Fire, Structural and Basements – Page 10
Planning Gateway One, fire statements, structural surveys and basement impact assessments.
Fire, Structural and Basements articles – page 10
335 articlesRadon protection and where the requirement bites
If your plot sits in a radon affected area, Approved Document C requires protective measures in the new building. Check the address before the ground floor design is fixed.
Asbestos and the pre-redevelopment audit before demolition
Two exercises happen to the same building before demolition and they are often confused. What each covers, how contamination removes reuse options, and how to sequence them against the programme.
Piling vibration and the conditions that control it
Damage criteria and complaint thresholds are orders of magnitude apart, and schemes that comply on one fail on the other. How vibration is predicted, controlled by condition and monitored.
Dewatering a basement and when a permit is needed
Pumping groundwater out of a basement excavation is an abstraction and a discharge, each regulated separately from planning permission. Here is what is needed and when to apply.
Basement impact assessment: what the auditor checks
Where a council commissions an independent audit of a Basement Impact Assessment, the auditor checks the staged methodology and the evidence behind every screening answer. Here is what they look for.
Counting storeys and measuring height for higher-risk buildings
Height is measured to the floor surface of the top storey, not the roof, and some storeys are left out entirely. Uneven ground and sunken yards can push a scheme over the threshold without any design change.
Combustible materials rules and planning elevations
Regulation 7(2) restricts combustible materials in the external walls and specified attachments of relevant buildings. Here is what that does to a planning material palette, and how to draft the condition.
Fire service vehicle access: widths, turning and standing
Fire appliance access is fixed by the planning layout. The dimensions, the turning head rules, standing positions and the details that catch schemes late.
Firefighting shafts and how they shape a residential core
A firefighting shaft is a stair, lobby, fire main and lift working as one enclosure. How the triggers work and what the shaft does to core planning.
Pre-redevelopment audits and demolition sequencing
A pre-redevelopment audit is a materials and hazards inventory, not a structural appraisal. Commission it early enough to change the demolition method rather than confirm it.
Fire safety in a design and access statement
A design and access statement should describe how people enter and leave a building, not restate a fire strategy. Here is the boundary between the two documents and the details officers query.
Structural surveys before buying a conversion project
The survey that tells you whether a conversion is viable costs a small fraction of the deposit. Buyers who skip it find out during demolition, when the price is fixed and the options are not.
Fire strategy for a mixed use building at planning stage
A mixed use building's fire strategy is decided by the plan, not by later detailing. Separation between uses, core arrangement and appliance access all have to work before the application goes in.
Structural appraisal for converting a former mill
On a mill conversion the structural appraisal sets the layout, not the other way round. Cast iron, beam ends and diaphragm action decide what the plan can be.
Geotechnical assessment and Eurocode 7 expectations
Ground investigation at planning stage answers whether the site suits the proposal. Eurocode 7 sets the categories, the design approach and the two reports councils confuse.
Fire safety works to listed buildings
Prescriptive fire guidance sits badly on historic fabric. A performance-based strategy, in-situ door upgrades and careful detection routes usually deliver the safety case with less harm.
External wall materials and the samples condition
The planning samples condition controls appearance, regulation 7 controls what may burn. On buildings above 18 metres the palette narrows first, so fix the materials before the elevation.
Measuring height for planning and for the fire threshold
A building can be under 18 metres for the fire regime and over a tall building threshold in the local plan at the same time. Both numbers belong in the submission.
Sequencing planning conditions with gateway two
Planning conditions and gateway two approval come from different bodies against different tests. Run them in parallel with one source of truth for the external envelope.
Second staircase provision and planning layouts
Adding a second staircase turns an efficient point block into a different building. What changes in planning terms, which amendment route applies, and what the fire statement must say.
Water supplies for firefighting and hydrant conditions
Firefighting water supply involves the fire authority, the water undertaker and the developer at once. What the condition requires, what the flow test decides, and where the budget goes.
Flood resilient basements: BS 8102 grades and pumping
Waterproofing grade is the second question. The first is whether a basement dwelling is acceptable in the flood zone at all, because the use is classified as highly vulnerable.
Crane oversail and what planning permission does not grant
Planning permission confers no rights over land you do not own. What an oversailing licence covers, and the consents a tower crane needs beyond the planning file.
Asbestos surveys before demolition or refurbishment
Management surveys do not cover demolition. What a refurbishment and demolition survey involves under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, and what it does to programme.
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