the wall on the front boundary, which is to be retained, with some OSB either side for modesty. Views?

I am not sure how wide the trench is or if you can get rid of the excavated clay, but A looks the best drainage option although you could reduce the fall to 50mm, so 20mm for each 6m length of pipe. I have done a French drain under a lawn on clay soil and in dry spells the grass above really dries out.