Order of undergoing extension work?

MoneySavingMiss95

Hello!

I have recently purchased my property (a rectangular shaped bungalow) and would like to undertake two extensions;

Firstly is to square off and convert what is currently an unused conservatory (glass runs from floor to ceiling) joint to the kitchen into a pantry/utility.

Secondly I want to add an en-suite to a bedroom for my disabled parent who lives with me. From what I can see this will go over the existing pipework from the main bathroom that runs around the back of the property to our septic tank in the front garden.

This is my first home and so I’ve no idea on how to go about this and in what order, I understand I need planning permission so do I seek this first and then employ an architect to draw up the plans or do they do this on my behalf? With existing pipes being involved do I need to contact a sewerage company to move it all? Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated!

Happy Easter all!

FreeBear

MoneySavingMiss95 said: Secondly I want to add an en-suite to a bedroom for my disabled parent who lives with me. From what I can see this will go over the existing pipework from the main bathroom that runs around the back of the property to our septic tank in the front garden.

With existing pipes being involved do I need to contact a sewerage company to move it all? Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated!

Having a septic tank, you are responsible for all the pipework - Any new pipes laid or rerouted will require Building Regulation sign-off, but this would be done as part of the extension work. So no special permissions required. Just don't be fobbed off by any builder who says BR permission/sign-off is not required (they wouldn't be the sort of "builder" to use).

Brie

re the bathroom for the disabled parent - have you talked to occupational health at the local authority?  They will have suggestions about what is required and how to fund it which may be of help.  Or they may have some ridiculous ideas which you need to ignore.  We had a combination of the two 4 years back and are looking at revisiting the suggestion of a wet room due to MiL's escalated lack of mobility.

MoneySavingMiss95

Brie said:

re the bathroom for the disabled parent - have you talked to occupational health at the local authority?  They will have suggestions about what is required and how to fund it which may be of help.  Or they may have some ridiculous ideas which you need to ignore.  We had a combination of the two 4 years back and are looking at revisiting the suggestion of a wet room due to MiL's escalated lack of mobility.

We have rung and had a callback for more information but so far not heard any more. I think they will probably suggest redoing the main bathroom (also on my list but we can live with it as is for another few years yet), which I don’t want, I’d like her to have her own space etc.

GDB2222

You really need an architect right from the start. 

Bendy_House

If you cannot work out from the LA's Planning website whether you'll need PP, then you can always ask for 'outline' PP. I think this can be as simple as sending them a plan of your house - could be home-drawn - adding the bits, explaining the purpose (since you have a particularly good reason), and asking "What's the chances?!"

Armed with a "Mostly likely that's fine...", You find a reputable local architect and they should be able to suggest the best improvements.

Or, find the archi first and they'll come out for the initial visit, and should have a VERY good idea if PP could be needed.

When choosing an archi, you might find a few one-person bands who are very experienced in designing extensions (surely the most common work), whereas others might be more keen on whole house designs. Can't remember how we found ours - she was great - but I think it was by asking every time we saw extension work in the locality. This one name came up EVERY bleedin' time! Obviously ask how they are; one theme that was repeated, tho' not too often, was that she'd sometimes over-design, so we were primed to look out for this! Not an issue, as it turned out.

Good luck.