we have a spare room that would make agreat bedroom,unfort it has no window,someone suggested a sun tube would comply with regs,can anyone confirm this and have any idea of costings to supply and fit in a bungalow into a room circa 3mx3m,many thanks
Ventilation?
good point!,have to think it through again
Emergency esacape?
--=20 Davey.
Actually they are not expensive and the main hassle is getting a good seal at the roof tile/slate level. They are just a polished steel tube with IIRC diffusers on each end. hundreds not thousands. The work may involve a bit of scaffolding so its probably getting on for a grand plus all in.
Depends on location.
BUT you worry me. A light tube and in fact lighting itself is NOT regulatory as far as I know - I have a hallway with zero lighting - needs a light tube :-) ) and the BCO didn't bat an eyelid.
What IS regulation in habitable space is:
- ventilation so you don't suffocate and
- a means of getting out if a fire blocs the normal one - and that is usually an opening window.
Now as a bungalow presumably this is ground floor, but enclosed...so the regs are a bit different.
There is no way I could get through my windows anyway - they are the kind which open the top part only. You don't have to have an emergency escape in a bedroom.
That can't be right or half the double glazing fitted would be illegal. Not everybody has the full window opening. I could maybe squeeze a 5 year old out of mine but that's about it.
You have a really marvellous penchant for always being wrong, don't you?
That is exactly where you DO need it.
As I discovered. I had to fit windows that can be climbed out of.
Your house may not be to building standards but that doesn't mean they don't exist.
Then it illegal unless you have two separate ways out of the room to the outside, and smoke alarms 'guarding' both.
DG windows upstairs have, by law, to be able to open enough for an adult to get out of. No reputable DG company will fit upstairs windows that don't open to 90deg, and at the *edge* of the frame, not part way along.
When we had all ours done here last year, we so liked those to be installed upstairs that we have that type of opening downstairs too.
And that is also the *law*, Lootenant.
strictly it is building regulations and that means no NEW installations to be done without such.
Its not illegal to have old windows like that,.
:
Not true. We have a three storey house and all doors onto the enclosed stairwell had to be fire doors but there is no question of getting out of the windows at that height. With some of them you can't. We have just got our building certificate and fire was their primary concern when they came round.
Jonathan
te:
Actually this is what the regs say:
If you are not using a FENSA registered contractor or if you're doing the work yourself then you will need to arrange building regulation approval yourself.
In short this means you need to be able to confirm the following: The replacement will achieve a U-value of 2.0 W/m2k for PVC or timber frames, or 2.2 W/m2k for metal frames. Glazing within critical locations will be replaced with safety glass. Existing measures for background and natural ventilation will be retained. Existing measures for means of escape from relevant rooms will be retained. (If the window pattern is to be changed this may affect means of escape). Open flue appliances affected by the window/door replacement will be checked for adequacy of combustion air supply by a suitably qualified person. If necessary, a suitable means of support will be provided above the replacement window/door. Where the dwelling was required to be constructed to provide an easily accessible threshold at entrance doors this will be retained.
We replaced existing mill winows with a central opening with similar new ones. You could get through the opening head first but it's not practical as a means of escape. The fourth point above suggests that we were OK by using the same design.
Jonathan
that's not what NEW regulations say. for new builds.
That's just say 'don't make it worse' for aftermarket REPLACEMENT windows and must have been a hell of a lobbying exercise.
THIS is 'new build' - there is no existing window and full regs apply.
"When replacing any window, the opening should be sized to provide at least the same potential for escape as the window it replaces. If the original window that is being replaced was larger than necessary for the purpose of escape, then the new window opening could be reduced down to the minimum as specified in the criteria below.
The means of escape should be considered for any *new* window installed to an extension or existing dwelling. If an escape window is required then criteria set out below should be followed. It is also generally good practice to replace any window on the first floor that is not used as an escape window with an escape window.
See below for the general criteria for egress windows:
Width and Height - Either of these are not to be any less than 450mm Clear Openable Area - No less than 0.33m² Cill height - No less than 800mm and no more than 1100mm from floor level.
Only one window per room is generally required."
I have seen people that have replaced windows like that with window like that, a bit silly IMO. When we had timber windows like that I kept a big hammer under the bed to break them. As soon as I could afford it I had windows with side openers fitted as I didn't fancy breaking double glazing in an emergency.
When we moved into this (Edwardian) house (which is far from conventional), they'd not long had the whole lot double glazed. The two main upstairs rooms each have a bloody great tilt swivel window, about
1.4m x 1.7m! More danger from accidentally falling out, really. The corridor areas between the other rooms and those two each have a smoke alarm on them.
How many kids fall out of these "safe" windows?
(I know one - he was thrown out by his older brother).
Are you telling me that you are meant to have TWO smoke alarms per bedroom? I have never seen anyone have two alarms in one room.
The chances of a burglary are greater than a fire. So I prefer small ones.
Here's a hint, don't set fire to your house every five minutes!
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