Common misconception re Local Authority Planning and Building Control Departments

red40

HugoSP wrote: »

0.1 metres - that's 4 inches!

I'm surprised the council didn't spot that one first.

TBH even if you kept the roof height the same they would probably have turned a blind eye to it.

Thats correct Hugo, I had to write and confirm that I was going to drop the roof 150mm. They wouldn't refund my money until I had written to them. They are not obliged to advise about altering drawings to outside planning laws

Building control never checked the height and nobody from planning ever came round to my knowledge, but for the sake of 150mm it was better to do it as I said..............just in case:cool:

chartreuse_2

When I was planning on putting up an outbuilding recently, I came across a useful tool on the London Borough of Waltham Forest site (not my LA, but many of the principles apply nationally). It takes you through a set of questions and at the end, tells you whether your plans count as permitted development or not.

You can find it at: http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/index/environment/envpl-page1/envpl-page2/envpl-page2bguide.htm

FirstClassMale

baldelectrician wrote: »

It should be noted here that almost all of this stuff DOES NOT apply to Scotland.

The new Building (Scotland) Act 2003 is now in force.

See it at
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk

If you do anything (extension, conservatory, loft conversion etc., move walls ) you will probably need a building warrant. The council have the power to make you put it back the way things were. They are generally excellent- but don't try to pull a flanker-it will not be looked upon gracefully.

We are looking to put in a new bathroom. No moving of walls, no new soil stack (It will be branched into from a saniflo inside the house) and just an extractor fan out to the roof. I had already looked at the sbsa website and it seems to be something not major enough to require a warrant. Also looking at my local council website, all the "yes/no" answers in it's "do I need a building warrant" come out no. So the question is..... Do I?

gwenspugs

Smarty_pants wrote: »

My house is situated in a conservation area and is covered by an Article 4. I am planning on getting double glazing and contacted Planning Dept to ask if I could go ahead with the works.......Anyway, after reading your post I've learnt more but my pocket will be getting lighter with all that I have to shell out!! :eek:

I am in a conservation area too, and have discovered that not only do I need planning permission for my new windows, but front door as well, and even to change the paint colour - even had to put on my application permission required for a satellite dish and a rainwater butt connected to the downcomer at the front of the house! Absolutely everything on the exterior of the house needs permission to be changed, regulations even require that the summer house needs permission if it is over 10 cubic metres.

Have had quite a lot of trouble convincing the companies quoting me for the Double Glazing and the other works that it is all subject to PP. I do appreciate the need to conserve the area, it is a very attractive village, but the detail of what requires permission seems ludicrous in instances like this - I am removing very modern uPvc windows and replacing with Sashes in a Victorian cottage.

Have yet to deal with the ocmplexities of Building regs, that will come next.
bye
Gwen

rtw123

Hi HugoSP

Some really good advice on this thread. Wondered if you could provide me with a bit of info re our plans for a Conservatory

Planned conservatory fits the standard critera so no planning permission needed, however we want to remove our external doors to create open plan so I know that Building Regs come into it. Building Regs Guys have said they would not agree to this as it becomes an extension and would require a 'proper' roof in order to comply with Thermal Regulations. Can we just go ahead anyway and if we do want to sell in years to come we can just put the external doors back before putting it on the market? Or is there something else I should be aware of?

Thanks for any advice you can give

HugoSP

As I understand it, removing the doors do bring the conservatory into the realms of Building Regs.

However leaving the doors on do not.

I think you are basically right in what you suggest, but check this out with the BCO first. Everything else he says seems to fit, so he won't tell you wrong I don't think.

The only thing you should be aware is that if you change the external doors, or the BCO thinks you have then the 'new' doors will have to comply with current building regs, whereas the old ones probably do not.

In other words, you decide to chuck out the aluminium sliding patio doors as they are unfasionable and don't work properly. You erect your conservatory and then voila, you're finished.

You come to sell the house and install new external UPVC doors. These then MUST comply with the regs as they are at the time of installation, so buying some cheap ones now then fitting them later may not be enough. Regulations with respect to insulation requirements are getting tighter all the time.

seven-day-weekend

I used to work in Planning and was forever telling people that they needed Building Regulations as well as Planning Permission.

Or, that just because they had Planning Permission didn't mean that they didn't need Building Regs.

Or, that they didn't need P/P but DID need Building Regs.

Thanks OP for posting this and thanks to the Board Guide for making it a sticky.

HugoSP

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I used to work in Planning and was forever telling people that they needed Building Regulations as well as Planning Permission.

Or, that just because they had Planning Permission didn't mean that they didn't need Building Regs.

Or, that they didn't need P/P but DID need Building Regs.

Thanks OP for posting this and thanks to the Board Guide for making it a sticky.

Glad to be of assistance

I posted this originally because of the huge numbers of posters here who were confusing the issue. They seemed adament that Planning and Building Control Requirements were the same thing, or simply got confused.

I know builders and property developers who have made mistakes because of the lack of knowledge.

What is interesting, and quite gratifying is that I haven't seen a post to this effect after I posted this, and Nile moved it to a sticky.

woopsy

Following floods last year we discovered that a mains sewage pipe runs under our garage, which is a prefabricated concrete one. We want to pull it down, build a brick garage, and add a utility room, downstairs loo and shower. We got planning permission, and a builder friend told us not to bother getting the drawings done for Building Regs, as he would deal with that for us at a later date. We assumed that if the sewer was a problem, there would be a problem with the planning application, but that was agreed with no problem. I'm not sure why, but I decided to speak to the Chief Engineer at the District Council who is one of the people dealing with the flood issues and he advised us to contact Building Control. Turns out we need to get planning permission from the water authority too, and are likely to have to spend a lot extra on footings to ensure that we don't damage the pipe - if we can get permission.

HugoSP

Woopsy - I think you are confusing the two issues.

If you got planning permission the planning department should have consulted the water authority. Look at your application on line if you can and see what correspondance has been entered into.

If the water authority has not been contacted then that is very slack of them.

You would have needed to contact the BC Office as you are installing sanitory facilities anyway. Plus they need to get involved if it's built over a drain, and now with Part P covering electrical installations etc etc.

As far as the drain is concerned, laying footings around this is actually quite straightforward. In effect these are poured so that they are not in contact with the drain so any movement within the building won't harm the drain. Essentially shuttering is constructed to force the concrete to form a bridge (reinforced with lintels underneath) over the drain.

The cost is slightly higher but not significantly higher.

The first thing you should do after you have spoken to your water authority if you need to is to contact Building Control. They will want to see trenches dug out for the footings. The drain will be clearly visable, and if necessary I'm sure they will be happy to advise from there.