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Building regs - Loft room

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we did a loft conversion a few years ago strenghting the joists,insulation plasterboarding etc to building regs . the only probllem was we couldnt get the head height so this couldnt be passed off . the houseowner bought a spiral staircase and just removed it when he came to sell the house and guess what the new owner bought the staircase back off him and just refitted it . so yes there is ways round it

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Just to get a few things straight here, the OP is asking if anyone knows what the regulations are. The regulations are fairly strict and rightly so. The first step is to use a structural engineer/ architect who will put the plans together for the project. They are generally up to speed on the latest regs, and even then sometimes the builiding inspector will tweak the plan. There may be some parts of the plan that he may even tell you aren't as necessary, but ultimately its HIS decision. Its the law and as Tony states is there for good reason.

 

There is no cheap way to convert a loft to habitable space. The floor joists have to be the correct dimensions for the area they span, The insulation has to comply, a third floor room also has to comply with fire regulations so will most likely need a fire door entrance, fire resistant plaster boards. It must have a permanent staircase. It must have a window that is at least equal to 10% of the floorspace and it must be a means of escape in the event of fire. It must have adequate ventilation, mechanical if necessary......and so on.

 

If it is done properly, it may add some value to the property, but you would be unlikely to recoup the overall building cost. If it isn't.....its worthless and....well... anything could happen.

 

You will also require planning permission if you live in a conservation area and/or if you intend building a dormer on the front. In any event, its always worth asking first.

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[quote

 

If they didn't get building regs, it could cause a resale headache later for you. You can apply for building regs in retrospect (they come out and inspect) or if you're not fussed about resale for whatever reason, you can go for an indemnity policy, but make absolutely sure you get a top range survey to ensure the work is sound.

 

Applying for retrospective building regs can be quite tricky as they will want to see steel work insulation etc all the things that are covered by plasterboard so you can end up with a fewbis to patch up afterwards.

We did a terraced house and to get the head height we had to drop all the first floor celings by two course of bricks. Also would highly recommend a dormer as the space gained is much better see photos.

http://rb-building.com/index.php?mact=Album,m2,default,1&m2albumid=15&m2returnid=52&page=52

My advice is if you can't be bothered or can't afford to do it properly wait till you can.

As previously said building regs arent there to cause hassle they are for your safety and to say the work is done to a satisfactory standard.

You may need a seperate ring from the fuse board, fire doors and casings through the house, mains smoke alarms the list goes on.

Get a good architect and you cant go wrong he will advise on everything some will even submit all the relevant paperwork for you to the council.

hope this helps

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