Building regs - will this be approved?

Charliezoo

We're about to do some work on our house and understand that we'll need building regs to do this. Before we go down this route I'd be grateful if we could get some opinions as to whether it would be allowed at all -

We have a large single storey extension spanning the back of our house that was built before we moved in. It has a plasterboard partition wall to make 2 rooms, we want to remove this to make one big room. One room has large draughty sliding patio doors and the other a normal window. We want to knock all of this out and the wall in between and install 5 metre bi folding doors. We'd also like to put a sky light in the flat roof. We could do with some extra kitchen space so would like to install a partition wall 1/3 of the way down our integral garage to create a utility room with the intention of having our washing machine and tumble dryer as well as some extra storage space in there.

Does this sound like it would easily meet building regs? What problems should we expect to encounter when putting our proposals to the council?

Many thanks

Captaincodpiece

The only thing I can see that maybe a problem is the Eco green thing with the amount of glass.

I've got similar, so it can be done.

Charliezoo

Thanks for the quick reply. I can understand the glass thing, will they take into account the fact that the existing sliding doors are 20 years old and horribly draughty? Even with all the glass we're proposing were expecting it to be more energy efficient then it is at the moment. Is there anything in black and white showing what limits there are on amount of glass that can be installed or is it down to whoever does the inspection?

Are they likely to have any problems with the utility room aspect?

ytfcmad

Captaincodpiece wrote: »

The only thing I can see that maybe a problem is the Eco green thing with the amount of glass.

I've got similar, so it can be done.

The above statement makes no sense whatsoever, you can do exactly what you have described, have as much glass as you like.

ytfcmad

Charliezoo wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply. I can understand the glass thing, will they take into account the fact that the existing sliding doors are 20 years old and horribly draughty? Even with all the glass we're proposing were expecting it to be more energy efficient then it is at the moment. Is there anything in black and white showing what limits there are on amount of glass that can be installed or is it down to whoever does the inspection?

Are they likely to have any problems with the utility room aspect?

Have as much glass as you want as long as it all conforms to Document L. An architect/window supplier would give you all the help you need.

Charliezoo

ytfcmad wrote: »

The above statement makes no sense whatsoever, you can do exactly what you have described, have as much glass as you like.

I'm not sure how true it is either but I have heard from other sources that if you want to add more windows it can be refused if they believe it will effect the energy rating of the house. I'm just not sure how they decide or whether what we're proposing would cause problems.

ytfcmad

Charliezoo wrote: »

I'm not sure how true it is either but I have heard from other sources that if you want to add more windows it can be refused if they believe it will effect the energy rating of the house. I'm just not sure how they decide or whether what we're proposing would cause problems.

You can have as much glass as you like as long as it conforms to in this case Part L, refurb, dwellings.

Doozergirl

I think you're confusing building regs and planning permission. You shouldn't meet any problems from building control as long as the work conforms as it is built. A building control officer will tell you what they'd expect, so passing is never a problem if you follow the advice. The opening for your new bifolds will need to conform, as will the glazing, as will converting part of the garage, unless it is genuinely still part of the garage.

Charliezoo

I probably am getting a little confused as to how strict they are on these things, do they even tend to inspect the house before work commences?

Doozergirl

Charliezoo wrote: »

I probably am getting a little confused as to how strict they are on these things, do they even tend to inspect the house before work commences?

No. They'll want to inspect it during and after.

Gastines3

Most of the problems arise with this type of job if and when you sell the property. In most cases you can save yourself some aggro later on ,by asking at the building control first. If you take a few photo's and plan of before and after ,they will tell you if any regs need to be taken into account, or if any written sign off is needed.Usually the staff in these offices are quite helpful.