Does anyone know the answer to this one?

I've got a loft room in my Victorian house which has been there for donkey's years, all the houses (4) in my row have them. They have the stairs in the same place, coming off the landing with a door at the bottom of the stairs to close them off from the landing.

My question is this - I want to add another Velus window in there so know I need building regs - when the council come round, can they insist that the rest of the room meets current building regs as well?

For instance, I know that you are supposed to have a self-closing fire door at the bottom of the stairs and escape route and all that.

Mine doesn't have this of course, being so old -but can they insist on it being brought up to standard?

Our row of Victorian houses has loft rooms which in no way conform to current standards - it would be impossible to make them do so because there isn't the space for a staircase which would conform. We had some alterations done to our loft room a couple of years ago, and the BCO was only interested that the new additions conformed, not anything else.

I have recently been talking to Building control at Swindon council about this kind of thing. Firstly I would recommend doing this yourself, they are very friendly and like to help (at least in Swindon). As Velvet says I also think that only new changes will be looked at as other changes would have been checked at the time and been approved then.
From what I gathered when taking about loft conversions: due to the building reg changes from April 2007, you do not seem to need the door shutting mechanisms anymore, but the door must be a firedoor. The velux window has to be checked structually, but will not need to be a fire escape unless there is no direct route to stairs and the outside.
There was another thread recently mentioning these issues, but not all of us were in agreement, so probably best ask them yourself. I would be interested in the answers to see if they back up how I was told. Oh, word of advice, do not look up things about this on the internet as they may be out of date and building regs change fairly quickly. Also someone saying they did something two years ago does not mean that the same rules apply now.

Cheers Druzil

Thanks both - I rang my local council earlier to see what's what.

This is what they told me - if they came out to check out my new windows, and saw that other things were not compliant, then they would have to deal with that.

However, he also said that if I could prove either that it was an original room, or was done over 20 years ago, then they would not be interested.

My problem is, how do I prove it? I've just looked through my paperwork and haven't got anything. The survey says that the owners had been there for 5 years and it was done before then, but that's the best I've got.

Help!

From your description of all four houses having the same arrangement it sounds as if (like ours) the rooms are original. The BCO did not even raise the question, presumably it was self-evident that the rooms were antique, but our neighbour has original floor plans and construction information which we could have supplied if asked. So one of your neighbours may have more info. But if not and they are seriously set on 'proof' ... could be a bit of a nightmare.

Hiya Laura,

What a great idea to put another velux in the loft. I know I'm showing my ignorance here, but I didn't think you needed building regs for a velux, only for a dormer window... or does it make a difference if you are putting it at the front of the house? Are you putting it at the front?

Have any of the neighbours got a velux at the front? If so, how long ago did they put it in?

Druzil is right. Regs change all the time and my knowledge may be out of date...

You're not thinking of Planning rather than Buidling Regs are you Donna? You need building regs to make sure glazing complies with current thermal loss requirements (alternatively you could have it fitted by a registered FENSA person). Building Control might also want to check the structure of the roof isn't compromised when the hole is cut - not sure about that.

Ouch Velvet! I think I probably am!

I didn't realise that building regs were needed for a velux. Do you mean that every single velux installed must be checked for building regs? What a lot of hassle.

I thought it was a simple job, it looks so easy on the adverts. Just cut a hole, offer up the window, make good the join and Fanny's your Aunt. Not so?

I thought that velux windows would comply with heat-loss requirements as a matter of course, what with being the 'market leader' and all. Or is it the *installation* of such windows that must comply. I'm so confused. Who'd have thought putting in a window would be so fraught?

Do building regs apply because the window is fitted in a roof? On a slope? Would building regs be required when replacing an old 'seen-better-days' bay window with a replica bay window?

All glazing has to conform to the thermal loss issues, so yes your replacement bay window would have to. When you sell your house your sellers pack will include a question about whether you have recently installed new glazing, and if so you will have to supply a certificate to say that it conforms. But rather than involve building control, you can use a FENSA member to install it, they are able to issue you with the certificate. Google fensa and all will be revealed.

Re whether veluxes automatically conform, I agree that you would think so, but for whatever reason the BCO that Laura spoke to seemed to think his presence would be needed.

Hiya Donna

Well, as I understand it from my council, if I wanted a dormer window, I would need PP as I would be altering the roofline of my house. For a velux, I would not need this but would need building regs as they would need to come and check that they were happy with the installation.

However, as velvet has said, there is a way round it. If you get a FENSA installer to do the velux, then they can self-certify the installation. My surveyor told me this, I didn't realise and for my situation, it's a perfect solution. Hopefully it will not prove horribly expensive.

So basically, if I ever sold the house, I would have to prove that I had *either* building regs approval for the new windows, or FENSA certification.

Job done

You would think Building Control would have told you about fensa wouldn't you? It's not as if Building Control haven't got enough work to do without certifying every blasted new window is it! Easier for everyone if you go the fensa route.

Complete off topic Laura but how do find the railway? Would having a busy line behind quite a few trees at the bottom of a biggish garden be very disruptive do you think?

I can't believe all this building reg things you have to think about nowadays. God, my dad used to "amend" our old house himself all the time - actually on second thoughts this is probably why you need experts checking things

I know velvet - and oddly, they were a bit funny with me when I rang to check. The surveyor told me about it, I called them up to check and they confirmed it to be the case, but sounded a bit miffed for want of a better word. I don't think they liked the thought of someone else on their patch tbh!

HC - how are you? Are you in the "other place" ever?

The railway is fab - I love it!! To be honest, I think the question of a railway is a very personal one - myself, I'd rather hear a train than cars, I find them much less disruptive. Why, do you have your eye on something? Plus, what's your definition of a busy line?

The best advice I can give you is to go the house and spend some time in there. The first time I came here, I was here for 3 hours!! Admittedly, the woman and I were gossiping, but I would say I spent 1 hour at least in the front bedroom, just watching the barriers come up and down, listening to the trains etc. I did this because I wanted to see a) what they sounded like from inside the house and b) whether they bothered me.

I came away from there 100% sure that I would have no problem with the trains, and I haven't -not one bit. And that's with the line right next to my house, at the bottom of a biggish garden wouldn't be any bother at all I'd have thought. Plus you might get a cheeky bargain, because it does put some people off. Kerching!