DieselDobermann

Yeah, he didn't even run this past me (I'm the main owner of the house) and didn't even think what this might entail just with surveyors and paperwork and insurance... I was actually livid.... but hey ho gotta sort it out now so onwards we go...

We plan to seal it with a window that opens up to give access to the conservatory, not leave a hole, so this shouldn't be an issue.

Well hello everyone. I've joined because I'm confused! We bought our house last year, it's a 1930s ex council house in Bristol. My husband is doing a lot of the minor renovations himself as he's great at building stuff, but basically has no clue when it comes to what kind of permission he needs or what needs signing off, or insurance approval, and has left it all down to me to find out about.... Very new to this, so please be kind!! I'm going to call the council on Monday, but thought I'd post here for some advice in the meantime. So our house has a conservatory at the back. A sliding double door into it from the living room, and a window from the kitchen that looks into the conservatory. During the replacing of all the kitchen units and redoing the kitchen wall tiles, my husband took it upon himself to knock this window out as well. Let's just say he got a bit carried away and has had this vision in his head of having a hatch through into the conservatory and a breakfast bar on the other side where our 3 young kids and dog can be while we keep an eye on them from the kitchen and pass them their food. He has exposed all the brickwork, and the window lintel. It's wood and should really be replaced with a concrete one, as these 1930s houses in this area all have issues with cracking around the windows due to these older wooden lintels. So my first question is this - if he wants to replace the wooden lintel with a concrete one, what do we need to do? Is he allowed to do this himself? Do we need someone from building regulations to come out and check it prior to him doing this? Do they need to come out again after and sign off on it saying it complies with building regs? What do we need to do regarding our insurance? Bear in mind this is now considered an internal window / opening rather than external one, due to it opening into the conservatory. Then second question is - what's the process of getting a window installed yourself, or is it easier just to get a builder in? Would whatever permissions/sign-offs required for the lintel cover the replacement of the window as well? Really would appreciate any sort of advice, I'm clueless and if I'm honest, totally panicked now Thanks in advance!