Moving light switch wiring - do I need electrician to certificate

[SUNRAY]

That is the whole point of this thread, I need to put in an application to my Landlord.

I beg your pardon, I thought that bit was in the bag and these questions were based around the rest of the officialdom

If approved then I would have to make good if/when I moved out.

Hence my comment about the additional deposit

You might be correct - however corner sofa blocks off the door already

Which in itself is possibly wrong but there is little control of fire escape routes in domestic situations.
How quickly could you do a full evacuation if your dining room and kitchen were engulfed in a major fire?

Personally If I were your landlord doing an inspection I'd instruct you to clear the access/fire route.

 

[bernardgreen]

It looks like neither of those windows will be acceptable as fire escapes in their present format

I agree, try climbing out of them in the dark ( often in a fire the power is tripped out as cables burn )

And if were acceptable but are locked.... could the keys be found in the dark and panic ?

 

[SUNRAY]

I agree, try climbing out of them in the dark ( often in a fire the power is tripped out as cables burn )

And if were acceptable but are locked.... could the keys be found in the dark and panic ?

These are the thing that are ignored until...

 

[Dave Grant]

That is the whole point of this thread, I need to put in an application to my Landlord.

I beg your pardon, I thought that bit was in the bag and these questions were based around the rest of the officialdom

Sounds a bit condescending, if it was "in the bag" as you say I would have stated permission had been granted by my landlord and I needed to finalise building regulations/planning permission.
​

If approved then I would have to make good if/when I moved out.

Hence my comment about the additional deposit

Surely this is a clause you would have in your tenancy agreement and the need for additional monies from your tenant is taking the biscuit. I'm talking about a housing society here, not someone with a few buy to lets.​

You might be correct - however corner sofa blocks off the door already

Which in itself is possibly wrong but there is little control of fire escape routes in domestic situations.
How quickly could you do a full evacuation if your dining room and kitchen were engulfed in a major fire?
Personally If I were your landlord doing an inspection I'd instruct you to clear the access/fire route.

The windows are the same upstairs, so the whole escape issue is the same throughout house.​

 

[sparkwright]

No particularly polite way of saying this, I can't believe you are ruining the iayout of the place just for a corner sofa.

 

[Dave Grant]

No particularly polite way of saying this, I can't believe you are ruining the iayout of the place just for a corner sofa.

Since living here we have never used that door. There has always been a settee of some form across the door. Maybe Furniture Village will give me a 2.5k refund

 

[SUNRAY]

Sounds a bit condescending, if it was "in the bag" as you say I would have stated permission had been granted by my landlord and I needed to finalise building regulations/planning permission.​

My apologies I'm not being condescending in the slightest, I'd read the thread bit by bit and, let's say, lost track of where you are with it. I thought you'd spoken with the HA and got 'aproval in principal' and were having to do the follow up paper work.

As someone who works for several significant housing associations, mostly putting right what their tenants have messed up, I'm in a fairly good position to offer my opinions based on my experiences with them.​

Surely this is a clause you would have in your tenancy agreement and the need for additional monies from your tenant is taking the biscuit. I'm talking about a housing society here, not someone with a few buy to lets.

Yes of course it's in the clauses but that's based on repairing the damage, not rebuilding alterations. At the end of the day my insurance will go some way towards repairs but there is no way they will cover this sort of thing. I don't want the expense of reinstating fire routes either. If I were to give a tenant permission to do this sort of alteration there would be very little chance of reclaiming costs from them when they leave. I would ensure they pay an additional, refundable and ringfenced, deposit to cover the repair.

I make no apology for only owning a few buy to lets.

The windows are the same upstairs, so the whole escape issue is the same throughout house.

In that case call you HA and ask them to put it right, you should have at least one additional escape route and the window installers will have known that for a rental property.

I always ask for all of the upstairs windows to be escape windows. The additional cost has only been about £5 per opener and well worth it for peace of mind.

Please don't criticise when you are offered some very sensible advice from people with a wealth of experience to draw upon, I know you were only asking about the switch so I'll apologise for pointing out some of the other aspects that you are likely to encounter.

Oh and by the way large HA's are far more likely to refuse the permission or add the additional clauses than someone with a few buy to lets.

I wish you all the best with your project, genuinely.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Remind me again, why do you want to spend a fair bit of time and effort and cash blocking off a door in a rental property? You have a settee (£2500 for a settee? I've never paid that for a car never mind a chair) across the doorway- big deal, your choice.
Why is the light switch a problem- is it the only one for the room? If so then get a smart switch (might be tricky for a dado switch) or a smart lightbulb. Much much cheaper and easier and you can take it with you if/when you move somewhere else. Door is draughty?- gaffa-tape some bubble wrap over it (or buy some miracle thin film insulation if you want, result will be the same).
End of the day you're living in someone else's property, investing money in altering the structure is foolish since you'll almost certainly have to reverse any changes if you want to move somewhere else.

 

[Dave Grant]

@SUNRAY
First of all let me apologise for my rather abrasive replies to you - times are hard and after 9 wks at home I'm a bit cranky.

Secondly I never doubted your expertise but the whole thread has got out of control. Yes I just wanted an answer on the lightswitch and I got draw into the whole issue of rules and regs.

With regard to the windows, are you saying that the current windows would need to be changed by the HA to comply with current building regs. Please explain in Layman's terms

 

[Dave Grant]

Remind me again, why do you want to spend a fair bit of time and effort and cash blocking off a door in a rental property?

Frankly I can do or spend what I wish, just because I rent does not mean I can not make my home nice.

You have a settee (£2500 for a settee? I've never paid that for a car never mind a chair) across the doorway- big deal, your choice.

I wasn't bragging, just stating a fact (It goes along the whole wall, round corner with open end (extra) and has a Chaise End) Don't be so judgemental, like most I've work hard all my life and I spend my money how I see fit.
Did you see the motorhome in my garden, that sure didn't cost 2.5k (x16).

Why is the light switch a problem- is it the only one for the room? If so then get a smart switch (might be tricky for a dado switch) or a smart lightbulb. Much much cheaper and easier and you can take it with you if/when you move somewhere else. Door is draughty?- gaffa-tape some bubble wrap over it (or buy some miracle thin film insulation if you want, result will be the same).

The light switch is on both sides of frame (Take time to read the whole thread) It's a problem because I wish to block that doorway up, again (Take time to read the whole thread). And FYI I have Philips Hue already.

End of the day you're living in someone else's property, investing money in altering the structure is foolish since you'll almost certainly have to reverse any changes if you want to move somewhere else.

Again (Take time to read the whole thread) I'm aware of the pitfalls involved and it's my choice, my money and I'm not here asking for criticism from anyone whom can't offer constructive input.

 

[SUNRAY]

@SUNRAY
First of all let me apologise for my rather abrasive replies to you - times are hard and after 9 wks at home I'm a bit cranky.

Secondly I never doubted your expertise but the whole thread has got out of control. Yes I just wanted an answer on the lightswitch and I got draw into the whole issue of rules and regs.

With regard to the windows, are you saying that the current windows would need to be changed by the HA to comply with current building regs. Please explain in Layman's terms

No worries.

The rules and regs for rental properties are a mine field and adding multiple occupancy [I assume not applicable to you] into the mix is a whole different ball game.

In very basic terms[and to be honest this may be out of date] there should always be 2 escape routes ideally from every habitable room but certainly from each floor, there is presumably only one staircase so arrangement should be in place for at least one window to be big enough and open wide enough to get through unhindered and in a hurry, either to jump out or to be rescued. There are height stipulations which from memory is something like 3ft above floor and 14ft drop maximum and a minimum opening area which I can't recall.

Quite often this simply means different hinges such that the window opens on one edge [rather than sliding along as in your pic] and when pushed fully open the hinge shouldn't be in the way. I'm not sure why, I assume because they can drop down on you, but technically top hinged windows are not suitable for escape.

As I said I am not up to date on this, I haven't looked but I'd guess google will find the current answers.