PlanScope Blog – Page 137
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 137
9397 articlesRefuse and cycle store fire separation in a block
Refuse stores must be separated by fire-resisting construction and kept out of protected stairways, while carrying distances pull them towards the entrance. Cycle stores now raise the same question.
Thermal bridging psi values and accredited details
A psi value can come from a blanket default, a tabulated default per junction, or bespoke modelling. The route you choose moves the fabric heat loss result more than most fabric upgrades.
Removing a chimney stack: consents and consequences
Taking down a stack raises three separate questions: does it need planning permission, does it need listed building consent, and is it a party structure. The damp arrives later.
Tree survey timing: leaf cover and winter inspections
Stem diameters and root protection areas can be recorded on any dry day. Crown density, branch spread and fruiting bodies each have their own window, and a survey should say which it used.
Carbon in demolition and site enabling works
Pre-construction demolition belongs in module A5, not C1, and haulage usually dominates the figure. What data to collect and how to present a retain or rebuild comparison.
Balcony overshadowing of the flat below
BRE 209 asks for the vertical sky component to be calculated with and without an overhanging balcony. That pair separates your balcony from your massing and changes the design conversation.
Deadwood and habitat features as a design benefit
Standing monoliths and habitat piles are the least costly ecological provision on most sites, and they earn almost nothing in the statutory metric. Where to put them and how to secure them.
Evacuation provision for wheelchair users at planning stage
Evacuation lifts need a shaft, a protected lobby and a power route; refuges need clear floor area in the core. Both are fixed by the planning drawings, not by building control.
Dormer rules under permitted development: eaves and ridge
Class B of the GPDO 2015 sets three geometric tests for a dormer: a 20cm set back from the eaves, nothing above the existing ridge, and obscure fixed glazing in side elevations below 1.7 metres.
Ash dieback and its effect on retention decisions
Ash dieback pushes most affected trees into BS 5837 category U, but the 2012 Regulations exempt only dead trees and immediate risks, so a dying ash still needs consent.
Escape windows and their effect on elevations
Four numbers in Approved Document B set the minimum opening and maximum cill height. On a period elevation they conflict with sash proportions and with Part K guarding.
Heat recovery ventilation in a planning submission
Councils do not assess ventilation performance, but they do assess a facade of grilles, an extra 200 mm of storey height and a noise case that depends on an undrawn system.
Loft conversion volume allowances and how to measure them
The 40 and 50 cubic metre allowances are measured externally and consumed by any earlier roof enlargement. How to establish the original roof and record the calculation.
Plant health and biosecurity in a planting specification
A planting specification that lists species and stock size but says nothing about sourcing, plant passports or site hygiene is incomplete. What a workable biosecurity condition should ask for.
Made ground and shallow foundations on a brownfield plot
On a small brownfield plot the depth and variability of the fill decide the foundation. Why differential settlement is the design driver, and how to brief one investigation for both ground and contamination.
Metering strategy for a heat network development
Settle the metering architecture before the energy centre location is fixed. Which meters sit at each level, how distribution losses are allocated, and what a condition should secure.
Timing an application around local plan adoption
Two identical applications either side of adoption can lawfully get different answers. How much weight emerging policy carries at each stage, and how to read the examination timetable.
What counts as a habitable room for amenity tests
Three frameworks define habitable rooms differently, so a kitchen may be assessed for daylight but excluded from overlooking. A room schedule with sources removes the argument.
Retaining hedgerows inside a development layout
A hedge on a rear garden boundary rarely survives five years of occupation. Position, root protection, access crossings and a funded management regime decide whether retention is real.
Removing internal walls in a conversion
Section 55(2)(a) puts internal works outside planning control, so the real controls are building regulations, listed building consent and party wall notice. What each one needs.
Charging points in communal car parks for existing blocks
A retrofit charging installation in an existing block sits outside Part S. What Part 2 of the GPDO permits, how supply capacity is established, and why section 20 consultation matters.
Planning committee cycles and choosing a submission date
Section 100B of the Local Government Act 1972 requires agendas five clear days before a meeting, and the officer report deadline sits weeks before that. Work the programme backwards.
Daylight modelling against a consented but unbuilt scheme
An unimplemented neighbouring consent is a material consideration, not a baseline. Report the existing situation first, the consented massing second, and evidence how likely implementation is.
Selecting and justifying noise sensitive receptors
Receptor choice decides more noise assessments than measurement method does. Screening on distance alone misses the controlling receptor, and a schedule with reasons removes the challenge.
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