"elziko" wrote in message
...
Brian Sharrock wrote:
Are you trying to say; - 'I'm in the process ... attic
room ... where people may be sleeping ...'?

The estate agent did specify "Attic Room" rather than bedroom, although
when we viewed it, it did contain a bed

Yep: a room containing a bed doth not a bedroom make!
The Estate Agent is using _weasel words_ as he's liable if he mistakenly
describes the space as a bedroom.


................. but personally we're more likely to
use it as a study. However, part of the reason we put the offer down is
because it had an extra room which, who knows, in the future we may want
to use as a bedroom.

Before using it in the future you would be personally liable to ensure that
it met the criteria of a bedroom . {Assuming it's a house rather than a
bungalow - there's fr'instnace a requirement for self-closers on doors etc.
'escape' methods ...}.
[Recently a nearby bungalow was an executor's sale: it had an 'Attic Room',
complete with dormer window, a boarded floor, plaster(boarded) walls et. al
.... the purchaser had to apply and obtain Building Reg's approval (Building
Notice) to make it a 'bedroom', (quite an expensive operation)]

Are you saying it could be badly built

No! It _may_ have been built 'like the proverbial outhouse' ...
But it's like Sherlock Holme's dog ... the odd thing, it didn't make it's
presence known by barking, ... why is 'your' room described as an 'Attic
Room', could it not have a 'sign-off' from a BCO? Ask the Estate-Agent for a
_written_ statement.

...............since you only need to pass it through building regs.
if you intend to *sleep* in it? I have seen the word habitable used in
building regs. guides. Does this refer to a bedroom rather than something
like a study?

The regulations which are intended to safeguard life in general - such as
balustrude heights, stairs, doorways etc - talk about 'habitable' spaces
differentiating from 'kitchens, bathrooms, toilets .. etc. (one is presumed
to not spend long periods in such room and to remain awake). 'Living Rooms'
such as lounges, study, 'media-rooms' et.al. are ipso facto 'habitable' but
the Regs are more specific about rooms where one may be sleeping. [A fire
might erupt two floors down and the building might be ablaze before a
sleeping person becomes aware ... ] In general: after accidents happens, the
cry goes up; - 'Something must be done!" ... and 'we' have Building
Regulations which may be considered as the collective wisdom of UK Housing -
our book of 'Somethings' !

--

Brian