Building Warrant Process

[soapstar]

Hi folks,

 

Been a while since I last posted on here...things are progressing VERY slowly 

 

We are at the stage of getting our Building Warrant ready for submission to the local authorities for approval (more like rejection and weeks of pain if its anything like the planning process!). However we are seriously getting confused with the process that needs to be followed in order to get everything in place for submitting our building warrant. We have our architect who has now finalised our drawings to which we are now happy with, this was the easy bit. Now from this stage I am of the understanding (please correct me if im wrong) that the following needs to be done:

 

1. Plans are given to structural engineer (chosen by us the clients) to whom does all the detailed calculations in relation to the building structure.
2. SAP calculations are done by another company (or SE?) from structural engineers final drawings.
3. Submission to Building Control

 

Now these stages are all done by other people, this might sound strange but what I would like to know is what should WE be doing as the clients. Given this is a completely new venture for us and have had no experience in building before and having a great attention to detail like myself I hate not knowing exactly what I should be doing!

 

1. At this stage should we be set on a timber frame supplier by this point? (quoted etc - even though we do not have building warrant drawings approved?) I was under the impression that you go to timber frame suppliers / builders when you are armed with nice approved building warrant drawings, not before. Dont get me wrong we have already discussed very vaguely with a timber frame supplier but this was before planning was approved.
2. Should we be set on exactly which heating system we require? And is this required for heat loss / SE calculations in the building warrant phase?
3. Mortage - Again we have no Building Warrant which details projected costings therefore we cannot proceed very far on the mortgage front?

 

I hate pestering our architect  - the reason why im asking you helpful folks on here! I guess we just need some advice from people who may have been in our position before and know what it feels like!

Edited January 29, 2018 by soapstar

[ProDave]

If you go to one of the established TF suppliers, chances are they will do the building warrant submission for a very reasonable price. If you are happy with a "standard" timber frame construction that may well be the best approach to this.

 

We wanted something a bit better and none of the standard TF companies would do anything other than their standard make up, one even refused to talk to us. So we employed an archtectural technician and structural engineer to design it all and then got a local firm of builders to build it.

 

Building control are a whole lot easier to deal with than planning. If they encounter an issue they will talk to you and work out a resolution, they will not normally just reject it. They will hapily give you a list of items that need to be altered and you just work at it until that list all gets ticked off.

 

You will need to know the heating system for the design SAP assesment but you can change it later as long as the as built SAP is still a pass.  If you make too many changes as you build it, then BC may want an amended "as built" set of drawings at the end.

[soapstar]

20 minutes ago, ProDave said:

If you go to one of the established TF suppliers, chances are they will do the building warrant submission for a very reasonable price. If you are happy with a "standard" timber frame construction that may well be the best approach to this.

 

We wanted something a bit better and none of the standard TF companies would do anything other than their standard make up, one even refused to talk to us. So we employed an archtectural technician and structural engineer to design it all and then got a local firm of builders to build it.

 

Building control are a whole lot easier to deal with than planning. If they encounter an issue they will talk to you and work out a resolution, they will not normally just reject it. They will hapily give you a list of items that need to be altered and you just work at it until that list all gets ticked off.

 

You will need to know the heating system for the design SAP assesment but you can change it later as long as the as built SAP is still a pass.  If you make too many changes as you build it, then BC may want an amended "as built" set of drawings at the end.

 

Hi ProDave,

 

Many thanks for your reply. Our house design incorporates a fully glazed 'feature window' on a 1.5 storey therefore its slightly less 'standard' than an average house.

 

Your point regarding the SAP is handy to know - I find it very difficult to fully commit to something at this stage, knowing that there can be a little bit of wiggle room later on is comforting to know.

 

It was more a question of should we be in full discussions with the different aspects on the build (TF suppliers, heat system suppliers) at this stage? Or wait for the building warrant to be done before approaching these suppliers...I always assumed the latter 

[Ian]

@soapstar

Regarding Building Regs there are major procedural differences between Scotland and England/Wales in the way the system works.

 

In England & Wales the Building Inspector system was privatised over a decade ago and you can use private “Approved Inspectors” and you’re allowed to start work on site with only minimal prior drawing/spec information after just a 1 week formal notification period.

 

Scotland has kept the system of Local Authority building control inspectors and normally they insist on fully agreeing your proposals before a start can be made on site.

 

In practice it usually makes the system in England & Wales quicker  and more flexible however the flip side of this is that you carry more risk if you don’t know what you’re doing.

[Ian]

1 hour ago, soapstar said:

It was more a question of should we be in full discussions with the different aspects on the build (TF suppliers, heat system suppliers) at this stage? Or wait for the building warrant to be done before approaching these suppliers...I always assumed the latter 

It’s much better to start talking to timber frame companies and to also sort out your M&E before making a submission for your Building Warrant.

[Thedreamer]

Hi @soapstar, we used a design consultant and structural engineer to prepare the building warrant. 

 

We had to wait until the building warrant was ready to be submitted to the local authority before we could review the costings with our quantity surveyor in order to get the mortgage process started.

 

I'll be getting a joiner to put together the timberframe kit with engineered trusses coming from a factory.

 

Your need to have an understanding of your required heating system for the SAP aspect of the building warrant.

 

Incidentally we got building warrant approval today!  And our mortgage application and a mountain of documents have gone away now to the mortgage underwriter. 

 

Whereabouts are you building in Scotland?

[soapstar]

16 hours ago, Ian said:

It’s much better to start talking to timber frame companies and to also sort out your M&E before making a submission for your Building Warrant.

 

16 hours ago, Ian said:

@soapstar

Regarding Building Regs there are major procedural differences between Scotland and England/Wales in the way the system works.

 

In England & Wales the Building Inspector system was privatised over a decade ago and you can use private “Approved Inspectors” and you’re allowed to start work on site with only minimal prior drawing/spec information after just a 1 week formal notification period.

 

Scotland has kept the system of Local Authority building control inspectors and normally they insist on fully agreeing your proposals before a start can be made on site.

 

In practice it usually makes the system in England & Wales quicker  and more flexible however the flip side of this is that you carry more risk if you don’t know what you’re doing.

 

Thanks @Ian It seems crazy that the BW process is vastly different and more logical across the border... I believe we will take your advice and restart the process of talking to TF suppliers.

 

11 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

Hi @soapstar, we used a design consultant and structural engineer to prepare the building warrant. 

 

We had to wait until the building warrant was ready to be submitted to the local authority before we could review the costings with our quantity surveyor in order to get the mortgage process started.

 

I'll be getting a joiner to put together the timberframe kit with engineered trusses coming from a factory.

 

Your need to have an understanding of your required heating system for the SAP aspect of the building warrant.

 

Incidentally we got building warrant approval today!  And our mortgage application and a mountain of documents have gone away now to the mortgage underwriter. 

 

Whereabouts are you building in Scotland?

 

Hi @Thedreamer We are building in Aberdeenshire. Congrats on the building warrant. We are thinking of pursuing our TF from ScotFrame...has anyone had any experience of this company? Seem to get good reviews. Although pricey perhaps?

 

[ProDave]

Scotframe were the company that refused to talk to me when I started mentioning getting one of their standard offerings and increasing the amount of insulation......  Their exact waffle was "there is no synergy between what we offer and what you want"