Height of a room

[canny177]

I am planning to fix a suspended ceiling, what is the minimum height for a room from floor level to ceiling.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I believe the only mention of minimum ceiling heights in the regs is a reference to stairs accessing loft conversions where you can get away with 1.9m above the stair if 2.0m is not achievable, minimum above a ramp or stair is also 2.0m, so I'd say 2.0m. I don't think its in the regs because its common sense that you achieve as higher ceiling as you can. Anything really low will just make the room seem small, put off future purchasers and you can kiss goodbye to pendant lights as well.

 

[canny177]

Thanks Fred, I thought it was 2.4 m for a room.
I don't know if you can help but i am trying to get familiar with building regs with regard to such things as constructual facts , ie, when fire proofing, where does it say use 12.5mm plaster board then skim to meet regs rules, Does the Regs give such practical advice, ie, use this and this to meet regs requirement for subject A, i've got a copy of them ( Regs), but tend to lose the will to live after about 10 pages.
I'm looking for some kind of guide to practical advice on what materials to use and how to carry out the work to meet various standards to keep the inspector happy

 

[^woody^]

The Approved Documents give practical advice on one way of meeting the Building Regulations. There are other ways, but if you follow the advice in the Approved Documents, then you will not have to prove that your alternative proposals conform.

The best way for you to find out what methods or materials conform, is to browse the information on the various manufacturers websites.

Or you may like to invest £20 in either The Building Construction Handbook (6th Ed) by Chudley and Greeno, or The Building Acts and Regulations Applied by Barritt - a fews years old now but most of the data is still valid.

Both these are very easy to understand

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Well I charge £15/hour for private work!

Alas there's plenty of books out there that give a more basic definition of the regs eg
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...SubmissionDate&n=266239&qid=1178225224&sr=1-1

A lot of websites out there also offer user friendly guides to the regs and how you can go about achieving the standards eg
http://www.british-gypsum.bpb.co.uk/literature/sector_guides/homespec.aspx or
http://www.celotex.co.uk/downloads/Quick Guide to Loft Conversions.pdf or
http://www.celotex.co.uk/downloads/Quick Guide to Garage Conversions.pdf or
http://www.roofconsult.co.uk/guide.htm
Google roof guide etc

But you can always ask specific questions on this site.

I'm guessing your building this on a notice and haven't got a full plans approval? You seem to be experiencing the symptoms of this route. Building control is technically an inspection service not an advisory one but they're usually very helpful to domestic customers so try and glean as much as you can from them.

I've been reading the regs for 20 years and they can be mindboggling to me too!

Edit: Damn you Woody, beating me to it!

 

[canny177]

Thanks guys, Qualified last year in NVQ 3 Bricklaying and Carpentry,have been doing alot of property maintenance work and landscaping, but now planning to move up to extension work and conversions, put feel i should gain regs practices before i take on work.

 

[^woody^]

If you take on work where the extension has plans (as opposed to a building notice with no plans) then the plans should contain all the detail you need to build.

If it does not, then you can hassle the designer for the information he missed off the plans!

Definately get the Chudley book in freddy's first link. It has all you need to now to get you going