LnP

It doesn't and MCS didn't say that. They highlight the problem with Building Regs compliance. I agree. I don't read it as buck passing. Looks to me like MCS are trying to sort the problem. Still trying to figure out what this means for a new installation.

Indeed, but GSE say that is a list of panels they have tested and received positive, indicative test reports from the Warrington Fire certified laboratory. They go on to say that while solar modules can still be tested, the challenge lies in obtaining classification under BS EN 13501-5 BROOF (T4). So I'm confused. Will BC sign off roof integrated roof PV panels without the classification?

It seems to go farther than that: "where solar products form a roof covering (i.e. roof-integrated) a fire classification is required so that compliance with Building Regulations can be demonstrated (specifically Regulation B4: External fire spread). Any new products brought to market are currently unable to obtain a fire classification and therefore cannot be integrated into roofs in compliance with the Building Regulations. This also prevents them gaining MCS certification." So Building Control will in future not be signing off roof integrated PV panels until fire certification is sorted out. Seems unbelievable? @SteamyTea the 4 on which list. I missed that.

Link here to MCS Update. And I got an email from GSE. Not sure if this will work but it says it can be viewed in a browser, here. Any thoughts on what this means?

If you're concerned about the planet and you think your gas utility are going to put hydrogen in your gas pipes, you should definitely install a heat pump. Let's hope someone can explain the second law of thermodynamics to our politicians so that this never happens. Burning green hydrogen for home heating would be madness. It will be expensive and bad for the planet. Getting a kWh of heat into your house by burning hydrogen will require six times more renewable energy generation than doing it with a heat pump. That's six times as many wind turbines and PV panels. The priority for green hydrogen should be to use it in applications where there is no alternative, e.g. fertiliser (ammonia, urea), chemicals manufacture (methanol) and oil refining which currently get their hydrogen from natural gas. If all of the existing renewable electricity in the world were used for those industrial uses, it would not be sufficient for the current industrial demand. Before we even think about burning hydrogen, we should use it first for those applications. If you're interested in reading more, check out Michael Liebreich's Hydrogen Ladder.

I was with Eon when I wanted my 3P meter installed and they were hopeless. I switched to Octopus and they got it sorted.

You could try playing around with this demand calculator. I don't have an EV, but assume that if I did, I'd want something faster than a 7 kW charger. I'm guessing I'd want a 22 kW charger?

What are the pros and cons of natural slate vs artificial?

A good article. Carbon Brief have good people writing for them. Interesting though, in the context of myths, The Daily Telegraph gets 13 mentions, the Daily Express 5 and the Daily Mail 8. Funny that, eh?

I've got a 3 ph supply and my electrician recommended this kiosk from Meter Boxes UK. W800 x H1064 x D320 mm current price £684 incl VAT and delivery. It seems robust enough and will be big enough for all the 3 ph stuff - don't have everything in there yet.

Since you will be self managing, you will be the Principal Contractor. There’s a nice summary what that means in the examples section towards the bottom of this guidance from the Self Build Portal. You’re responsible for the matters in Part 4 of CDM, which shouldn’t be difficult for you as you’ve managed building sites before. Regarding the Principal Designer role, it’s nice that your architect agrees that they have been responsible for that. Once the construction phase starts, the PD’s work is mostly done. The PD now just has to hand over the H&S file to the PC. Ask them for it.

@nod Please share it in the forum rather than DM. I imagine there's nothing confidential about the size of your plant room!

I wish I (or my plumber!) had known about manifolds on DHW systems. I've got a boiler which is a long way from the kitchen and it takes ages for the hot water to come through.

That's a pity. Are they 2G or 3G?

Update - I had paid PWC with a credit card, so I made a Section 75 claim against the credit card company .... and they have refunded my money, all £905!! Very happy😁.

It's a good point. The safety requirements apply also to residential/domestic situations and also to gates which swing. The place I bought my equipment from gave me good advice on what I needed to do to comply.

Same as Onoff, I cast 100 mm galvanised steel box section posts into the foundations (1/3 in the ground, 2/3 above) with a bracket on each one welded to it for the top hinge - possibly over engineered but these gates were pretty heavy! I then had the stone pillars built around the posts, with the top hinge bracket projecting out. The stone pillars didn't have to take any of the load. You'll need to lift some of your blocks to set the motor boxes in the ground. As Nod says, a lot of the weight of the gate is taken by the motors at the bottom, so you might be OK fixing the top hinge to the brick pillars with the right kind of fixings. I brought the wiring for the infra-red proximity sensors up the posts and out through the stone blocks, so the wiring would be hidden. Before you laid the blocks, did you put in the conduit for the electrics and control circuits? Btw, I think a pedestrian gate is essential if you don't want your Amazon parcels lobbed over the gate when you're not home.

I just checked back in my receipts. In 2018 I did a shower with two sheets of Versital, 2250x900 and 2250x1200. It was £1600 incl VAT. That was just supply of the sheets. The plumber had to fit it including drilling the holes for the shower. It's very easy to install though, provided the walls are flat and square. It's the same kind of material as kitchen counter tops, so if I was doing it again, I might see if one of those could supply it. Might be cheaper from them? So it is expensive, but we were happy with our choice. We didn't like the feel or look of the laminate panels.

I've used stone filled resin panels like this one from Versital. IMHO it has a superior quality feel to it compared to laminate products like Multipanel. Probably more expensive though.

Take a look at the de minimis exemption - habitat impact of less than 25 m2 of area habitat and 5 m of linear habitat. If the new building is on the footprint of the old one, that should exempt you.

If the suggestion is that developers are doing that so that the baseline has less habitat, I don't think that would work, because (quote from here). Within Schedule 14 of the Environment Act, which sets out the biodiversity gain condition for development, measures are included that allow planning authorities to recognise any habitat degradation since 30th January 2020 and to take the earlier habitat state as the baseline for the purposes of biodiversity net gain. In order to ascertain the habitats present and their condition on 30th January 2020, aerial imagery or data sets from that time could be used. 30th January 2020 is the relevant date as it was the day the Bill entered Parliament.

Yes, I think this is probably the extent of the information which Thames Water have. It was the same for me so I got a CCTV drain survey done to find out exactly what I had on my plot. It was only £250 + VAT and they provided a written report with a map showing where the drains are and the CCTV files. It's been invaluable information. Good value, maybe because they expect to get remedial work from what they find - their assessment of what they found was quite pessimistic.

Check the drawings held by the utility and get a drains survey done in case there are drains which are not on the drawings?

I agree with everything @Conor said but would add ... We're doing the same kind of project (demolish and rebuild) and will live on site during the build in an outbuilding which we've fixed up. The outhouse is heated by a gas boiler and we need all the utilities to keep going during the build. I decided to move the gas and electricity meters into new free-standing permanent boxes on one side of the plot. I decided to upgrade the electrical supply to 3 ph after playing around with this demand calculator. Our water meter was in the old house which was built in the '60s. I asked UU to relocate the meter to a box in the street by the stop valve which was straightforward. Don't recall the cost but it wasn't much. I was wondering what to do about the phone/fibre connection which is still in the old house where we're still living. Haven't sorted that yet. So apart from that, I'm now ready to isolate and demolish the old house and keep all the utilities going to the outhouse.

Just an update. Another client of my planning consultant has been told by his mortgagee they will not lend him the money if he signs the UU. Not surprising, since it would mean that if he defaults on the loan within three years, they couldn't repossess the house without the permission of the local authority. Since most self builders require mortgages, Warrington Borough Council's policy of requiring a UU effectively eliminates the possibility of self build for most people in Warrington, unless they do the BNG demonstration. I spotted that there is a de minimis threshold specified in the Planning Practice Guidance. BNG is not required if the impact on the site is: Less than 25 m2 of on-site habitat; and Less than 5 m of linear habitat (hedgerow) In our case, the new house will be placed on the footprint of the existing house and its surrounding hard standing, so there is no impact on habitat and BNG should not be required. I've asked my planning consultant to try that one with the LPA.