| 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 |
| NOTE:
|
| There
has been discussion about making all conservatories
subject to building regulations, it could be that
in the next 2 – 3 years ALL conservatories
will be subject to building regulations. |
| If
Building Regulation consent is required, what regulations
apply? |
| The
most common situation where Building Regulation
consent is required is shown in Diagram
2 below. With a layout such as this, the
“conservatory” is not separated from
the house and under the regulations has to be considered
as an Extension. Clearly, heat and energy will be
more rapidly lost from the building with this arrangement.
Because the UK Government is committed to reducing
energy consumption and carbon emissions at UK power
stations, Building Regulations now place limits
on the amount and type of glazing in extensions
(and also new buildings). |
| Diagram 1 |
Diagram 2 |
 |
|
| 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. |
|
| Table
1 |
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 |
info@selfbuildconservatoriesuk.com
