Conservatory roof replacement

Cogsy_neil

Hi all, I had a builder in recently to remove my plastic conservatory roof. When he came around he said why didn’t I just replace with a proper tiled roof which all made sense.

the conservatory had dwarf walls along the front which were probably about a metre high both the sides were full height and sloped down. It was pretty much an extension without the roof.

Now I am starting to get very worried now as I believe building regs were needed for this work. I did query this with him initially by email and he said it didn’t need it so I trusted him and went along with his recommendation. After looking online afterwards I can see that building regs would be needed to change the roof.

he did build up all of the brickwork and put in concrete lintels to support the new roof and obviously a lot of wooden joists across the top (it’s still a sloped roof) but I really do not know what to do now. Stupidly I trusted him to know what he was doing and now I’m worried sick that A. The roof could fall in B.) my house is now uninsured etc. I mean I guess I could go for retrospective regs but supposing it is not upto standard and it needs tearing down.

Any advice greatly appreciated as it’s starting to affect to my health/sleep etc.

stuart45

Put on some photos of what's been done.

ButterCheese

Exactly the same as we're having done now - I tried to check with local council about regs but they only provide a load of useless links that only relate to new conservatories being built.  I then emailed them and they just sent the same useless links and told me to check myself.

I hope you get an asnwer - but don't worry about the roof falling in.  If it's been done properly it will be fine

TELLIT01

When we had the glass roof on our conservatory replaced by a lightweight insulated roof we definitely needed Building Regs certification.

Dustyevsky

Aside from the legal niceties, the most important thing to establish, is whether the original foundations are sufficient, or have been strengthened to take the extra weight. Has the builder investigated what was there already?  Can he show you what he's done to ensure adequacy? Conservatories are typically built with shallow foundations and their walled parts are not necessarily "an extension without the roof."

Cogsy_neil

Dustyevsky said:

Aside from the legal niceties, the most important thing to establish, is whether the original foundations are sufficient, or have been strengthened to take the extra weight. Has the builder investigated what was there already?  Can he show you what he's done to ensure adequacy? Conservatories are typically built with shallow foundations and their walled parts are not necessarily "an extension without the roof."

No and thats the thing I guess. Again that was something that I asked about prior to him starting the work. I mean the two side walls are full height so I would guess that they are but this tbh is my main worry.

Dustyevsky

Cogsy_neil said:

Dustyevsky said:

Aside from the legal niceties, the most important thing to establish, is whether the original foundations are sufficient, or have been strengthened to take the extra weight. Has the builder investigated what was there already?  Can he show you what he's done to ensure adequacy? Conservatories are typically built with shallow foundations and their walled parts are not necessarily "an extension without the roof."

No and thats the thing I guess. Again that was something that I asked about prior to him starting the work. I mean the two side walls are full height so I would guess that they are but this tbh is my main worry.

If the two side walls were originally full height, that's positive; even more so if of cavity construction. If they haven't shifted away from the house over the years, that's good too. But it's not hard to check foundations. (Might be at this time of year, with a higher water table) I've done it with basic tools, and I'm no expert.

stuart45

ButterCheese said:

Exactly the same as we're having done now - I tried to check with local council about regs but they only provide a load of useless links that only relate to new conservatories being built.  I then emailed them and they just sent the same useless links and told me to check myself.

I hope you get an asnwer - but don't worry about the roof falling in.  If it's been done properly it will be fine

The regs used to be more straightforward before 2010. Roofs needed to be 75% glazed for it to be classed as a conservatory. After that the regs were lumped in with porches, and the glazing% for walls and roofs was removed.
However, Building Control still use the 75% for roofs and 50% for walls when deciding if a conservatory is really an extension. 
When it comes to changing the roof on an existing conservatory, the regs will only apply to the roof. This means that you don't need to insulate the walls and floor. You do need to show that the frames, or lintels, bearing walls and foundations, including any effect on drains, are capable of taking an increased load.

Cogsy_neil

Dustyevsky said:

Cogsy_neil said:

Dustyevsky said:

Aside from the legal niceties, the most important thing to establish, is whether the original foundations are sufficient, or have been strengthened to take the extra weight. Has the builder investigated what was there already?  Can he show you what he's done to ensure adequacy? Conservatories are typically built with shallow foundations and their walled parts are not necessarily "an extension without the roof."

No and thats the thing I guess. Again that was something that I asked about prior to him starting the work. I mean the two side walls are full height so I would guess that they are but this tbh is my main worry.

If the two side walls were originally full height, that's positive; even more so if of cavity construction. If they haven't shifted away from the house over the years, that's good too. But it's not hard to check foundations. (Might be at this time of year, with a higher water table) I've done it with basic tools, and I'm no expert.

Yeah the two side walls are full height still, he has kept those and they do have cavity wall insulation on both the full height size walls and the lower walls at the front. I believe the conservatory was originally built in 2000.

stuart45

Which walls are taking the roof load?

Cogsy_neil

stuart45 said:

Which walls are taking the roof load?

Its the front walls I guess.