dg wrote:
The building regulations are quite clear about how they apply to
conservatories as new build, but not so clear as conversions.

A conservatory has been in place for a number of years, no problems
structurally. But if minor changes are made (which in themselves would
not require permission) how would the building regs come to apply?

ie is permission needed to carry out the minor changes, or is
permission needed on the basis of 'converting' the conservatory?

The roof should be more than 75% transluscent for it to be classed as
a conservatory, but how will the building regs apply if the roof is
changed so that it is less than 75% translucent?
What does the room become? Does it become an 'habitable room' even
though it will not be used like other rooms? Does it become a bedroom
or a lounge, could it be a store or a hallway - who decides?

I'm particularly intrested in the structural side of what will be
required. If it is to be classed as an extension, then normally an
extensions' foundations would be typically 1 metre deep, but a
conservatory's only say 500mm. So as part of any conversion work,
would the BCO insist on underpinning? Would calculations be required
for the [existing] roof structure, as it is not covered in the
building regs and thus 'non-standard'.

The gist is, how far can/would a BCO be expected to go in terms of
what work would be required?

dg

It all depends on what you are talking about...are you building an extension
up to the conservatory?
Are you just doing some conversion work without the knowledge of the BCO?

I can't really understand what you are getting at, basically, it's up to you
what you do with your conservatory and it's *highly* unlikely that anyone
will ever know about it, that is, until you come to sell the property and
the buyers solicitor wants to see dates of plans passed, BCO certs, details
of visits and of course final inspection certificates.
I know people who have had conservatories built (without pp or BCO visits,
naturally) and then stripped the poly roof off and put up joists, battens
and tiles, and take off the seperating doors - hey presto, a 'free'
extension, but if they come to sell it, they either make it back into a
conservatory, knock it down or more often, knock a huge chunk off the price
of the house and let the buyer do one of the above.

for it to be deemed as living quarters (and they don't care whether it's
referred to by you as a bedroom, kitchen or corridor) it needs 150mm of
insulation under the floor, which it almost certainly hasn't got, insulation
in the walls and footings that go down at least a metre and concrete under
the footings of at least 250mm, they can't really insist on bringing this up
to spec now though, providing you keep it seperated from the living
quarters, double or single doors will suffice, although most BCO's don't
even bother insisting on these now as they know they will be on a skip the
day after final completion.