Building/fire regs - kitchen open into lounge/stairs
 

Hi
Can anyone enlighten me on the following questions:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

I figure that the first is Ok whilst the second is not - help??

Spike

"Spike" wrote in message
...
Hi
Can anyone enlighten me on the following questions:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

I figure that the first is Ok whilst the second is not - help??

Spike


Currently working on a property which has this arrangement so answer must be
yes!

(A row of 4 properties with all the same configuration.)

Dave Jones

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"Spike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had
suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in
the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor.

In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the
second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way!
--
Hugo Nebula
'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants
a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'

Aha! Thanks for the replies chaps - just one other question - I did not make
it clear in my original post that the open plan kitchen/lounge idea would
also be open plan onto the stairs - is that still OK or do we need a door in
between the stairs and the open plan area?

Spike
"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
: On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
: "Spike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:
:
: Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?
:
: Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?
:
: Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had
: suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in
: the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor.
:
: In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the
: second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way!
: --
: Hugo Nebula
: 'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants
: a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 07:26:53 +0100, Hugo Nebula abuse@localhost
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"Spike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had
suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in
the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor.

In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the
second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way!
--
Hugo Nebula

How about a 3 storey house that had ground level access to each floor?
(Built into a hillside)

Bill

"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"Spike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had
suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in
the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor.

In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the
second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way!

Doesn't that also apply to two storey houses if the house if for let ?

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:17:37 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

Doesn't that also apply to two storey houses if the house if for let ?

I think you've asked this question before. Under the Building
Regulations there's no difference between rented and owner-occupied.
--
Hugo Nebula
'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants
a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'

Hugo Nebula wrote:

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:17:37 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:


Doesn't that also apply to two storey houses if the house if for let ?


I think you've asked this question before. Under the Building
Regulations there's no difference between rented and owner-occupied.

Are you sure?

I rather thought there was...

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, "Spike" wrote:

Hi
Can anyone enlighten me on the following questions:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

My existing house is, and building regs approved it.
My new house is, and building regs have the plans, but no approval yet
as its work in progress.


Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

in my new house, the stairs are in the the lounge, there is also a
second exit from the upstairs bedroom. However thinking about it,
there is no door between the kitchen and the second set of stairs to
the other bedrooms, however it would be possible to fit a fire door,
get the BR cert and rip the fire door out again .....


I figure that the first is Ok whilst the second is not - help??

Spike

"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:17:37 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

Doesn't that also apply to two storey houses if the house if for let ?

I think you've asked this question before.

Not me.

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 12:23:58 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named The
Natural Philosopher randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Hugo Nebula wrote:

Under the Building
Regulations there's no difference between rented and owner-occupied.

Are you sure?

Yes

I rather thought there was...

That's what you may think, but there isn't.
--
Hugo Nebula
'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants
a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 22:51:55 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

"Hugo Nebula" abuse@localhost wrote in message
.. .

I think you've asked this question before.

Not me.

Sorry; I've looked back through my old posts, and it was Lobster.
--
Hugo Nebula
'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants
a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'

Hugo Nebula abuse@localhost wrote in message . ..
On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 12:23:58 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named The
Natural Philosopher randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Hugo Nebula wrote:

Under the Building
Regulations there's no difference between rented and owner-occupied.

Are you sure?

Yes

I rather thought there was...

That's what you may think, but there isn't.

err, that's technically correct, but it's like people asking questions
about planning permission when they mean bldg regs, & getting an
answer which ignores the b regs.

IIRC there are (regret my memory is old, fading & sketchy) regs that
could be confused with bldg regs that affect rented & not
owner-occupied. Eg the need for an annual gas inspection certificate
- extended IIRC (or about to be) to other things like other heating
systems. Also in Scotland (& IIRC in a few areas of England [& the
govt has plans for all of England]) HMO* operate under a licencing
regime which effectively extends the bldg regs (& their Scottish
equivalent).

*[HMO = Homes in multiple occupation - that means shared flats
basically, but, in England, might include split up old houses with
independant flats]


The Q posed by the OP is just the sort of thing that HMO licensing may
regulate (though whether it does, I cannot say for sure - you'd need
to get hold of an HMO scoresheet: memory clearing!! - I'm fairly
certain it does.)

Another example: SFA the electrical supply goes, work done on a rented
property by the landlord could be affected by the Elec at Work regs
etc even without the forthcoming part P.

Come to think of it there's possibly a good few bldg regs style things
tucked away in the detail of Landlord & Tenant law which affect what
the tenant can expect of the property he's renting & which of course
don't apply to an owner's own personal chez moi.

NB all this is SFAIRI, as I said, I'm out of date - double check
before relying on info in this post - perhaps someone else with
current knowledge could kindly confirm or otherwise?

HTH