ProDave

Yes we had a little tussle with the planners. I wanted the 'van to remain as a workroom / studio / store room. The planners said no. That was until I pointed out that on the day of completion I could remove it from the site, then immediately put an identical 'van back in the identical position, and it would be a permitted development garden building. They agreed and changed the condition to "habitational use of the caravan shall cease on occupation of the house"

I am in the wrong trade. I wish I had the brass neck to charge someone £80 just to tell them the old boiler is knackered.

^^ I am impressed the upstairs plasterboard is largely intact, even though all traces of any frame it might have been attached to has long since gone.

Well you have me beat now. Just what were you referring to in the highlighted bit?

Why do I get the feeling, any authority that tries this will do so as a planning issue, not as a building control issue, and it will end up as a complete mess.

Mine argued it needed venting at both ends so we are now where we are.

I can't wait to get the static 'van set up in it's new role as a work space. At the moment it's just a general storage dumping ground.

Here, the Highland council have a specification of how an entrance from the road should be made, it has a mini "deceleration" lane before the actual entrance. and the first 3 metres must be tarmac. Basically they are dictating that we provide an additional passing space on the single track road, and people use it as that. Put up a sign saying CCTV in use? might stop the dogging? I suspect once it is obvious the house is occupied and complete, much of the parking issues will go away.

There must be caravan dealers that sell static 'vans somewhere near you, there are 2 close to me up here. Go and have a wander around their yard. They will probably have everything from plush nearly new with a big price tag, to a £1000 wreck that looks like it might not survive the delivery trip and everything in between. the advantage of buying from a dealer is transport is usually included as any reasonable size dealer has their own flatbed for transporting them. This one cost me a little over £4000, chosen because it has an unusual layout with 2 end bedrooms and the living room in the middle.

That was accepted because your garage is permanent. I vented my stack at the end at the static caravan. My BCO argued the caravan was not permanent. I argued it had PP to remain as a work space. He argued some future owner might remove it. I argued if they do, then they should make provision to ventilate the drain then, he argued they would not. I lost the argument so have a stack pipe through my roof.

Speak to your BCO A stack with an AAV is allowed, BUT the drain run will have to be vented somewhere to the satisfaction of your BCO. I didn't realise this in time and the only thing he would have accepted was an external stack up the gable end, and it was too late them I had already concreted the parking area alongside the house so too late to lay a branch to serve that external vent stack.

You can buy the regs for somewhere between £60 and £80, and if buying now of course get the 18th edition. But as stated if the electriaian does not have his own copy, you are talking to the wrong electrician. There is always a risk, no matter where you put a cable, that some other trade might drill through it, which is why you test the circuit before applying power. It does occasionally happen and then you have to find and fix the fault, but not often.

Hi and welcome to the forum If that is to erect a kit already made in panels then that is an awfully long time. 4 men had our frame up in a week, that was 2 storeys about half the floor area of yours. Or is that making the frame on site as they go? Which part of Scotland are you?

Are you any good at holding a hand stand?

This is my one The panel with the flush plate unclips to give access to the cistern than can be serviced through the blue panel on the cistern SWMBO chose it. It came from one of the sheds but I forget which one. It wasn't expensive. I had been pricing some units from Howdens but this came in a lot cheaper. It was just the cabinet, basin and taps from the shed. The Pan was bought on line for just over £50 and the cistern and flush plate Iirc came from BES

Oh and as I say so many times on the Electricians forum, if you are going to change a light fitting, identify all the wires, take pictures, and draw a diagram BEFORE you remove the old light fitting.

You already said they were twisted together so they stay that way, and if the light fitting has an earth, connect them to that.

OUCH £90.46 when I ordered mine, now £174.97. Cue someone to Brexit.

Don;t use the terms "live, neutral" etc, just stick to colours, e.g a blue may not always be neutral I am going to take an educated guess. Cable 1 and cable 3 are the feed in and feed out. cable 2 is the switch drop. Because there was a fan and a light, they used 3 core. So start with joining cable 1 brown, cable 3 brown, and cable 2 brown together in a junction that goes nowhere else. Cable 1 blue and cable 3 blue join together to the light fitting N terminal Cable 2 black is the switched L for the fan. It is no longer needed so connect it to a terminal all on it's own. cable 2 grey is the light switched L connect it as you have done to the light fitting L

Yes I have 2 (only one fitted so far) The flow rate is so good, I am astounded at how quick SWMBO has a shower now. She says it is so quick to rinse the shampoo out of her hair, that used to take ages in the old shower.

Yes that pigtail of wire is one of the multiple earths of a PME system. If you ever see the work n a new pole where a new transformer is installed they run a new LV earth in one direction, and an HV earth in the other in the trench You can leave your rod connected, I have one at out house, here is talk if this becoming a requirement for PME systems.

^^ At least that list is clear with a set number of visits. @JSHarris got banned just for going too often, with no clear policy of how often was acceptable.

Wiring regs are UK wide. England and Wales add a few extras with Part P of the building regs but we don't have that here in Scotland or NI. Re holes in battens, I pre empt this and when fitting the battens leave a small gap at 450mm above FFL for socket cables and another at 1200 for light switch cables. It saves a lot of drilling later. I just wish I could get some of the local joiners to be similarly helpful.

For some time now, in my "trade" capacity as an electrician, I leave all waste with the customer, usually straight into their own wheelie bin. I don't want to open the can of worms about transporting trade waste, I never have waste in my vehicle, just stock. Highland Council require you to fill in a form if you are disposing of private waste either in a trailer or in a sign written vehicle, to declare that it is personal waste. Of course it would be far too helpful if they had a stock of these forms at the tip for you to fill in. You need to know about them and download and print one first before you set out. I have never been contested or stopped for going too often, but then I don't go very often anyway.

Are you living on site and paying council tax? if so you will have a pair of wheelie bins. Mine seem to "disappear" most of my rubbish. Larger stuff I take to the local tip, usually in my Landrover to save unloading my work tools.