Plan to knock down old conservatory and build summer room/extention

[Gazza]

Hi all fellow DIY'ers

We currently have an aging old box conservatory which leaks and has mouldy walls etc. We plan to pull this down and rebuild it in mostly blocks with a couple of large d/g UPVC windows, and a pair of UPVC frenh style doors. All this topped with a tiled sloping roof. The exposed blockwork will then be roughcast rendered and painted white to match the rest of the house. The size will be exactly as the conservatory currently is. My local planning permission site seems to indicate that I don't need planning permission as it will be less than

70 metres cubed (it will be about 21). However, people are telling me that as part of the plan is to remove the existing patio door that leads to the conservatory (as it is now), this means that we need planning permission. Is this the case?

Exactly what do we need with regards to planning permission and building regs? I plan to do the majority of work myself. I am not a registered builder, but am more than capable of the job.

Cheers

Gazza

[Guy King]

The message from "Gazza" contains these words:

Certainly one issue is that when it's a conservatory you can't take out the exterior grade door to the house because of heat-loss rules - in effect you'd have to upgrade the insulation to a level not normally possible with conservatories.

As for when it's an extension - dunno, but there may be some confusion between building regs and planning permision. When the woman came round to look at the site for my conservatory she said that provided it's a conservatory (translucent roof being on of the deciding factors) I didn't need building control to visit provided I wasn't taking the doors out or making new doors /unless/ I was putting insulating draughtproofed doors in their place.

[Peter Crosland]

The need for planning permission depends on various things. The quickest way to find out is to phone or visit the planners and discuss it with them They don't bite! What you will need is building regulations approval and this is unlikely to allow you to remove the door because of the need to comply with heat insulation rules. You need to ask the building control staff for more detail.

Peter Crosland

[Gazza]

Thanks for the replies. Regarding insulation and heat loss, I do plan to insulate it well. It is in my own interest to do so. I will also be putting a rad in there and using approved double glazed windows and doors. Will this not suffice? Also, the house is a mid 20's semi with solid walls, so the new bit will probably keep the heat in in better than the rest of the house!! Whoever errected the conservatory in the first place also layed the concrete slab right in front of two air vents that vent the underfloorboard area of the rear of the house thereby completly blocking them !!!!

Gazza