Summer House Extension

[Paul_C]

They tend to hate basins and wc's in summer houses because they can then be developed in to annex living accomodaton.

Can be, but then a lot of things could or can be developed into something else if you decide to do so. If the purpose of the outbuilding is ancillary to the main dwelling and it doesn't fall foul of the other general restrictions (maximum height, not taking the built area over 50% of the land space, not forward of the house etc.) then it's within the permitted development parameters, so no planning permission needed.

 

[securespark]

Check your loops are acceptable for the C type breaker.

 

[Paul_C]

I have, but it's always had an exported earth so I'm thinking of leaving it that way. The equipotential zone is not exported: there is no extraneous conductive steelwork and no Class 1 equipment is in use. If the situation changes then yes, TT will be considered as an option.

I would always go with TN-C-S wherever possible. It might mean running a separate bonding cable (or using SWA with an extra core etc.) out there, but it's well worth it to get a decent metallic fault path instead of relying on an inferior TT arrangement.

 

[mfarrow]

Check your loops are acceptable for the C type breaker.

They are just about thanks securesparks. I wanted to keep some discrimination with the shed but unfortunately only a 1.5mm² SWA cable was installed so I've ended up with a B16 in the shed/workshop (I didn't want to limit it to 10A) and a C16 in the summer house.

The whole lot (including the B40 ring main and D6 lighting circuits) was originally fed from a 15A rewireable fuse switch in the kitchen, itself fed from a rewireable 15A radial for the kitchen. Guess what happened when I demonstrated that running their 2x new 2.5kW heaters down there wouldn't work ?

 

[mfarrow]

The rules for outbuildings may not apply to ones which are considered habitable. Just check with your council - write them a letter so that they have to reply in writing.

BAS, thanks for your concern. I've had it in writing (well, letter attached to an e-mail) that if there's no bed in there then building regs aren't required, apart from Part P.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Good-oh!

 

[davelx]

Are you sure that the drain shown is a foul sewer and not a surface water drain? Many places have separate systems with the surface water system discharging directly into local watercourses - you must NOT connect a WC to these.

We've had problems in this in my area with dodgy builders putting bathrooms etc in extensions, with a macerator WC connecting to the nearest drain, which turned out to be surface water and contaminated the local stream. Thames Water came round and inspected every house!

 

[mfarrow]

Are you sure that the drain shown is a foul sewer and not a surface water drain?

Yes, my girlfriend and her little sister used to stand over it when they were little and watch the turds flow past

The BCO guy's not interested in the sewer anyway, even when I asked specifically over phone, and sent him the drawings. As far as he's concerned it's a small ancilliary building and everything is excempt.

 

[securespark]

D6 lighting circuits

B40 ring main

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Missed those.

D6? Could be OK - only needs a loop vluae < 1.55, 30/43m lenght limit according to Table 7.1 in the OSG.

B40? No no no no no...

 

[mfarrow]

Don't worry BAS, those problems are long gone and it's now 'compliant'.

The work is now complete.

View media item 31964 View media item 31961 View media item 31962 View media item 31963