Building Regulations Mess

Hi, I have a bit of a problem with Building Regulations ( and also a bit worried about planning permission as well). We recently had some work done on our house. We converted our integral garage to a lounge and took out a couple of walls elsewhere replacing them with RSJs. The work was done by a builder who said we didn't need either planning permission or building regulations. Well I have since found out the work should be covered by Building Regs, so we submitted a form to the council who sent back a long list of questions which we passed onto our builder. This was a few months ago and so far despite lots of promises and chasing he doesn't appear to have done anything at all to answer them. I am also now worried that we may have needed planning permission but am not sure how to check without creating additional problems I can't solve.

Can anyone advise if they think we would have needed planning permission ( there was no increase in size of the property and the only external alteration was replacement of a garage door with a window. There was, however, significant internal alteration)
Also does anyone have any suggestions for what to do about the Building Regs and the useless builder situation?

I am panicking that we won't ever be able to sell our house in the future because of these issues

Thanks a lot
Melly

Hi Melly,

Mixed bag for what you've said -

1. Converting a Garage to a room/bedroom I'm pretty sure would have needed planning permission. You're changing the scope of the house for it to be a permanent change.

2. Removing internal walls and replacing with RSJ's isn't a change for planning permission.

I say both of the above based on what we had done and talks from a friend of mine who's a building surveyor. Building regs. change every year so you do need to get soemone qualified and with knowledge of the latest regs to be sure.

I'll assume that you aren't selling in the near future and as these things can take time, I suggest you start the ball rolling and go through the procedures until completed. Can't say of course how much it's all going to cost - but hopefully it'll just be the application fee you would have paid had you known in the first instance.

good luck! get someone in who knows!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I'm not an expert in these matters, but I do not believe planning permission would have been a requirement in this case, unless your home is a listed building or located within a conservation area.

In general, you can do whatever you like with the internal arrangements without planning permission.  Since the garage is integral, it's classed as part of the house.   You can also extend outward providing the alterations come within the "permitted development rights," which allow extensions up to a certain volume so long as they are below specified height  limits, not in front of the existing building line, not occupying more than so much percentage of the free land, etc.

You can find a lot of helpful information which outlines all the rules here:

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/

I believe that you would need planning permission to convert the use of a garage.

Where is the change of use though?   An integral garage is part of the house, which is already classified as residential.

You would need planning consent if it were being converted into an apartment for separate occupancy.

It's the change of use from a garage! A garage isn't living space.

Slightly different here but.....my sister has a large loft space, with stairs to it (rather than a ladder), there was a skylight in it....they used as a bedroom....no problem....however they then wanted to put a divider in, add velux windows......they did it, contacted fire service who said they had to apply for planning permission for it....and they weren't even changing the use of the space!


Although seems it's not usually the case
http://www.garageconversionsuk.co.uk/Planning_Permission.asp

As it says though - if in doubt, check! As quite often if you do make changes and later discover planning permission was required the council will often make you revert it as it was before.

If a garage is attached to the house you will probably need planning permission and depending on the size you may also need it even if it is detached. Of all the work we did on our previous Victorian terrace the only thing that was iffy on planning permission was believe it or not, windows. I had phoned the council with a detailed list of all things we were planning to do including removing supporting walls which would turn 3 rooms (small kitchen, pantry, outside toilet) into one huge kitchen. They kindly went over the list with me on the phone and gave me alot of good and free advice including that I hire a seperate structural engineer which I did (cost about £300 and was well worth it) before I had any work carried out. As for windows, double glazing requires planning permission in a lot of cases and also the addition of windows where they did not previously exist ie in the case of windows replacing a garage door. These can sometimes require consent from your neighbors as they have a right to object if a window is likely to overlook them when there was no such window when they moved in to their property. In our case, we did not require planning permission in the end as we were replacing double glazed windows with more double glazed windows in roughly the same location they were in previously. I agree with all the above advice that you should have contacted the council before doing anything. As for no increase in living space, there certainly was as one doesn't live in a garage but a lounge is living space. If you increase your living space beyond a certain amount then permission is required and this includes loft conversions as well as garage conversions.
As for the velux windows, we had this problem also. The previous owners had added them to the loft space which was fine and may not have been against regulations at the time as these can and do change  over the years. But by the time we aquired it, the space could not be used as a bedroom as the windows did not meet current fire regulations. We would have had to replace them with dormer windows which would have been pretty costly not to mention my row of terraces had been recently added as a conservation area as far as building regs go, so again even more planning permission required to add dormer windows.

Good info here http://www.labc.uk.com/site/index.php
Quick guide for work requiring and exempt from building control
http://www.labc.uk.com/downloads/Exemptions_and_Works_Subject_to_Building_Control_340KB.pdf

It's the change of use from a garage! A garage isn't living space.

Neither is an unfinished attic, but you don't automatically require planning consent to convert it into extra living space.

Planning permission is not usually required for attached or integral garages to wholly residential properties as the garage and living accommodation are both ancillary to the residential use of the property. You should check to make sure that no specific planning conditions prevents such a change. This may occur on more recently built properties where a condition is applied to ensure the garage is retained solely for parking of a car.

Changing a garage door to a flush window, or internal alterations only, will not usually require consent, but a bay window might.

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/doineed.htm

Slightly different here but.....my sister has a large loft space, with stairs to it (rather than a ladder), there was a skylight in it....they used as a bedroom....no problem....however they then wanted to put a divider in, add velux windows......they did it, contacted fire service who said they had to apply for planning permission for it....and they weren't even changing the use of the space!

Maybe in a conservation area?  I wouldn't exactly rely on the fire service for planning permission queries though.  Are you sure they weren't talking about building control?

Installation of roof lights, skylights or re-roofing do not normally require planning permission.

Works of this nature to Listed Buildings may require Listed Building Consent. It is always advisable to check with the Council to be certain.

An Article 4 Direction may be in force removing these rights. These are more common in Conservation Areas.

You will need to apply for planning permission if you can say yes to any of the following :-

   1. The addition or extension (dormer etc) to the roof slope faces a highway.
   2. The roof extension will add more than 40m³ to the volume of a terraced house.
   3. The roof extension will add more than 50m³ to the volume of any other kind of house.
   4. The roof extension or other associated works would increase the height of the roof.
   5. The property is within a National Park, Conservation Area, AONB or the Broads and the works proposed would alter the shape of the roof.

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/domesticpd2.htm#roof

For a fait accompli like the original query, I think it would be best not to rock the boat with regard to planning permission anyway.   If somebody in building control thinks you should have gotten consent, they'll notify the appropriate department and you'll soon hear from the planning officer.   If not, let sleeping dogs lie.  There's a 4-year statute of limitations on planning enforcement anyway.

Are you sure they weren't talking about building control?

I think you are probably right. There seems to be some confusion between building regulations and planning permission.

Thanks for the replies - I think I will leave the planning permission issue alone as we currently seem to have enough issues with getting the Building Regs sorted. It will be at least 4 years before we want to move (I hope)so hopefully any residual planning issues will go away as Paul suggests. Any tips on getting recalcitrant builders to come up with documentation?
Thanks
Melly