Building Control Advice

well I've had a nearly positive reply so I'm moving in the right direction.

"I am happy to look at any proposals you want to put forward, however I would need detailed scaled drawings and sections which an Architect or architectural designer could draw up for you. As your application is a building notice you are of course under no obligation to provide these."
 
Nice one :)

So the work was done on a building notice as we suspected. When he says you are not under any obligation to provided detailed drawings, this means that you can go ahead and do what you want, then they will inspect it and decide whether to pass it. Not a good idea...! Get some drawings to him so that he can approve them (or otherwise), then once you have an approved drawing you can build it and he will check that what you have built matches what you drew... Which is essentially how a full plans application works.
 
spoke to LOAM on email today for some advice on how to respond to his email, and basically went back with him to confirm in principle he'd accept the alt tread stair which he said he would so I'll carry on with that route. get some details from the company above who provide the stairs and send the details to the BC for approval before I start the work.

it would be nice however to get a plan drawn up for the ladder as well though because it would obviously offer an alternative to his option, and take up less room within the chute and from my point of view, offer a safer alternative

the only thing ive got to work on will be the guarding around the top on surface level as well as some way of preventing rain/snow coming down the chute to make the stairs rotten or flood the chute
 
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The other thing I've got to look into is the smoke detector he wants in our living room and a heat detector interlinked in the kitchen.

Got to get my electrician to look into that next week when he comes on Monday although he's said interlinked detectors really are expensive.

With regards to your email LOAM, the BC's email about the velux not being practical or suitable as a guard is like you say no business of him, I'm only putting it in there to prevent excess water/snow getting into the chute. I'm trying to read the approved document for the correct height of guarding around the chute but I cant see anything clear, do you have any ideas?

Current plan is along the lines of below (just need to get the correct sizes of the stairs and add the dimensions of the guard rails);



Just not sure whether to go the alt tread stairs or a fixed ladder like;

http://www.loftcentre.co.uk/dolle-madrid-wooden-space-saving-staircase-kit-miller
 
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not sure what to do with the guard rails, the approved document mentions a height of 1100mm yet the coal chute / light well is below our living room window so a rail of that height wudnt fit
 
If it's a greater drop than 600mm it's going to need (if you go down the rail route) to be 1100mm high. I would explore the velux solution as you can site it lower as it's filling in the chute ie no potential to fall. It will need toughened glass though if it's lower than 600mm. I think velux do a side hung window thats and escape window.

As per email if you measure it up and take a few pics I dont mind doing a little sketch.
 
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Thanks LOAM, if you don't mind below are some pictures;




I've put dimensions on the exterior picture, and the dimensions of the excavated chute are; 600mm wide, 700mm deep and 1450mm high

If you need more dimensions just give me a shout.
 
The other thing I've got to look into is the smoke detector he wants in our living room and a heat detector interlinked in the kitchen.

Got to get my electrician to look into that next week when he comes on Monday although he's said interlinked detectors really are expensive.
Are battery powered, radio linked alarms suitable? They are a damn sight cheaper to install than mains ones.

I got mains interlinked installed when having a partial rewire done this summer. If you do go this route one of these comes in handy though is not a requirement.

 
afraid not, wish they were as you said they're cheaper but I'm going to have to go with the mains powered ones thanks to the building regulations. adding another £400 to the electrician bill to provide and fit 4 of them around the house as kindly requested by the BC
 
I've spoke with a ladder company today regarding the below;

http://www.loftcentre.co.uk/loft-ladders/fixed-loft-ladders/dolle-straight-flight-wooden-ladder-dsf

They've apparently sold this ladder to people in similar situations as me, do you think this would be any good?

It depends entirely on if the BCO wants to see handrails on both sides. on a side note the velux I was on about is here.

http://www.velux.co.uk/en-GB/Documents/Size and price product pdfs/GHL_Pine_uk.pdf


They were top hung, not side (the ones with the little red triangle are suitable for escape). I will get onto that sketch asap as well.
 
I'm coming to the end of converting our cellar into a living room, just need the walls boarded and plastered.

However I'm having issues with the building controller for our area (Redditch). I've given him two ideas for the coal chute / light well where he requires some kind of steps to allow for an emergency exit in case there was a fire upstairs.

The company who converted my cellar suggested I incorporate a step(s) into the coal chute wall as per below image. And it was also a suggested idea by a senior building controller for Worcester, who said he'd accept the idea if it was put forward to him.




However the building controller I'm dealing with is refusing the idea and is insisting I excavate more of my front garden to accommodate a full stair case with hand rails either side. Bearing in mind my house is a Victorian mid terrace house with a very small front garden as it is, i dont' feel his suggestion is realistic as the stairs would take up the majority of front garden available and would come pretty close to the border of our property.

Any advice on how to deal with building control or to resolve this issue would be appreciated

I feel sorry for you thing is laws don't seem to take property age into account and require the same regs for existing builds and new builds alike.

I have the same problems regarding insulation. I was building an extension to the rear of my house and it would have cost 3X the price to install the proper floor insulation. I didn't and have opted to take the fine and energy rating hit to my house for not building to regulations. However the regulations only make sense if you are doing a floor of 150M³ as the cost of the machines etc are very high. However my extension was a floor of only 19m³ therefore it was cheaper to simply pay the environmental fine for not insulating properly.

You are in a 100+ year old house can they not take that into account?
 
jas72 - I wish they would, because its frustrating like you say...new laws for a 150 year old house. it's fair enough making it safe etc, but there should be relaxed laws for olders houses..back then houses had lower doors etc, things like that now are frowned upon with the building regs.


LOAM - thanks, if you can do that sketch that would be great! :D luckily the company can supply that ladder with 2 x handrails. we'll have to see what the bc is happy with, but with the way things have gone he'll probably want his way only
 
well electrician is coming on saturday morning to get the detectors sorted for me, so that's one thing out the way :)

the way things have gone towards the end of this project I'll be glad when its all sorted and finished
 
Nothing at the moment, it's freshly excavated so just earth.

That's another reason why I'd like a window over the top to stop rain/snow getting down the chute and flooding it
 
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