BotusBuild

It has full planning permission ?

MVHR is definitely in the plans, and at the moment ICF with rebar as ground floor has to sink into ground

@SteamyTea, my personal aim is to make the house as well insulated as I can without going all "PassivHaus", and using other technologies (solar PV, solar thermal etc..) to aim to reduce utility bills to sub-£400 per annum.

@joe90 That's not strictly a buffer tank - that's a hot water tank. A buffer tank has no coil inside it. There could be two reason for the intermittent HP working, one you have already identified as the potential small heat losses. The other could be some feature of your ASHP that makes it cycle occasionally for "maintenance" reasons - might be worth a conversation with the manufacturer directly rather than the installer. Regards Stuart

Joe, How is the buffer tank plumbed in? In the HP/UFH/buffer tank installations I have been involved with the buffer tank has always had 4 pipes - H and C from the HP, and H and C to the UFH. This minimizes the volume of liquid the HP has to heat up, and evens out the flow to the UFH. Each section of UFH should be thermostatically controlled, and the thermostat that controls the UFH should be linked to the buffer tank. If the buffer tank thermostat calls for heat .... well you get the idea. HTH Stuart

We finally completed the land purchase on April 12th, and to confirm, yes, it is Botus Fleming just North of Saltash in Cornwall (the South West!) ? The main delay was due to irregularities between the site defined in the approved plans and the plans that were on the Title Transfer, and also the sellers solicitor being a stickler (much to the sellers discomfort!). But as Time is my variable ... ? we promptly went on a two week holiday to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary, and now the planning changes and building reg signoff is the next task. Now switching to other forums ? Stuart

Patrick, Collecting Authority is the Local Planning Authority e.g. Cornwall Council

@ joe90, The plot we bought came with OPP and a design that we liked (eco, contemporary/modern), and something I believe I can build mostly myself. There are some tweaks that we want to make, but not a wholesale change. I am considering use of just an architectural technician but need to understand more about what they can and cannot do. Any pointers to where I can read about that would be welcome ? @ Temp, From Cornwall's own documentation, Form 1: Assumption of liability - "This form must be received by Cornwall Council before commencement of the CIL liable development." Looking at the form, it requires the planning permission reference and I am assuming the FPP reference will be different to the OPP reference, so I guess you are correct about waiting. Cheers Stuart

I will start on the CIL ? Thank you

Hello everyone, Been reading some of the forums on this site to figure out what's next as we recently finalised on a 0.5 acre plot in Cornwall. It has OPP, and I believe the next step is to get Full PP in order that we can start building. Or, have I have got that wrong - I see that some start some work after getting OPP so that OPP remains valid. The other question I have is whether I need to use an Architect for the FPP process, or is there a way to DIY, or to do it cheaper than the quotes I am getting. Cheers Stuart

Hello fellow self-builders! Having lived in the South East (nr Reading) for over 30 years in various cookie-cutter boxes of varying quality, after a 2 year hunt we have found a building plot on which we are going to build what we intend to be our "forever house". We are currently in the purchase of the land stage, so fingers are still crossed as we wait for all the legal and financial stuff to conclude, hopefully next month. The plot comes with OPP for an eco-designed house (architects were ARCO2 in Bodmin) which we intend to make minor tweaks to as we apply for DPP and Building Regs approval to proceed. Our intention is to perform as much of the labouring ourselves, both being practical minded, in order to be able to spend more on the materials. Personally, when younger, I helped my parents build a major extension to one property and renovate two others, I have renovated and rebuilt two classic cars, and undertaken re-wiring and re-plumbing in our current property - I'm reasonably confident in doing the work. On the Quality/Time/Cost triad, Time is the one that will be most variable :-) I'll probably be using these forums to seek input on the steps and order of tasks for project planning purposes (if anyone has a good starting template I would be very interested!), to discuss various material choices (e.g. raft v strip foundation, ICF v timber frame etc.), and delve into the variety of construction experience that exists here, so on the basis that there are no stupid questions ..... :-) Cheers Stuart