Conservatory question

alonso

Do you need planning permission to build a conservatory, it would be a bog standard one nothing too big or flash.

lemontart

depends on several things - call your council planning department to double check.

Liz

alonso

alonso wrote: »

Do you need planning permission to build a conservatory, it would be a bog standard one nothing too big or flash.

Thanks! I'll look in to that.

Februarycat

We did not need it for our 10ft conservatory, I think if the conservatory is over 10ft you may need permission if I remember right.

littlejaffa

depending on where in the country you are, you get xx amount of overall extension without permission, but if you've used your quota in a front porch, loft conversion etc you'd need permission for even the tiniest conservatory - call the planning dept, they can usualy give you a good idea over the phone before you need to submit full apps

deanos

Its best to check with the council, just do a sketch with dimentions and send it to the planning office and they will let you know, thats what i did.

Worth noting if you fit a radiator linked to the central heating or dont have a dividing door then you do need planning permission as its classed as part of the house.

courtjester

I think actually that's building regulations, not planning permission required for having an open plan conservatory.

No planning is generally required for a conservatory as its classed as a temporary structure - providing it's within certain size limits and is not situated close to a public highway (so if it butts up against a garden wall with a footpath the other side, you probably will need planning).

Compliance with building regulations is a separate matter pertaining to the construction and insulation of the conservatory - you can't (legally) extend the central heating to a temporary structure.

We built our conservatory open plan with no doors between the house and extended the central heating. The building inspector wanted to see minimum levels of floor and wall insulation, a limit on the maximum area of glass and extra loft insulation (as it is the whole building that is measured for insulation /heat loss, not just the new structure).

Extra cost for us was about £1500 to comply with the building regulation requirements, but it was worth it for the open plan style we now have.

anotherbigspender

courtjester wrote: »

No planning is generally required for a conservatory as its classed as a temporary structure

Where do people get this crazy idea from? I can assure you that conservatories are not classed as temporary structures. 'Temporary' in the planning sense of the word usually means 28 days.

There is a good chance that you may not need planning permission for your conservatory but it has nothing to do with the 'temporaryness' of the structure. There are a lot of variables as others have alluded to and without a fair bit of additional information it would be difficult to give you a definitive answer.

pennineman

Look here too.

baldelectrician

You may or may not need permission.

As mentioned before call your local concil, if you live in Scotland be aware the building standards are more onerous.

Things can be more strict, and you may need to use registered tradespeople, and steer clear of DIY.

You should use a competent person for the work, links below

In Scotland:
Individuals regitered;
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/ListAC.asp
Companies
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/SearchCo.asp?T=Construction&ID=2

In England and Wales:
http://www.competentperson.co.uk

molerat

We needed planning permission because we were 0.1 sq m over our permitted development. We had the plans redrawn (well not actually redrawn, just the dimensions changed) and so didn't need it. :T