Jilly

I know of a person with a small holding who lived on his site in a static to guard his animals and eventually got pp to live there (not sure if with an agricultural occupancy) and they now have a smart log cabin since the planning rules have been relaxed a little. There are some nice caravan compliant design options for the future. Might need the long game and a bit of creativity. Reassure your neighbours you don’t want a housing estate maybe? Or look into paragraph 80.

Ok, don't panic, it's a Saturday night, you can't get any answers from him right now, but s**t happens sometimes. I hope someone can come along and give you better advice, but I agree you need a second opinion. I wish @Gus Potter was around as he's an SE and would give helpful suggestions.

I can’t answer this properly, but could the SE have cut and pasted info, or even spec’d the big beam thinking there would be a 1st floor? That’s definitely work checking out…

Seriously, you are not the only one. Nearly everyone here has felt super stressed out occasionally or regularly and lost a lot of sleep, which sends you round the bend. This will get sorted somehow, and it will be a distant memory next year when you have your lovely new kitchen. I find writing things down helps. Make charts of possible solutions and the pros and cons. Think of ways to save money to mitigate, such as using your old appliances for a while etc. Ask here for suggestions. Do something to take your mind off it for a while.

As a professional no one wants to claim on their PI, it's a matter of honour, it's not like other types of insurance as far as I am concerned. These things happen, I was a novice self builder too and part of my problems came from inexperience and thinking I could manage without the origional architect. Keep your cool and accept it's going to cost something. Stuff ups do happen even to experienced builders, and there are ways round things and compromises might be possible with open discussion. Building is stressful, but if you lose it, people can walk (unless that is what you want) and you could be left with an open house, so try to stay calm in your dealings with them. Ask everyone for their suggestions of how to move forward and see what might work. Get the best advice you can from here and have new conversations to figure out a way forward together. If you stay friendly with the builder, he will have your back, and have some guilt, if not responsibility, so try to stay on good terms with everyone. Is there anyone you can ask to help with the difficult conversations?

There's no insulation on the wall you are looking at as it will be an internal wall. There's rockwool in the cavity of the new walls of the extension plus external wall insulation under featherboard. Does that make sense?

Maybe it depends on the local authority? My understanding is that they could be split, with planning permission. If your granny annexe is 'caravan compliant' it gets round some of the problems.

Thank you @Radian, the blockwork in the image, is solid, it's the old exterior wall of the converted stable. The extension build is cavity block and I have a horrid feeling the insulation does not go as you describe...

Mmmm thank you folks, you've raised more issues than I realised, but not insurmountable. Building Control have seen it and not mentioned anything. I need to do it myself though, as the builder is busy. I don't know how the cavity wall insulation and the insulation at the ceiling is detailed.

Hi, we have a cold flat roof (because of height issues) and the builder did a lot of detailing to ensure the ventilation gap to the cold vaulted ceilings roof and the cold loft space. The builder says we are ok to rely on the PIR foil face to create the VCL, but I’m concerned about the best way to seal the gap at the wall/ ceiling before plaster boarding. Should it be taped? (Could anyone point me towards a YouTube video or other resource, if so, please?) . Nb The steel over the lintel can go in the thermal envelope,

Yup, too many downsides to attach it.

Garden designer, Wendy Allen, is very keen on them

Sorry I'm not very good with editing software but this is another suggestion (apologies to others if they have suggested the same). Kitchen/utility units are black, if you move the utility wall (red line) forward, you have room to put units in the utility and along the wall of the new kitchen and the bathroom with a bit of a step in the wall. It will be a long working space, but that would be ok if you need to keep an open area. Maybe put the sink and hob/oven close so you don't have to move hot pans far. Kitchen designers will come and help you plan this.

Might this work? You said the wall to divide the utility isn't built ( my squiiggly line) , so don't have it, and have an L shaped Kitchen. Also utilise that funny alcove if not too late.

Ps some conditions need discharging and some just need adhering to (such as working hours). Some are a grey area, such as the vision splay. Councils seem to vary in their interpretation and requirements.

I did what you are describing Sarah. The H & S by the main contractor was very dubious, I took far greater care than they did. They did the more dangerous stuff before watertight like scaffolding, roofing and steels etc. The only one who wore a hard hat was a nice contractor brickie, the rest would not hear of it, and that really stressed me out at times. When it was my responsibility I logged it with HSE and made sure I went way and above the 'real' builder. I also did a First Aid Course, was there practically all the time and tried to make sure there was never just one lone worker.

Wow, it looks amazing. A lot of glass was my first thought. What is the orientation of the elevation with a lot of big windows?

There’s an 8’ gap between the house and next door’s garage. I’m eyeing it up as a potential narrow laundry room and shower/loo. It will need to be very modest, unobtrusive, and wood clad. Maybe 2m x 7 or 8m. It will need planning permission but would potentially be simple to do as there is a door already. I would also be happy with a glass roof for light. Would I need a 1m gap between the buildings or 2m? Also, would the foundation requirements be different if it’s not sleeping accommodation? We are on clay but this bits not near trees. Anyone got any thoughts please?

The Building Regs should have been adhered to by the original builder, whatever they were at the time, as they change over the years. The risk to your roof is interstitial condensation, irrespective of whether you involve them now. Hopefully @Nickfromwales will come along and tell you whether bathroom refits need Building Control

Ok…we’ll as I understand things, it should be ventilated, as Radian says I think you need advice. We’ve just done just this and the bays from the main roof (with their 50mm ventilation gap) were made to communicate with the eaves in the flat roof so there is continuous ventilation from ridge to eaves. We had bitumous F1 membrane though, (bats). We couldn’t put a warm roof in (where you put the insulation over the rafters and so don’t need the ventilation gap) because we didn’t have planning permission to raise the roof height.

Is there not a strip vent behind the guttering somewhere? Is this bit an extension?

I you do need the 50mm ventilation gap. We’ve just done a cold roof like this and the builder was incredibly fussy to get the detailing right as you need to have a vent at the eaves and ridge to get air flow through each bay. You need a draft whistling through to remove any moisture laden air to stop it condensing. You could improve the insulation by putting a layer under the plasterboard, if you have enough head height.

You don't need to be a man to self build, but you do need to have balls...

Architects can vary with their experience and ability with planning, but some work with a planning consultant. Mine didn't like each other, so beware. Local knowledge/ relationships with the council is valuable. I would go easy on yourself financially and move into the caravan to live cheaply (it's arguably the best way to self build anyway) and sell the flat to free up cash. You will be in this for the long haul so pace yourself and maybe learn a trade?

The caravan being there is a great start. If all else fails, you could end up with something interesting: There was a Grand Designs (I think) which was built to be caravan compliant. Also Charlie Luxton was doing one but it doesn't say what the outcome was. https://charlieluxtondesign.com/mobile-home/