Fire, Structural and Basements – Page 11
Planning Gateway One, fire statements, structural surveys and basement impact assessments.
Fire, Structural and Basements articles – page 11
335 articlesDisproportionate collapse and building class in design
The consequence class a building falls into is fixed by storey count, use and floor area, all of which are settled at planning stage. What each class requires and where the thresholds bite.
Dissolution features and shallow workings outside coalfields
Outside coalfield referral areas nothing prompts the ground stability question. Soluble rocks and non coal mine workings have to be identified by the applicant, through the desk study, geophysics and probing.
Foundation design on made ground and former industrial sites
Fill varies over metres, not hundreds of metres. The design has to cope with that variation, and differential settlement is the failure it must prevent.
Ground gas protection and BS 8485 measures
Protection design follows the characteristic situation, and that follows the monitoring data. Too few rounds in settled weather is where schemes lose a season.
Underpinning a party wall under the 1996 Act
Section 2 covers underpinning a party structure and section 6 covers nearby excavation. The notice periods differ, and the sequence decides the programme.
Fire strategy for a residential block above commercial units
Flats above shops means two fire strategies in one structure. Separate escape, a hard compartment boundary and coordinated risers decide the ground floor plan.
Balconies, external walls and fire spread
A balcony attached to an external wall is a specified attachment under the Building Regulations. On relevant buildings that decides the decking, the soffit and the elevation.
Smoke control in common corridors at planning stage
Smoke control in a block of flats decides corridor length, core size, roof plant and the elevation. The three strategies and what each one needs reserving at concept stage.
Dry risers, wet risers and the height that separates them
Approved Document B puts dry rising mains above 18 metres and wet mains above 50 metres. The switch brings a water store, pumps and a plant room that a core drawn for a dry main cannot absorb.
Firefighting shafts and what they take from the floor plate
Once a floor sits more than 18 metres above fire service access, the core gains a lobby, a lift and a smoke shaft with minimum dimensions that do not compress.
Sprinklers in blocks of flats and the 11 metre trigger
Suppression in new blocks of flats is triggered at 11 metres in England. The 18 metre figure is the higher-risk building threshold, and the two are often confused.
Second staircases above 18 metres and what changed
A consented single stair tower above 18 metres cannot be built as approved. How the requirement arrived, what it costs in floor area and which planning route to take.
The golden thread and what planning contributes to it
Gateway One fire statements, approved drawings and discharged conditions all feed the golden thread. How to structure planning information so it survives handover.
Gateway three and the completion certificate
Gateway three is an assessment of as-built evidence, not a final inspection. No completion certificate means no lawful occupation, no sales completions and no tenancy starts.
What gateway two requires before construction starts
For a higher-risk building the Building Safety Regulator is the building control authority, and work cannot start until it has approved the design. That moves the design freeze months earlier.
Basement flood risk: sumps, valves and safe egress
A basement used for sleeping is highly vulnerable development, which rules it out in Flood Zone 3 and triggers the Exception Test in Zone 2. Here is what the assessment has to cover.
Fire safety in Class MA conversions to housing
A Class MA prior approval can be granted on a scheme that cannot lawfully be built, because fire safety sits outside the matters the council may consider.
Demolition method statements and structural stability
The stability case is the part of a demolition method statement that gets rejected, and it belongs to the structural engineer rather than the contractor.
Ground movement from piling next to existing buildings
Vibration that damages nothing still generates complaints. How piling method, damage categories and trigger levels are handled in a planning application.
Eurocode 7 and geotechnical evidence for planning
Planning does not need a foundation design. It needs a ground model, a defensible investigation scope and mitigation that can be secured by condition.
Facade retention: structural and heritage evidence
Retaining a frontage while rebuilding behind it needs an honest harm assessment and a temporary works scheme that fits the street. What to submit and why.
Basement excavation and tree root protection areas
The root protection area usually covers the basement footprint. How encroachment is measured, which structural solutions buy retention, and what groundwater change does later.
Basement works and householder permitted development
Class A can cover an underground enlargement, but the excavation and underpinning are often separate engineering operations. What that means for a house basement.
Party wall matters that are not planning matters
Party wall obligations and planning permission are separate regimes. What the 1996 Act covers, why the council cannot enforce it, and when to serve notices.
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