Alan Ambrose

Congrats

Anything greater than 100%.

Ah, you’re not allowing for box-ticking processes and that junior staff are forbidden to use their own common-sense or judgement.

The EPS grades are not so much density or a load bearing measure but ‘design load at 10% nominal compression’. That is, put 10 K N / m2 (approx 1 T/m2) on 100mm thick EPS100 and you expect it to compress by 10mm. So, what grade you need depends on what the load is and what compression you can tolerate. Probably a question for your SE in most cases unless this is., say, for a shed. in true ‘ub fashion I’ll answer the question you didn’t ask - in that you might want to consider XPS (e.g. Ravatherm) rather than EPS as it has better long term thermal properties with time and moisture. Design load at 10% nominal compression (kPa)

I suspect the LPA just wants to be sure it’s getting the max charge due to any increase in area - as CIL is calculated as charge per m2 x area.

I think, that unless the changes are very small (i.e. non-material 😃), then pretty much any change in footprint or ridge height is going to need a new application.

>>> replicate what the old bitumen was for What’s your best guess - was this a DPM?

Yeah, agree with that. This was my last email conversation with 'the CEO's email' (presumably he actually uses a different address): Hi Clive, Thanks for responding. I’ve taken a couple of days to mull over how to best describe the problem. Firstly, Mxxx Cxxxxx is doing a sterling job advocating for Openreach. Unfortunately, he ignores all my arguments. I think there are two problems, one policy related and one cultural: The policy problem is that Openreach has no specific policies for self-builders – it forces them through the developer mangle. One developer policy says: “we install only into dwellings and also only when they’re completed”. I’m sure that suits both the big developers and Openreach fine. But it means that Openreach concludes, for policy reasons, that it’ll make me wait for 18 months to get FTTP installed when I can usefully use it now. The cultural problem is that Openreach is a modern aggressive monopoly. So, unlike Essex & Suffolk Water and UK Power Networks which are comfortable connecting into my permanent kiosks and providing a service while I’m building, Openreach is happy to refuse for policy reasons even when I can get great benefit from the service now. What advantage does that refusal bring Openreach? The part of UK Power Networks that I’m dealing with dates from 1948 and Essex & Suffolk Water from 1973, so although they are monopolies too, they have a less aggressive, more amenable stance. I wonder whether Openreach might consider being more agreeable to its prospective new customers. So, I would like to see a little consideration both in policy and tone for the needs of self-builders. In particular, to enable connections into permanent kiosks early in the build like we do with power and water. I would be more than happy to be a volunteer. BTW the address details are yyyyyy yyyyyyy. Kind Regards, Alan Ambrose This was the reply from the 'Complaints': Hello Alan, My name is Mxxx Lxxx, I work within our Openreach's Executive Escalations And Complaints Team, I work within Myyy's team. I'm just picking this up as Myyy is out of the office this week, I appreciate you taking time to email Clive. I've taken a look over your email below and the case and I really appreciate your feedback. Managing newsite escalations as part of what our team does within Openreach and we work closely with the newsite reception team. I understand there is currently some changes taking place within the newsite reception team to hopefully improve the overall journey. Your feedback has been noted, and we will take this on board. The challenge with our full fibre network compared to other utility providers is that there is less of a presence of full fibre across the UK compared to water mains, gas mains and other utilities, most livable homes in the UK have access to running water, however, not all homes in the UK have access to full fibre broadband. In short, in a lot of instances we're having to install new fibre network for a lot of newsites across the UK. Nonetheless, I appreciate that there is a growing need from developers to have access to full fibre into sites that are being built so I will ensure this feedback is sent to our newsite repletion teams and I want to again ensure you this is greatly appreciated. Best regards Mxxxx Lxxxx So, the question is whether they will eventually install FTTP into the kiosk I have build and along duct route I agreed with them ... or not? I guess we'll find out in a year's time. In the meantime I need to pursue other options...

Yeah, that's an interesting subject which we don't talk about much here - how much do you enjoy / depend on / respect your workmates / contractors / helpers? How much do they tick you off / do not as good as a job that you would like etc? How important is that all to your project? I like things a bit neat and tidy and exact, even when it's not necessary and feel it necessary to use my best friendly management style - not so easy when you're exhausted, anxious & behind schedule. I tend to be a bit friendly, hands off and trusting - that's how I let the electricians go without them finishing the stuff I had detailed carefully in an email and how they installed a product different to the one I specified.

Thanks Johnny, looking forward to it.

Congrats, from here it looks like you're going at great speed.

I think you're mostly on your own here. Suggest these are the options: + find someone who's done it before and ask them to do it for you. + find an off-the-shelf product / solution. + design it yourself - well you can sort out the electrics, which leaves the matter of the physical design of the edging. Here's some leads: Google Search Looks like your example is from a Kenyan company - maybe you can ask them to design it for you? Outdoor & Landscape Design in Kenya | Affordable & Professional Outdoor & Landscape Design Services - Prestige Bluestar | Luxury Interior Design & Renovation Experts in Nairobi, Kenya My guess is that it's not hugely maintainable, but LED strips are fairly reliable, no?

Yeah, Dave Jones does know what he's talking about though. I see there are DC contactors, so that might be an option e.g. CAD32BD | Schneider Electric TeSys CAD Contactor, 24 V dc Coil, 10 A, 3NO + 2NC, 690 V dc | RS

>>> Had noticed I haven't been billed yet since moving to Cosy, in mid July. Yeah, they seem to have major billing problems right now, I'm getting random billing for weirdly long periods e.g. 3rd May to 20th August (i.e. 4 months) and weirdly short periods e.g. 21st August to 1st September (i.e. 11 days). I wonder whether they've been hacked or had a major systems failure?

>>> cramped and overbearing That's a weird combination - doesn't 'overbearing' suggest too big for the plot / compared to its neighbours. And 'cramped' suggests too small or maybe lots of small rooms? At least it says .... "submit a revised proposal" - which suggests that they are happy for something to be built there. I think I would try to get them to tell me what this mysterious thing is that they have in mind. Sometimes I think we should just let the planners design the houses instead of playing this ridiculous guessing game.

Although the MCS rules are the MCS rules - I think the publicity pictures on the GSE web-site suggest the direction that (at least some) people are going with this. The MCS rules seem like they were designed for on-roof only.

>>> been moving at hyper speed 😛 Our political masters use the phrase "working at pace". They don't usually specify what that pace is, but if you assume 'snails' you can only be pleasantly surprised.

@Beelbeebub - that looks very neat, how are the panels mounted to the metal roofing there?

>>> Are installers doing this? No, think it'll be me as I want it done right.

>>> DC isolators that account for 50% of fires That's interesting and I think the guys at eFixx are suggesting that they should not be fitted - but the Foa guidance that @LnP pointed to says 'DC isolators should be available for firefghters'. Guess we're still figuring this out. DON'T Install DC Isolators On Solar, Electricians Warned I think sensors (thernistor strings or whatever) are an interesting approach. Also, some kind of retardant membrane (fibreglass cloth comes to mind) would be helpful as ling at it doesn't interfere with whatever membranes are there. Gus's maintenance point is a good one, but I guess if a panel fails in the middle of a big array, it's always going to be hard to sort out.

Well I won't be doing either of those things - the thing that rankles is that the conditions were entirely unnecessary (there were a set of fences and hedges around the plot when we bought it and policing people's garden designs is so much BS for LPA's that claim they're under resourced) - so I view these as two more completely unnecessary, slow and expensive red tape hoops to jump over.

Ah yeah, it seems DC arc faults are harder to monitor than AC ones. I guess on-roof systems usually have a nice layer of non-flammable ceramic, concrete or slate to provide a lot of protection. Maybe in-roof needs a fire-proof layer too? Thin cement board maybe?

@JohnnyB - maybe the 18th then?

>>> you need an open stack at the end of the run Is that at the treatment plant or the last inspection chamber nearest the house?

We have 3 Nest ones that seem to work OK.