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I am starting work on the main living room and need to provision for the installation of a wood burning stove. I am having trouble understanding the seemingly conflicting building regs. The house is being built in Scotland, and is based on the 2013 issue of the Scottish building regs as that is what was in force when out building warrant was submitted. Stoves and flues come under section 3 of the Scottish regs and you can download it from here http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Building/Building-standards/publications/pubtech/th2013domcomp Sections 3.19 is what is giving me trouble. It is a timber framed house. I do NOT have a constructional hearth. I could install one, but it would be a LOT of work. Now, what I normally see, is a stone slab superimposed on the floor, and a stone slab up the wall behind the stove. That is what most people seem to do. But I am trying to make that fit with building regs. 3.19.1 starts by saying combustible material must be 200mm from a flue. 3.19.2 modifies that by saying a "system chimney" (i.e. insulated twin wall flue) only has to maintain the manufacturers stated distance from flamable material, usually about 50mm. So the flue looks straightforward, un insulated plain flue sections >200mm from flamable material. Now onto the stove itself. 3.19.5 talks about the hearth. It usefully gives the minimum size of hearth. Then starts to contradict 3.19.5 a A constructional hearth 125mm thick. OR 3.19.5b b a 12mm thick superimposed hearth IF the manufacturer states the bottom of the stove will not exceed 100 degrees. Then it starts to contradict and later says a superimposed heart must be at least 50mm thick AND positioned on a constructional hearth There seems so be mo mention in building regs about the usual stone slab up the back of the stove. It seems if I wanted to, I could just have a plasterboard wall and as long as the stove is 150mm away from it, that would be okay according to the regs. I think in practice it would most certainly NOT be okay. I know the sides and back of a stove can get very hot indeed and I would say some protection IS needed. So the first purpose of this thread is to determine just what I need to do to the floor to put a stove on it? We have a timber floor (JJI joists) covered in OSB. There will then be 25nm battens to create a space for UFH pipes, then solid wood flooring probably 22mm thick. So idea No 1 is leave that empty where the stove is going, lay the floor, then pour a 47mm thick slab of concrete level with the top of the floor. Then lay a superimposed hearth over that, overlapping the floor slightly. That would be the best we can do, but depending which of the conflicting regs you read, it may or may not meet regs. Any other ideas? I am planning to use the Burley Springdale 3KW stove with ducted air intake. It has the option of an additional 170mm base, which I believe (I need to check) would meet the 100 degree max so would be okay for a superimposed hearth. So it all boils down to interpretation of just how thick a superimposed hearth has to be and upon what it has to sit.