Great_scot_selfbuild

I’m just going to comment on your original/repeated question - How I would approach this: 1. Keep it simple (as a few others have said). I’ve done both approaches, with good reason and the right intent, but the best response and subsequent discussion has come from a very short initial enquiry. You’ve thought a lot about this; one way of cutting it down is write everything down and then get one of the AI tools to summarise your concerns into, say, 3 bullets that you could easily describe in an initial phone call. I wouldn’t expect it to give a finished solution, but this sort of approach can be good at sifting your thoughts. 2. Start with a phone call. You won’t be able to sift the good from bad necessarily, but you’ll get a feel for whether they’re interested and if it’s worth them visiting (or if you’d rather not progress to that stage - I’d want someone I could comfortably talk to). 3. Approach at *least* 3 before arranging one/two to visit (depending on cost/offers/approach - they will vary). Search for local recommendations, local FB groups you may be on/neighbours who have had big building works done etc. 4. Walk them round the aspects that concern you and why - the subsequent conversation will be led by their professional experience (this is why you want to try doing research on the company/person in advance. IMPORTANT: Check companies house (worth doing for any professional service imho). Dead easy to search - google “company / individual name companies house” this will give you an idea of how established the company is, what the finances are like and when you look at the names of the people you can see if they’ve had multiple businesses. This isn’t always a problem, but it helps you understand the risk or how you choose to pay (for example, I’d be less inclined to pay a lot upfront if there are any aspects that concerned me). Based on your post, personally, I would go for an SE assessment, before then seeing where it may take you as to the work required. Depending on how you get on with the SE you may find they have a few recommendations of other professionals they have a positive opinion of. Always get more than one quote (as mentioned earlier). Best of luck

I knew I was missing something!! @JohnMo Thank you so much for this. Just the advice / nudge I was needing 🤩 👏

I've come across this statement: “Hep2O should not be installed in Continuously operated re-circulating systems (Secondary Hot Water Circulation / Ring main installations).” I was planning on using Hep2O pipework from the plant room to the end points, with the long hot water runs (20-30m) having a 10mm return line to enable circulation to avoid running taps, wasting water and waiting for the water to heat up. I was sure I'd come across this approach by others - is this something I should be worried about? if not, why not?

Having thought I'd closed this topic off for our build, I find myself revisiting it as my builder (new to the project for this phase) who is looking at the timber cladding installation (diamond shingles) has raised a concern / query about the 9mm shingles and whether they are safe/compliant for our build. His background is large commercial / flats and so obviously this topic has consumed a lot of time and attention for him but from a very different perspective. Our build is a timber frame, Larsen truss walls with full-fill blown cellulose fill (continuous, no gaps/voids). The question which I'll be discussing with my PD when they're back is two fold: 1. Verify that this cladding (which I've seen used on other builds) meets BR and safety standards. 2. If our build is clad in a non-fireproof cladding, what is the point in fitting intumescent strips (where we still need airflow in normal use), if the cladding itself is likely to have burned away? (I haven't researched how quickly the strips expand vs. singles are likely to burn). For further background, our BC has reviewed the drawings and seen the cladding, we are well over 1m from boundary and he raised no concerns. Has anyone else found themselves having to 'show working' to prove compliance or assure others? For clarity: Single 2-storey, 4-bed private dwelling (well) over 1m from boundary, in England.

Am I correct in thinking that for ventilation behind the cladding here (assuming it’s timber), you rely on the horizontal battens providing lateral air movement? (love the detail in this thread - exactly what makes buildhub so useful!)

Equally, my question was whether anyone had achieved BR sign off 🤷‍♂️ I’ve been finding a difference between guidance rules and MIs - many MIs saying only ceiling (including on AICO’s site! 🤦🏻‍♂️). It’s the lack of consistency that’s frustrating, hence asking about actual lived experience (I’ve done a lot of manufacturer searching). @Nickfromwales have you had any signed off with wall mounted detectors?

Yes - we’re in England

BR requires a mains powered fire alarm with battery backup

Upstairs we need to install smoke detectors on the walls as there is no service void in the ceiling. We have a small area of the flat ceiling as the first floor is mostly in the pitched roof space, so fitting the detectors to the top of the vertical wall would be in the space where smoke would gather first anyway. Has anyone done this and achieved BR sign off?

Phew! Started reading this post and thought I’d not been told something by our PD and electrician! Pleased to hear this shouldn’t apply to our build.

I’ll try to dig out the tender doc I sent. I went through a bit of evolution in how tenders were written / structured. ChatGPT can be a great help, but in general I found less is more - if you send out to much then it may not even get a response (even if it does contain the detail they would need). Here’s one of the examples of what I sent: *********************** Hi [name - I always made a point of contacting them by phone first], We spoke the other week about our self-build project. Would you please quote for the attached design. [included the BR designs by our architectural technician; once we selected our TF supplier, then the detail of the construction drawings were developed, and any BR drawings were updated at the end] House: 0.6ACPH (to quote for assuring this value once windows installed - to be done by EcoHaus; UK based and experienced at meeting passive-level performance). U=0.11 walls & roof Roof insulated and built up to the point of roof finish (standing seam) to be installed. Internal service void of 50mm. Floor - not required, will be beam & block (by others). Wall insulation preferred = blown cellulose e.g. warmcell/steico. Include for steel as required for spans. Include structural calculations as required for the timber frame. Include for plant / lifting equipment as required, noting access constraints (attached doc). Include internal walls, with 100mm stud thickness to allow for sound insulation (by others). Kind regards, ******************* Hope this helps Sent from Outlook for iOS

I’m trying to make sense of the BR and what I can see of BS5396-6. We’re installing the electrical first fix and have a circuit for fire alarm covering the required areas shown in Approved doc B. What have people done here for their fire alarm design & installation? The BR guidance seems very straightforward and clear about what we install and where, but then Approved Document B, Volume 1: Dwellings, Section 1, under “Design and installation of systems” also states: “Fire detection and alarm systems must be properly designed, installed and maintained. A design, installation and commissioning certificate should be provided for fire detection and alarm systems.” Is the mention of fire alarm commissioning certificate (which has a section for ‘designed by’ required for self-build residential homes (I.e. not HMO, not especially large - no single floor over 200sqm etc)

We have a telegraph pole on our land. BT says that the rate they pay is what their rate card says at the time of a new owner registering with them, and that it never changes until the ownership changes. The current rate card is £10.50 per year(!). Has anyone tried challenging this? The previous owner was being paid £8.82 by cheque once a year (since early 1990s). This seems to be a very favourable inflation rate for BT. My simple ChatGPT-aided search has shown it to be a BT policy rather than law and the bit that annoys me is the reference to it being a fixed rate for the whole duration of ownership. A neighbour wasn’t aware of this at all until I mentioned it. The response they have had offered: £10.50pa or £315 one-off payment my personal concern with a one-off payment is any implied rights, whereas an annual payment is far more clearly a rent-like payment. I’m sure some of you have opinions on this. I’d love to hear them… 🫣

Not that it applies to us, but my interest is piqued - how 'heavy' for fire protection to not be required? (thanks for the other points - we pored over the fire protection discussions early on in the design stage with the PD, SE and TF company; I've since filled my head with MVHR, UFH.... and need to go back and re-read it all.)

I think this sounds sensible & practical. I did my UFH (16mm PERT-AL-PERT) install. It was easy enough, but the companies that produce the drawings don’t consider bend radius at all. I knocked up a simple bending tool, though I quickly got the hand of doing it and didn’t use the tool - though my test helped give me confidence in handling and bending it. Not sure if this video will upload - here’s my DIY tool and demo of bending the pipe (showing how much / little the cross section is affected). IMG_2232.mov