ETC

You can start work but at your own risk if your plans haven’t been approved but your application is valid. Just contact your local BC office and go through your concerns with them. We regularly inspect works that haven’t got plan approval but the applicant wants to start work. BC will inspect the foundation trenches to see that the ground is suitable and if there are any concerns they will ask you to get an engineer to inspect the ground before any concrete foundations are poured.

I know a "cool" architect😉

Here in NI there is a get-out clause for listed buildings. Check with your local BCO but be prepared to have the current legislation applied to your extension. The following relates to the conservation of fuel and power in buildings. "Protected buildings District councils have a duty to take account of the desirability to preserve the character of protected buildings when carrying out their functions under Building Regulations. Therefore, where work is to be carried out to a protected building to comply with Part F or any other Part of the Building Regulations, special consideration may be given to the extent of such work for compliance where it would unacceptably alter the character or appearance of the building. Protected buildings are defined in Article 3A(2) of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (as amended)."

Check the base legislation in England and ask your local BCO. Our technical guidance is derived from the English technical guidance.

Technical Booklets – Building Control NI (buildingcontrol-ni.com)

If I could give this post 5 stars I would - fixed fee all the way.

Just as a matter of interest what have the planners said?

If you’re trying to copy a Huf Haus why not just build a Huf Haus?

Or chimneys😁

You can go as close as legally possible if your wall is 1HRFR. Wood cladding not acceptable unless there’s a solid block wall behind it. Foundations don’t differ between non-sleeping and sleeping accommodation.

Sorry - not a fan. Looks like 80’s Miami.

Personally I think you’ve lost some of the character of the old house. I’m also not convinced with the flat roof parapet. It looks a bit unwieldy and out of place.

If you’re going to remove it after receiving a Completion Certificates it’s not permanent. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/permanent

I forgot to say - it’s also illegal.

Screwing a piece of plywood to act as guarding and then removing after receiving the Completion Certificate is not only immoral but potentially dangerous. The Building Regulations exist for your protection and weren’t pulled out of someone’s ar*e. Builders must think BCOs are as thick as champ!

😂😂😂😂 In German and you expect him to accept it - says it all really! Why not go the whole hog and send him it in Chinese as well.!

It needs to be PERMANENT!

Not in a million years would that pass!

I fully understand that the information was sent by the supplier and that the BCO is now asking for more information and has quoted what he needs from the Approved Document verbatim. He or she has done this because they are not able to reconcile what was sent with what is in the Approved Document - either they don’t understand the information sent or the information sent does not satisfy the requirement in the Approved Document. Remember the old saying KISS - keep it simple - stupid. An email confirmation should satisfy the most misunderstanding BCO.

The secret planning police are always watching - so is Karen next door!!😂

However - if you think about this logically - the best access will always be a level access at all doors. If you have level access to your home elsewhere then a maximum of a 150mm step up into the extension should be grand. I’m quoting the guidance from NI but I suspect it’s not too far away in Bonnie Scotland. Any Scottish BCOs out there to double check?

Clear as mud! What rise and going is required to an extension?

I think you’re over complicating things and getting your knickers in a twist about something that can quite easily sorted. I also have a sneaky suspicion that either the BCO doesn’t understand what has been sent to him or her or that the information sent to him or her was generic technical information and didn’t tie up with the approved document. It’s quite simple really - low-level FIXED glazing needs to be safety glass and low-level safety OPENABLE safety glass not only needs to be safety glass but also needs to prevent someone falling through it - there a couple of other caveats but that’s really as simple as it gets. You or your glazing/window supplier have absolutely need to trawl through any documents. @ToughButterCup - contact your glazing supplier and ask him/her to send you an email to say that the glazing installed at - insert full postal address - has been designed and supplied and fitted in accordance with Approved Document K. Send this email onto your BCO. Your glazing/window supplier is an expert in this field and will know off the top of his head exactly what is required to be fitted in what area. Your BCO doesn’t want generic standard technical information downloaded from the www - he or she wants a statement from the glazing/window for his file - the simpler the statement the better. This is a standard procedure for many BCOs where it is not obvious from a site inspection that a pane of glass isn’t safety glass.

BCOs should only need a confirmation from you that the glass is safety glass. It’s not that BCO don’t check - they do check but sometimes the text is so small to read or the windows are dirty at the time of the inspection - there could be a number of reasons. It’s also a belt and braces approach. In any case you could refuse to confirm that the glass is safety glass and insist that the BCO satisfies him or herself that the glass is safety glass.

Asking for confirmation your window/glazing supplier that glass is safety glass is a standard enough request from a BCO and is not a way for them to get out of doing their job. Sometimes the marking is difficult to see (high up or low down or partly concealed by a strip) or is in a different or unusual format. It’s a straightforward request and is quite easily for a supplier to give.