Please offer observations to this total amateur re conservatory groundworks

Inforapennyinforapound

You are correct about exterior grade doors. I will ensure this is the case.
Ive posted the above as it may be a little help to someone.

As a side note , the Company I am using hasn’t encountered anyone like me gaining ‘approval’ from the LA.
i reckon a lot of people have conservatories built with complete disregard for the law. It may come to bite some on the bum..

DanDare999

Inforapennyinforapound said:

You are correct about exterior grade doors. I will ensure this is the case.
Ive posted the above as it may be a little help to someone.

As a side note , the Company I am using hasn’t encountered anyone like me gaining ‘approval’ from the LA.
i reckon a lot of people have conservatories built with complete disregard for the law. It may come to bite some on the bum..

It had potential to bite you too. 

The french doors need to be external grade and either self certified by the fitters or you gain a building regs cert for them. 

Section62

Inforapennyinforapound said:

Section62 said:

Inforapennyinforapound said:

FreeBear said:

Inforapennyinforapound said:

Section62 said:

Inforapennyinforapound said:

Doesn’t need building regs. Not an extra room. It will be separated by doors and heating will be independent.

Are you keeping the patio doors?

No, don’t like them. They are being replaced by French doors. Why? Do you need some?☺️

Building regs require an exterior grade door between the main house and a conservatory. If you remove the door (or replace with lightweight interior grade), the conservatory becomes part of the "habitable space" and subject to full building regs. Conservatories can not meet the thermal requirements to pass building regs for a habitable space by the very nature of their design - Just too much glass to lose heat through during the winter months.

The new French doors , as per the current sliders, will be exterior grade. Well, I assume they will be. The company didn’t specify actually.

This is why the building regulation process is there.  If the work complies you'll get a certificate and it will be logged on the local authoritiy's BC system.  A future buyer will be able to check to see if the doors fitted (at the time) were compliant with the regs.

No paperwork and the future buyer (or more likely their solicitor) can start asking questions.

Speak to the company, make sure the doors will be appropriate, and that they will give you the paperwork and/or notify building control.

Unfortunately the "building regs don't apply to conservatories" idea is deeply embedded and it is very easy to believe it is true.  The reality is a bit more grey.

What paperwork? Local Authority not involved. I was sent all info by LA and no planning permission required nor any concern over building regs.
This is not an extension. I was sent very specific up to date requirements about adding a conservatory.
All I needed was what they call ‘Prior Approval’ which is another name for writing to the neighbours re any objections.
I can post a link if needed. It’s all on the Planning Portal.

As others have explained already.

Make sure you speak to the company as soon as possible to verify the french doors they will be fitting are the correct type and that they will either self-certify or notify LABC.  If they fob you off that no paperwork is needed then suggest they read this thread.

Once the doors are fitted you'll have a real headache if you subsequently discover they aren't external grade.

Inforapennyinforapound

Good advice.Thanks