saveasteading

Correct. I had this clarified. Assume naked, standing in a puddle and not too bright ( or careless , to quote last week's special word.) I can't see any bco allowing any relaxation. But in a utility or kitchen, no problem. Wet hand onto light switch is low risk...maybe a warning tingle and a spark before the cutout trips.

As AndyS. If you dabble at being clever with the wording then it gives lawyers a lot to argue about. A simple exchange of what you want and what the builder is to do is worthwhile. In very plain English and short sentences. And how payment will be made. I went to a construction talk on contracts where the lawyer said his most constructive work was in setting up contracts, and the most profitable was in arguing clauses meant when surveyors had altered clauses in standard contracts. Moral, use a standard contract or just write your own summary. If you email it to the builder and they start work then that is your contract, signed or not, for better or worse.

If you have garden space it would be a shame to throw away good topsoil. Pile up the top 100mm or so of your site strip, and the grass and roots will die and rot in a few weeks.. You then have valuable soil* to spread on the flower beds, or fill pots or build raised beds. The mini digger mentioned will do that in 2 hours, and can immediately carry on to footings. * 11m3 which you would buy in for at least £500, or pay as much to take away. Look you have saved £1,000.

Don't assume that the builder or electrician understand all or any if this. I have employed many who may be good at installation, may be qualified to sign it off, but don't know much theory. And I have met some who know how to connect a socket, and have a source of certificates. There are plenty of good ones too. Ask them to explain what 3 phase is. (More power is the wrong answer) Ask them to explain how a 2 way switch doesn't short. Ask them to explain diversity....actually this one might do on its own.

Yes, tool hire companies are mostly hiring heavy duty stuff to the industry. 110V is the norm. I would always buy a transformer and cabling, as it is about 6 weeks hire cost. When it gets damaged of stolen, you'd be amazed what hire companies say it costs to replace.

Probably already said above, I haven't reread. If you need a new cable, an option is to put in an oversized one now. If you don't eventually need it, you haven't unnecessarily committed to higher fees for ever. Then you can upgrade to 3 phase when it suits, if ever. All you need to do is tell your sparks that one car charging us enough. I can't remember the term, for not all machines and appliances being used at once....is it divergence? It is a significant proportion.

It depends on the skills of ' the environment team'. I'd suggest you do your own scheme to show people. Make it easy to understand. Plan drawing pluux description. Sell the plus points. Show how it deals with the regulations. And tick off all the bullet points that have been put before you.

Land ownership must be deep in our psyche. I had a neighbour remove a line of Leylandi, then plant more on my side. This despite remnants of an old fence showing the line. Fortunately his wife told him to shift them, and then out tiny child decided to watch him til he was finished. If you want the fence shifted or removed you must tell them now, or forget and relax. If you have proof of the boundary (+/_ 1m on some title deeds), then get it recorded. Or relax. Re the wall, most people don't understand structures, or physics. It might not be sinister.

Car patches to building oligarchs' yachts?

As my earlier post. Cheekbones, I was assuming you agree/accept this, otherwise my other comments are redundant.

That is much better. There is still some flexibility there if the chamber drops a tad.

I never understood the problem. Do radiators have loose steel in them?

I have a fibreglass cover on an area of flat roof with upstands, and it is fine after 6 years. But a big 400m2 roof we had done failed at joints (too big to absorb differential movement?), very expensively as the roofer had disappeared. I therefore favour flexible sheeting with guaranteed seals. For DIY I fancy the stuff that comes in tins simply paints on and becomes a single flexible layer. But there seems less of it about so perhaps there are issues.

But reading proposals, it seldom is anything other than waffle and some bird boxes. The formal approaches give more marks for furry animals with big eyes, than for insects etc. The best biodiversity probably comes from rotting wood and some shrubs...and a muddy, messy pond. I would use that approach next time I have to.

I can't see how drainage tunnels are any better than perf pipe and gravel, except they have done tests and they are 'a thing' for the bco to accept. Borehole drains silt up over a few years and are last resort. But you have sandy soil so lucky you. But 1.5 hours is quite slow still.* I agree with the above...make all your rainwater drains French drains, (at negligible extra cost) and the pond will be almost dry until a big storm comes. It is also more sustainable as you are spreading the water out. * have you tried digging deeper. The top may be compressed or silted up.

Yes, for the cost of re-levelling their lawn. Negligible cost, but then add legals. Is it a long way from the house and anything else that could bd damaged? Any existing damage is likely to bd blamed on you too. But I wouldn't count on the wall moving at all. There are many tons and friction resisting any shove. Don't go there i suggest.

The trouble with sewage pumps is what happens in a failure, eg power cut. So usually you are required to provide a couple of days secure storage capacity. That gets to be a big tank, but a specialist pump supplier can advise. With a good treatment plant, the outlet water should be very light grey, so perhaps the need for foul storage can be argued away. But still any overflow has to be dealt with.

Not "eventually" but very quickly. The air flow is high and the garage would very soon become cold (or hot) from chucking out the waste warm, (or cold), air. It would soon be very inefficient. The installers should know this and i would be concerned if they suggested or agreed to do this.

From experience, osb does not react well to paint, which causes wood flakes to spring clear of the surface. That was using intumescent paint. I agreed with the bco to use external masonry paint ( internally). This was for extensive lining as a backing instead of blockwork in portal frame buildings.That wouldn't look good in a domestic situation. Thereafter we used mdf instead, very successfully. It needs a gap as otherwise there are inevitable lips. We chamfered all the edges. The idea of clip-on boards is interesting. I think you could use ordinary panels (kitchen/ shelving) and get the clips, rather than proprietary systems. You can get very hard (thin) chipboard, also available fire or damp proof. They are coloured pink and green. Screws would show.

An expensive shortcut. Seems they had 3 warnings before this.

This would probably be local (uk) timber. Fast growing, wide grained and less strong than Finnish/ Russian/ Canadian. There are loads of timber mills round Inverness and the structural timber is all C16. Thus bigger sections are required and not cheaper than the imported stuff. I asked and they said they couldn't compete, even with Russia out of the equation. In the words of a Finnish timber supplier...our timber is the best because the forest land is so cold and so flat.

Noticed this late. It depends in the field. If 'unlikely to be developed' then it doesn't need protection. Might need justification such as green belt / aonb. My favourite, for what it is worth, esp if you can DIY it, is timber...it always fits. Unless having a heavy roof, when use masonry.

The earth we walk on moves up and down seasonally, but we don't notice. To avoid this damaging buildings we take foundations down to a depth where this is minimal. Let's look at clay which is most affected seasonally especially where near trees. Foundations can be quite deep. Drains are usually nearer the surface so will rise in winter and fall in summer more than the building with deeper foundations. Hence the flexible joints to avoid breaking the pipes. This was more a historic issue, with clay or fibre pipes. If the foundations are shallow then it shouldn't be an issue. The SE can advise and bco should accept it. I prefer normal pipes but with a flexible filler (eg polystyrene) around them through the wall or footing. In summary, there is good reason for flexible joints but it isn't always the only or best solution.

Def worth using a hole saw. Neat and quick.

Can't do that with the tech (or my it skill perhaps) where I am. But it is a steading so is narrow, then has the internal stud and insulation. I'm hoping the team has been studying door construction, as I haven't and have always had experts do it. Eg I have subtly mentioned allowing for floor finishes and linings, and hope it works with door sizes.