Planning - Regulations
Is Building Regulation consent required?
Some conservatories can be added to an existing house (or other building) and do not require consent. To be exempt they must meet all the following criteria:
| • | Must be single storey |
| • | Must be situated at ground level |
| • | Must be less than 30m square in floor area (measured internally) |
| • | Must be separated from the original house (or other building) by a combination of window(s), door(s) or walls. (See Diagram 1) So that they can be closed off from the original house when not in use |
| • | Must have at least half the area of the walls formed of windows |
| • | Must have at least three quarters of the area of the roof formed of glazing, polycarbonate sheets or similar translucent material |
Providing all of the above can be met then an application, under Building Regulations, to build the conservatory is currently not required and neither will the building control department of your local council need to inspect it. (See Diagram 1). Please note building regulations is a separate issue from Planning Permission. You should always check to see if planning permission is also required before going ahead and building a conservatory. More Details may be found at:
www.planningportal.gov.uk
To meet the Regulations in this case, there is a choice:
| 1 | To provide your local building control department with calculations that show the amount of glazing in the windows, doors and roof of the conservatory/extension, together with the amount of glazing in the windows, doors and any roof lights in the original house, do not exceed 25% of the floor area of the conservatory and all floors of the house added together. The new windows and doors in the Conservatory/extension will need to meet the current U values. |
| 2 | To provide Building Control with calculations or plans that show the amount of glazing in the windows, doors and roof of the ‘conservatory’/extension do not exceed 25% of the floor area of the ‘conservatory’/extension. Often, this can be difficult to achieve. The new windows and doors in the ‘conservatory’/extension will need to meet the current U values. See Table 1 for examples of glazing which will meet U values. |
| Material of the frame to
the Window, door or roof light |
U Value | Example which meets Regulations |
||
| Wood | 2.0 | Double glazing with low E glass and 12mm air gap |
||
| PVC-u | 2.0 | Double glazing with low E glass, Argon gas fill and 16mm air gap |
||
| Metal (e.g. aluminium, steel) | 2.2 | Triple glazing with low E glass and 12mm air gap |
Structural Alterations
Building Regulation approval will always be required where it is necessary to form a new or wider opening in the original house wall. This is because carrying out this type of work is a structural alteration and your local building control department need to check that the beam or lintel that is used to support the wall above the opening is of adequate size and properly fire protected.
Safety Glazing
Glazing in some of the windows and doors will need to be either toughened or laminated safety glass to meet British Standard 6206. Generally, the locations, which need safety glass, are doors and side panels and also where the glass in windows is within 800mm of floor level. For more information on safety glass see:
www.double-glazing-uk.co.uk/Safety_glass.asp
