Fire, Structural and Basements – Page 6

Mass timber and the constraints at planning stage

Structural material is usually a building control matter. With mass timber it arrives in the planning submission, through the fire statement, the external wall rules and the carbon case.

Structural condition and the case against retention

Councils refuse demolition cases built on assertion rather than measurement. This sets out the condition evidence, the cost schedule and the independent scrutiny a structural argument has to survive.

Tall building fire strategy at planning committee

Planning Gateway One brings a defined slice of fire safety into the planning decision. Drawing the boundary before the meeting is what keeps the decision and its conditions defensible.

Basement light wells in conservation areas

The excavation is handled by other consents. The planning decision turns on a hole in a front garden, a set of railings and whether the street still reads as it did.

Retaining existing structure: what an appraisal must establish

At planning stage a structural appraisal must establish whether the existing frame can carry the proposed scheme, at what cost and programme penalty. Condition alone answers nothing.

Structural appraisal for converting an agricultural building

The permitted development right does not extend to new structural elements. How to assess frame, foundations and cladding separately, and where the appraisal kills the case.

Fire statement or fire safety strategy: when each applies

The fire statement is a planning document required by article 9A of the DMPO 2015. The fire safety strategy proves Part B compliance later. How to run both without contradiction.

Single stair buildings and the planning consequences

The second staircase requirement is a building regulations change with planning consequences: footprint, massing, unit mix and the route to amend a consent granted on a single core.

Water supplies for firefighting and the evidence required

Fire authorities want hydrants in the right places and proof of the flow behind them. The requests take weeks, so they belong at feasibility rather than at pre-commencement.

Structural warranties and what the planning file should hold

A self-build warranty makes the house mortgageable and can be the evidence that secures the levy self-build exemption. Here is the sequence and the records to keep.

Basement light wells, escape and flood risk together

Escape wants a low cill, flood resilience wants a raised threshold, daylight wants a wide shallow well. Here is how to design a light well that satisfies all three.

Mass timber schemes and the questions planners now ask

The carbon case is why schemes use engineered timber. The fire regulations, the height band and the insurance position decide whether the scheme reaches technical design.

Structural limits on a terraced house loft conversion

Removing purlins and struts means new steels into the party walls, a new floor structure and a hard look at headroom under the ridge. Resolve the structure before fixing the planning drawings.

Building over or near buried infrastructure

Planning permission does not authorise building over a sewer or a tunnel. How to find the assets, deal with each owner's protection regime, and sequence the consents.

Piling methods beside sensitive neighbours

Piling method is a planning issue. How to predict noise and vibration to BS 5228, set trigger levels people will accept, and use section 61 prior consent to lock in hours and methods.

Asbestos surveys before demolition and what conditions cover

Regulation 5 already requires an intrusive survey before demolition. A condition restating it fails the tests for planning conditions, while dust, hours and sequencing are fair game.

Structural appraisal for new homes above a shop unit

Part 20 prior approval requires a chartered engineer to confirm the scheme is structurally safe. Everywhere else the appraisal protects your budget rather than the application.

Dewatering a basement excavation and the consents needed

Pumping groundwater out of a basement dig engages three regulators at once. Only one of them sits inside the planning application, and the abstraction licence usually drives the programme.

Which mixed use buildings need an Article 9A fire statement

The Article 9A duty depends on whether a podium scheme is one building or several, and on a height condition measured to the top storey of the whole building.

Evacuation lifts and what they do to a core layout

Evacuation lifts cost core efficiency through the protected lobby rather than the shaft. Test the core before the planning drawings are fixed.

External wall materials and the combustibles restriction

Regulation 7(2) bars combustible materials from external walls and specified attachments on relevant buildings, which can make a planning palette undeliverable.

7 October 2026Read article →

Retaining walls close to a highway boundary

Planning permission and section 167 approval are two different consents, and the highways one bites at a lower height than most self-builders expect. Here is what each covers and what the drawings must show.