Planning on knocking through.

[martysmarty]

Hi guys.

Seeking a little advice on what we plan to do this year.

We have an extension on the rear of the house, built niceley, decent brickwork to look at and was built in 1990. Its cavity wall with no insulation.

At the moment its built onto the house with a upvc back door to go into it. What we would like to do is knock it through. Now onto my concerns...

I looked through our morgage paperwork and it says that it was built under permitted development. I have looked up on council website and csnt find any bc refernce on our address. Is this normal??

My worry is that if we get a builder in to know it through, id like the steels put in legit and signed off. Im worried council might not like it or raise concerns if i dont have paperwork for the extension.

Maybe i am over thinking it and they dont look at it at all and simply check the install of the beam.

As you can see i am not that clued up on the legal sides of things.

I also read not to contact the council if they dont know about it. The way i see it is it was there on the goigle earth when we bought it and has stood since 1990. Would they care?

 

[Notch7]

Permitted development doesnt require an application to be made, so the council wont know about it.

Ive no idea what PD rights existed then.

If you are opening up into the house, I imagine the structure may need to comply with Bregs.

Im not sure -I expect one of the pros here will advise........

 

[martysmarty]

Thanks for your reply.

So that would be why i could not find it. All i could find was the notification for cavity insulation.

I think thats my fear. I dont know how it works regards to bregs back then. My thought was permitted development would of just meant they couldnt be refused to build it, but labc would of still been involved/overseeing the build. I think i thought a bit of paperwork would of been available to say bregs were followed.

Hopefully it doesnt mean we cant go through into it.

 

[^woody^]

The people who will inspect the building work for building regulations, don't go mooching about checking if the house or any part of it has planning permission.

 

[martysmarty]

Hi woody. I suspected that to be the case. So how it seems is that, bc inspector will check plans for steels, pass off, planned visits etc once in place and wont be bothered as to why i am doing it.

Only real impact i guess would be upon sale if i ever sold it. And given the steels will be certified install all they can really bring up is the fact the extension is not up to current bregs.

So i guess the risk is up to me at that point.

 

[tony1851]

No-one from the council is going to be bothered about your extension - it is in any case way, way beyond the time a council could enforce on it.
If you knock a wall out, it is a structural alteration and requires Building Regulations approval. The Building Inspector will most likely ask for structural calculations for any beam (you engage an SE for that).
The inspector will check the beam when it is installed to ensure that it is the correct type, and will give you the Certificate when the job is finished; charges vary but around here they charge around £200.
The inspector will be totally unconcerned about your existing extension.

 

[martysmarty]

Thanks both. Sorry guys firing more q's

Once i give the notice to bc, do they tell me if they require calcs? Or do i ask before notice? I seen an old post by woody that said in some cases they dont need beam design calcs. Is this dependent on location/office?

And IF they dont require, is it a wise option to get it anyway, just in case the guy who inspects it says different.


To give an idea on the job..

Its a 2.4m opening, cavity wall, floor joists above on inner skin and roofing rafters for the roof. No gable.

Would i save much taking on the knock through if i have a bricky support and fit the beam? Dont mind getting mucky. Iv fitted concrete lintels before on supporting walls but nothing to this scale. (Woody i think you helped me on my thread back then) Besides, by the time i hire all those strongboys again i doubt id save much there.

 

[tony1851]

They will tell you if they want calcs - some do, some don't.
On a 2.4m span, you'd be better off with a steel beam rather than concrete.

 

[Notch7]

The inspector will be totally unconcerned about your existing extension

Would they not want the extension to become compliant with part L?

Im not questioning what youve said, just interesting in understanding it.

 

[^woody^]

Would they not want the extension to become compliant with part L?

Im not questioning what youve said, just interesting in understanding it.

No, its an existing extension - despite being built to some or other past standard of the day it is an habitable room already and part of the house, so there is no obligation to upgrade it.

 

[^woody^]

Check with your council first to see if they will require calcs. Many don't nowadays.

But that still leaves the conundrum of determining what size beam, padtstones and bearings are required in the first place. If you have a good builder, then he might know, otherwise its a structural engineer.

But for 2.4m, you could potentially use a standard cavity lintel and no calcs - and as a bonus this could be pushed up above ceiling leave easily.

 

[martysmarty]

Well this has cleared loads up for me. I will give them a call then and talk it over.


Woody, hopefully i understood what you meant by pushing it up, as i understand it below

What ever is fitted, it will have to be below ceiling level i believe because the floor joists are bearing onto the wall. I did read somewhere that people use H beams with the joists going inside the inner part of the beam but i imagine that would be a completly different design and more work. im not too worried about seeing it in a box.