Fire, Structural and Basements – Page 9

Piling near neighbouring structures: the planning evidence

Planning does not assess foundation design. It assesses what the neighbours will feel and how that will be monitored. Method statements, trigger levels and working hours are the substance of the condition.

Electric vehicle charging in enclosed car parks

Parking policy fixes how many charge points a basement needs. Fire engineering decides where they sit, how the level is ventilated and who manages the installation. Both belong on the planning drawings.

Basement car park ventilation and smoke control

Ventilation for a basement car park is a building regulations subject until you decide where the air goes. Then it becomes noise, air quality and street scene.

Solar arrays on higher risk buildings and the fire case

Carbon policy wants the array and fire policy wants a clear roof. Here is how to reconcile them in the fire statement submitted at Planning Gateway One.

Green roofs and living walls on tall buildings

A living wall on a tall building meets a restriction that a biodiverse roof does not. How to hit greening targets without a contested facade, and what the fire statement should say.

Balconies and external decking in a fire statement

Stacked balconies and combustible decking drive regulator comments at Planning Gateway One. What a planning stage fire statement should describe, and how to condition materials without duplicating building control.

Does a section 73 application need a new fire statement

A section 73 grant is a new planning permission, and article 9A attaches to applications for planning permission. That makes the starting point yes, with sensible exceptions.

Phased applications and the Gateway One duty

The article 9A duty attaches to applications for planning permission, which puts it at outline stage on a phased scheme. Reserved matters sit differently, and that is where most confusion starts.

Fire statements for a mixed use podium scheme

A podium scheme is two buildings sharing a base. Separating escape, getting an appliance to the deck, coordinating smoke control and setting out management duties.

Firefighting shafts and their effect on core planning

A firefighting shaft is a stair, lobbies at every level and a firefighting lift. How that assembly reshapes a residential core, the plan and the unit mix.

Trees, subsidence and the evidence a council will accept

A council will not consent to felling a protected tree because an insurer asked. What the structural and arboricultural evidence has to prove, and which engineering options retain the tree.

Light wells, sunken gardens and basement amenity policy

A basement scheme is often refused for the light well rather than the basement. Here is how front light wells are assessed on street character, daylight, drainage and trees.

Who is competent to author a fire statement

A fire statement is a statutory submission with no licensed author. Here is how competence is evidenced, what membership grades and certification actually cover, and what to ask before appointing.

Structural condition as a reason to demolish heritage

National policy tells decision makers to disregard deterioration where there is evidence of deliberate neglect. A thin visual survey reads as exactly that.

Why councils cap basement depth and extent

Single storey limits, garden coverage caps and soil depth requirements each trace back to a harm the plan's evidence base identified. Knowing which one tells you what evidence answers it.

Construction method statements for basement excavation

A basement impact assessment predicts the effects. The method statement says how the work will be done so those predictions hold, in numbered stages with figures attached.

Relevant buildings and the Article 9A fire statement duty

A relevant building contains two or more dwellings or educational accommodation and is 18 metres or seven storeys. Here is how to measure it before you submit.

Structural surveys for conversions above shops

Converting upper floors over a shop is decided by headroom, floor condition and the cost of separating construction. Here is what to put in the survey brief and how to price from the answer.

Gateway One consultation: what the regulator asks

Planning Gateway One brings the Health and Safety Executive in as a statutory consultee on relevant buildings. It reviews the fire safety matters planning can control, and it advises rather than approves.

Basement excavation near trees and structural roots

Digging near a mature tree usually means the basement moves, the tree goes, or you pay for an engineered solution. What decides which, and how to present it.

Temporary works and construction stability conditions

Planning cannot duplicate construction safety controls, but it can control effects beyond the site boundary. How to answer a temporary works condition efficiently.

Mass timber in tall residential buildings: three constraints

Only one of the three constraints on mass timber in tall residential buildings is a planning matter. Here is how the external wall rules, the gateway process and the insurance market interact, and what to submit.

Retaining walls and the geotechnical case at planning

A retaining wall is part of what you are applying for, not a detail for later. Levels tied to Ordnance Datum, sections through the boundary, a ground model and a drainage detail are what get a sloping site through validation.

Fire safety in listed buildings: escape versus fabric

Fire safety duties and the duty to preserve a listed building pull in opposite directions. The resolution is almost always a fire engineered solution, not a standard one.