Conservatory confusion - house we are buying

AmmDram

We are in the process of trying to buy a house with a conservatory to the rear and I am a bit confused about the terms/regs involved in making changes to it in the future. 

Basically, it’s a lean-to type, 5.1m x 1.7m or thereabouts. Polycarbonate roof. Dwarf walls with double glazed windows along the long side and one end. The other end is all brick.  No door leading outside. It has a radiator (not sure yet if this is linked to the main house central heating, but I suspect it might be and understand that could be an issue for regs) . The door between the house and conservatory is a set of glazed timber bi-fold doors. Our surveyor has said these are not external grade doors. They are the same kind as the doors between the kitchen and the living room.  I am really confused as to if it is correct for it to be classed as a conservatory, or what regs it should follow? We have a note on the enquiries from our solicitor saying ‘building reg approval would not have been required for the conservatory since this is separated from the rest of the property by patio doors’, but they aren’t patio doors, they are just like regular internal, double doors. Should it have an external grade door separating it from the main house?

 I just want all the details to be correct, and after a while we would like to replace the roof and potentially everything except the brickwork (the surveyor said some of the wood needed to be cut out and replaced as it is rotten) so I just would like to know what we are dealing with and will need to comply with when making changes. The vendor initially stated on the forms from the solicitor that there is no conservatory, I am not sure if that is because she considers it to be an extension, but we have the paperwork for ‘approval of building plans’ for the conservatory, dated 1982. Can anyone shed any light on where we would stand with updating the roof and glass (basically all of it except the dwarf walls), please? Sorry this is so long, and thank you for any help/guidance. 

williamgriffin

Conservatives are exempt from building regs as long as the have external doors on the house. By removing the doors and connecting to the central heating system then technically you have an extension that isn't built to building regs. 

FreeBear

AmmDram said: We have a note on the enquiries from our solicitor saying ‘building reg approval would not have been required for the conservatory since this is separated from the rest of the property by patio doors’, but they aren’t patio doors, they are just like regular internal, double doors. Should it have an external grade door separating it from the main house?

Yes, the "patio" doors should be exterior grade, and they should also have building regs sign off - This can be a FENSA (or similar) certificate or paperwork straight from Building Control.

Getting proper doors fitted and turning the radiator off during the winter months will save you quite a bit on heating bill. Your insurers would also look on it much more favourably - A conservatory is a temporary structure often regarded as an "out building" for insurance purposes. As such, any connecting doors should have appropriate exterior grade locks.

Davesnave

williamgriffin said:

Conservatives are exempt from building regs

Quite a few of them think they're exempt from much more than that, but when the current problems are behind us, there are those who will seek proper justice and restitution!

AmmDram

So, if I just point out the lack of exterior grade doors and the radiator to my solicitor, should she be able to sort something out with the vendor’s solicitor to make it comply? 

I’m worried about it being considered perhaps technically an extension without regs... especially if we do something to it and end up not knowing what we are getting into... 

I don’t want to end up in a pickle (or with extra bills for complying with things we weren’t expecting - eg insulation rules and whatnot). 

littleboo

Reading the radiator, it depends when it was built. I believe that earlier regs allowed for the radiator to be controlled separately, ie through a thermostatic valve. More recently, that is no longer enough. You could ask the seller to reduce the price to allow for installation of external doors. But in reality, the Building Control are going know you are non compliant.

AmmDram

littleboo said:

Reading the radiator, it depends when it was built. I believe that earlier regs allowed for the radiator to be controlled separately, ie through a thermostatic valve. More recently, that is no longer enough. You could ask the seller to reduce the price to allow for installation of external doors. But in reality, the Building Control are going know you are non compliant.

Thanks for replying. It was built in 1982. I have no idea if the radiator is controlled separately, I only realised it could be an issue from reading something online the other day... so if we had external doors fitted between the kitchen and ‘conservatory’ can we do what we like with the ‘conservatory’ once we are in? As in, put a light weight solid roof on, or will we have to go through building control and follow building regs etc? 

Would we have to remove the radiator?

TheProfessional

We have the same thing, conservatory converted to be part of the house. Internal doors removed totally and roof tiled. No building regulations.

I rang the council about getting it regularised and they said they would have to invasively check it but there was probably no chance it would make regulations as it wouldn't have the thermal properties needed. They said if I was happy with it structurally probably best leaving it well enough alone if I was going to be there long term and the structure sound

EssexExile

AmmDram said:

So, if I just point out the lack of exterior grade doors and the radiator to my solicitor, should she be able to sort something out with the vendor’s solicitor to make it comply? 

To make it comply is one possibility, change the doors and remove the radiator. Or you could buy it as it is and accept that it doesn't comply, it's not the end of the world.

FreeBear

AmmDram said: I don’t want to end up in a pickle (or with extra bills for complying with things we weren’t expecting - eg insulation rules and whatnot). 

Don't worry. The council won't be able to do anything in terms of enforcement, so they won't force you to add loads of insulation or any other work.

If you are looking to enlarge/extend, get planning permission and demolish the existing conservatory.

AmmDram

TheProfessional said:

We have the same thing, conservatory converted to be part of the house. Internal doors removed totally and roof tiled. No building regulations.

I rang the council about getting it regularised and they said they would have to invasively check it but there was probably no chance it would make regulations as it wouldn't have the thermal properties needed. They said if I was happy with it structurally probably best leaving it well enough alone if I was going to be there long term and the structure sound

Thanks. We would want to make changes due to the current condition of it, so I’m just trying to find out where we stand. It sounds like the people at your council were very approachable and understanding. I hope they are the same in our area! I would be worried they might tell us to knock it down and start again...