CharlieKLP

I think you all need to hear it ❤️

If you post your plans here we can point out what’s wrong. the most used parts (in my experience) are fire escape, protection from falling and disabled access. I also think self builders can’t design and you need to let someone experienced do it or you’ll get something garbage.

I’d hire an orbital sander, and possibly grout the bits that were pitted. I can’t really tell if maybe you need a bigger sander, you could ask the person from the hiring shop.

no, like we have said, objections don’t mean anything. Only the planners matter.

What I don’t understand is where they think surface water is coming from. You don’t create it by building a house, it just falls from the sky and it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things.

no, that would be an architect role.

Very nice indeed! Well done what an improvement!

Yes I’d agree. I’ve had electricians come in and fix things in 10 mins and charge a lot, you don’t pay them for the time you pay for their skill. The point of the architect is they have a more general knowledge and can use the right people when you need them. They don’t necessarily do all the work themselves. Theoretically that should save you the money. At building regs stage, what you need is usually a lot of technical drawings that work to regs level and a few beam calculations, then someone to do the application. So you need a mix of skills there. In my experience structural engineer is a highly trained professional and they are expensive per hour. They aren’t great at creating drawings (usually), or even solutions. I think everyone has standard masonry details, so it’s like, everyone can do it, you just have to figure out what level you need. I just think for a simple project this would be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut if you use a SE. The technician is usually the person who actually solves the problems and does all the BR drawings in practice. That is technically the best way to do it, with an architect to do the overseeing and assigning parts to the team, the problem is when the architect firm overcharges. Practices will probably charge 2-4k for your building regs on a new build, as a guide.

Structural engineers don’t always understand building regulations, especially the new ones coming in. I’d use an architectural technician who can use a structural engineer for the calc parts. If there even are any. people are going to say ‘oh, architects are expensive…’, then suggest you pay a *structural engineer* to do basic cad work, absolutely mental. SE’s are only considered cheap because they do a tiny part of the job. They usually charge far more than an architect per hour and are specialists. speaking generally of course. Everyone has different skills in the real world.

during covid they put in an extension to people’s planning so they didn’t expire - it would be hard for them to enforce it because they caused this delay. there are other councils that have already implemented the reed bed policy, and I think the threat of people suing them is pretty good encouragement. Like your architect says, you could look into a report and a sustainable drainage system to prove you’re neutral in the meantime, it might be a good idea. I think it’s terrible how they have handled this. I’ve lost one customer already I had planning for (Portsmouth). That was a while ago and they expanded the rules since then too.

I do quite big housing planning apps in Norfolk, and I’ve heard there might be a positive meeting soon. I don’t think it will be 2 years and I wouldn’t worry about that, but when I hear anything I’ll post here. My feeling is they will be asking for mitigation, or a report proving you are ineligible, or a bribe community infrastructure levy to pay a farmer somewhere to plant reeds.

Thanks that’s really interesting, I’ve never come across any of these.

Isn’t a PC certificate a Practical Completion certificate? Those would be issued by an architect if so, not a technician. How did you resolve this, how’s it going and what happened.

It’s normal, they usually take about 12 weeks really. Keep phoning and emailing them though. I used to have to do it every other day as an assistant, but I think that’s pretty much harassment.

so where are these hot tubs? Y’know, for planning reasons…

Like others have said, don’t be too concerned. I see a lot of neighbour objections and they only matter if they are valid planning concerns that the planner would have had anyway. They can be very personal and unpleasant, and knowing these people are near you is creepy. The absolute worst thing you can do is take them seriously. … occasionally I’ve moved things in order to be polite to the neighbour and de-escalate tensions, but most of them can trot on.

You’re actually spot on. Timber and engineered wood did go up 300%. OSB was 75% metalwork was 25% mineral wool and other insulations about 22-35% It’s still going up but slowing down for now. Expected to rise again in the next quarter of the year. Depending on where you buy your materials from, some companies have absorbed the costs somewhat and honoured quotes.

Is it possible to do a compensatory calculation where you are? That’s when you insulate your main house better and prove the heat loss from your new elements isn’t too bad.

Your neighbour’s lawn is beautiful. It looks like you’re matching the depth of your neighbour, so you have a good argument. Who knows what planners will say though.

I think UFH on the ground floor and radiators upstairs (towel rails in bathrooms too) is really quite pleasant. I do know some people with UFH on both floors who like it too, that’s struck me as unecessary and I like UFH to be combined with tiles so it radiates heat slowly. I don’t really see the need for SIPs and triple glazing, I think it’s too expensive for what you get. There’s a good chance your spec is so high it’s going to roast you. Ask Potton for a SAP and overheating calc.

I think it’s useful because it shows the hierarchy the planners asked for. Even the shadow adds to the way it looks subservient. hope they let you supersede the drawings because it would help and it’s just a few corrections

Ah good. Still sort of terrifies me but looks like you got it covered!

7.2m span? That’s probably not going to work for you, you will need a post in there. I assume it’s buildable but I would feel a bit uneasy just taking all the support out of the back wall, get a good builder.

You would still get planning, but it might not pass building regs. It might, but you should check that. Roof lanterns can be quite expensive, I think you may need some large steels in the construction too. It looks like you’re removing a lot of support for the first floor, is that right?

You can never really say, but it doesn’t look too onerous. If you reduced down the parts they said then you have a good chance I’d say! no news doesn’t mean anything other than they need to be hassled more. The amount of glazing in the flat extension is a bit of a building regs concern to me. And have you had a price for the roof lantern?