Mr Punter

For the sake of ease, I like to get all the blockwork done then mobile crane and 3 workers - 1 to sling off the lorry, 2 to place. If only 40 then easily done in a couple of hours. Get the infill blocks bumped out with the crane too, plus and brick and blocks for the structure. Work efficiently and get the crane to do all the heavy lifting. Floor beams to ground floor is low risk. F'd up backs for the sake of £300-£400 seems pointless. I would not move the beams manually more than a couple of metres - pref just a shift up 200mm to the spacer block. Employ the 2 labourers for the day and you should complete the floor.

Partly, yes. Also our quote was a couple of years ago, pre Brexit and IdealCombi don't do a supply and fit package. I think that @vivienz could save some money and still have the comfort of a single supply and fit from a reputable dealer within my suggested maximum figures, maybe less, so I would encourage a rethink before signing up.

We went with IdealCombi on the last job which was ordered 2 years ago. £275 / m2 for 3g ali composite + £68 / m2 for cills (by others) and fitting (by others). 280m2 total. Much more hassle than supply and fit though. I think looking at the size of your job you could target £800 to £1000 / m2 supplied and fitted, so between £30k and £37k. Get some more quotes and tell them that is your maximum budget.

There is a rule of thumb that says that you should be able to take a line from the centre of the window projecting up at 25 degrees from horizontal without it meeting the new building. There are also standards for daylight and sunlight but you will probably be looking at a daylighting assessment which would normally be requested by the LPA of the applicant (at their expense) should they feel there is an issue. The other issue may be loss of amenity of your garden should it be overshadowed significantly. As others have said, sketchup may give a quick and rough result, but if the proposal fails the 25 deg rule, just flag this to the planners.

I have Aico with the addition of a control switch that lets you test / silence / locate from one position. Makes sense as we have 4 storey house with 11 sensors. The Nest stuff would have bankrupted us, plus I am not convinced I want to "invest" in something the supplier can stop supporting and can switch off in 10 years when they think the detector "must" be changed.

If the scaffold lift spacing is tight I find that wearing a hard had means I frequently hit my head, whereas without I learn very quickly. If anyone is working above, 100% hard hat.

I have hired a MAX rebar tier before as I am not experienced at wire tying. It is very fast but the wire is expensive.

Yes each phase can give you a 230V supply.

beam

Avoid the landlord supply scenario where possible as expensive. One system each is best.

The CFA and SFA piles work with a hollow stem auger and concrete is pumped through the auger as it is withdrawn, so there is no risk of caving in. The only issue can be if you come across a void which is too large to fill with concrete.

Yes. We had some about 200 diameter steel tubes. V small rig. The first tube is crimped at the end and a weight is lifted and dropped down repeatedly. When the tube is nearly in the ground, a further tube is welded on and so forth until the desired depth is achieved. Then the hollow case is filled with concrete, sometimes with rebar. Ours were about 16m and several welds broke. Also several did not drive straight. The piling took an age. If you have the room, CFA or SFA seem far quicker / better.

A while ago we spent £12k with AM Profiles who went into receivership. They made and shipped all the stuff the week before, for which I am very grateful. By contrast, I recently paid Contour Aluminium for some copings by pro forma. They spent ages fobbing me off and eventually went skint, only to re-emerge later as Contour Heating and leaving me £2,200 out of pocket. They don't do copings now though. Are they scumbags, perhaps?

We got a really expensive Mercury range cooker in blueberry colour. The enamel on the front panel got damaged by something falling on it. It left a really obvious chip so we got the cosmetic repair guy to sort it. He filled it and said it would be best to go to Mercury for the paint as it need to be fire resistant etc. My wife phoned last week and was told they would supply and fit a new panel F.O.C. We did not take out any insurance for this, so I guess it is just their policy.

Jesus!!!

You can build a blockwork skin on the house side of the ICF. This would give you the required cavity. You will, in any case, need to finish the inside with something. You could do a bit like the second diagram, but with drainage under the slab instead of a sump / pump.

Your own case proves it can be done. I wonder how many points the MVHR and airtightness add?

I understand that all drains that serve more than one property were automatically "adopted" following a change in the law. This would not give you the right to connect on someone else's land, however.

On the basis that you will need more drawings for building regs, I would get your building regs CAD person to draw up your new scheme and submit for planning. If the changes are minor you will get consent in any case. As I understand it, even a very minor change can be considered to be a new original work. The person we use for planning consent has no real interest in doing the detail stuff and will happily hand over the CAD drawings to the others. Some architects are far stickier than others, but initiating court action would be very expensive for them so unless the design is very unique and special they won't bother.

When I buy a new appliance the energy rating is stuck on the front on the display and on websites like AO. Try finding / comparing energy ratings from the housebuilders.

Well done - I did not think that A was achievable without renewables, so 95 is excellent. Did you have a specific target? We have just finished seven new build houses and they achieved between B85 and B87, no renewables. Only managed about 4.0 in the airtightness though.

I am sure no pun intended. That is a lot for a trench and some cable! Can you go to one of the other providers for a quote? The market is supposedly a bit more open nowadays.

Down here they only charge about £500 per plot for gas. Must be subsidised.

Yes it would be possible.

You will need to make sure that your Building Control and Warranty providers are happy with whatever system you choose. Type C (drained cavity) systems are considered lowest risk and you have the benefit of being able to direct any water by gravity, so do not need pumps, maintenance etc.