Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent
Planning permission is required by U.K. law in order to allow you to build on, or change the use of land or buildings. Everest will assess your specific conservatory design and its location against current planning policies and guidelines to establish if planning, listed building or conservation consent is required from your local council. Where approval for the proposed structure is required, full plans will be prepared, submitted and administrated with your local authority by Everest in order to acquire planning consent for your conservatory project.
Building Regulations
Building Regulations are made under powers provided in the Building Act 1984 and set standards in construction for the health and safety of buildings and its users. Complying with Building Regulations is a separate matter to planning permission, the majority of conservatories in England and Wales are exempt from actually needing an application. However, in the circumstances that necessitates an application Everest will prepare full working drawings (including full structural and heat-loss calculations where necessary) and submit these for approval. We will then notify the local authority at key stages of the installation so the building control officer can make their inspections to ensure the work is completed to their full satisfaction.
Scottish Building Warrant Approval
In Scotland ALL conservatories above 10 metres squared floor area will require Building Warrant approval. Much the same as building regulations noted above, Everest will submit plans for approval and arrange for the building control officer to inspect the work at key stages to ensure the work is completed to their full satisfaction.
Water Board Authority Approval
Where the proposed conservatory is to be installed over or within 3.0m of a public sewer Everest will seek the permission of the relevant water board authority to gain their consent. Once we have their permission and any recommendations on the construction of the foundations of the proposed base, we will then apply for building regulations as the local building control officer will have to inspect the construction over the sewer.
Covenant or Management Estate Approval
Some properties have restrictive covenants attached to their property which are private agreements between land owners that restrict the way land may be used and developed. Other properties may need to have an agreement from their property management services before installing a conservatory. Everest will help determine if any such approval is required for your property and if so will then make the necessary applications to gain these consents for the proposed conservatory.
Party Wall Approval
In some situations a party wall agreement will be required for the proposed conservatory. This is an agreement between two parties regarding the construction on a boundary separating the two properties. In these circumstances Everest will help obtain this approval.
Our Service
It is essential all approvals are sought prior to work commencing to ensure that the conservatory constructed meets with all necessary regulation and local authority approvals. If these are not sought the consequences could be disastrous with the structure potentially having to be taken down and the house returned to its original condition. This is even more pertinent now with the HIPS pack being required to enable a house to be sold. This will detail any works that have been carried out on the property, if these have not been constructed with the correct approvals being sought then the house sale could fall through or could lead to delays in selling the house with approvals being sought retrospectively. Not gaining Listed Building consent is infact a criminal offence! It is therefore really important that Everest ensure that all these approvals are in place before work commences giving you the peace of mind when purchasing your conservatory.