In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
John wrote:

Sorry to hijack this thread but does anybody know the answer to my
question. A neighbour wants to 'knock through' from his
kitchen/dining area ito his conservatory. In effect he will be
taking out the existing back door and kitchen window and making it
into a large opening, there will be no doors in the opening it will
be just that, an opening. He knows he will need a lintel (or RSJ)
but what about permission of some sort? He thinks he can do what he
wants as it is his house, I would say he is more than capable of
doing the job as he built his own garage a few years ago. I do not
have a problem with him doing it at all but do not want him to have
any problems if he comes to sell it in the future.
Cheers

John

Unless there is currently a *single* lintel spanning both the door and
window - allowing them to be removed without needing any alternative
support - he will need building regs approval for that part of the
structural work.

But that's the easy bit! By removing the barrier between the house and
conservatory, the conservatory will no longer be exempt from building regs.
See the following from my local council's web site:
_________________
Conservatories
A conservatory is exempt from building regulations (but not necessarily
planning permission) as long as it is;

a.. Less than 30 square metres
b.. At ground level in a domestic property
c.. At least 50% of new walls are of a transparent or translucent
material.
d.. At least 75% of the roof is of a transparent or translucent material.
e.. It must be separated from the habitable parts of the dwelling by
external quality windows / doors.
f.. Any glazing below 1500mm in height in doors or within 300mm of a door
must be toughened / laminated glass or polycarbonate.
g.. Any glazing below 800mm in height must be toughened / laminated glass
or polycarbonate.
h.. Any heating in the conservatory has it's own separate heating controls
and can be completely switched off / isolated when not required.
_____________________


The fifth bullet point is the significant one. The result is that the
conservatory will have to be brought into compliance with current regs.
There may also be a knock-on effect due to the additional heat losses
suffered by the house after the removal of the door and window - requiring
some thermal efficiency improvements to be made to the house in order to
compensate.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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