PlanScope Blog – Page 93
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 93
9478 articlesRooflights or a rear dormer on a hipped roof loft
On a hipped roof the choice is between rooflights, a rear dormer and a hip to gable. How each affects head height, the volume allowance and your options in a conservation area.
Total solar energy transmittance in glazing
Total solar energy transmittance is the single largest lever in an overheating model. What it measures, typical ranges, the daylight trade-off and how to write it into a submission.
The arithmetic behind a regulated carbon reduction figure
A regulated carbon percentage compares a notional building baseline with your modelled proposal. Which emissions count, how to report stage by stage, and what an assessor rechecks.
Abnormal load routing for a large delivery
Weight above 44,000 kg, width over 2.9 metres or rigid length over 18.65 metres makes a delivery an abnormal load. Notification, route survey, structures and timing.
Fire compartmentation in a listed building conversion
There is no statutory exemption from fire requirements in a listed building. The route runs through door upgrades, floor strategy, suppression and a documented fire engineered case.
Private balcony and amenity space minimum sizes
There is no national minimum for private external space, so the figure comes from the local plan or its guidance. Area against usability, and the daylight trade-off on inset balconies.
Replacing cladding on a consented but unbuilt scheme
A facade substitution on a consented scheme engages the materials condition, the fire statement and the building control route. How to pick the route and sequence the approvals.
Trash screens and the liability they create
Screens protect a culvert and introduce a new flood risk upstream. How blockage is modelled, which designs degrade gracefully, and who maintains the structure afterwards.
Operative temperature in overheating assessment
Overheating criteria for homes are written in operative temperature, not air temperature. What the metric combines, how models report it and what a report must state.
Fabric or technology: value engineering after permission
Swapping glazing or cutting a solar array after permission can breach the condition tied to the approved energy statement. The recalculation, the routes and the timing.
Servicing and delivery design for a mixed use block
Servicing fixes the ground floor layout before the architecture does. Choosing the design vehicle, separating residents from vehicles, and the evidence a council expects.
Air source heat pumps at a listed building
Permitted development rights are restricted at listed buildings and never remove the need for listed building consent. How to site a heat pump and detail the penetrations.
Infilling a terrace side return and the light effect
The planning argument on a side return infill comes down to a 45 degree line from the neighbour's rear window. How councils construct it, and what changes the outcome.
Fire safety information at the point of occupation
Regulation 38 information, the fire risk assessment duty and the 2022 regulations all bite from occupation. What the handover package contains and how to check it before exchange.
Car park change of use and surface water retrofit
An existing impermeable site protects you from a greenfield requirement but not from a betterment expectation. How to evidence the baseline discharge and what the strategy must show.
Local Nature Reserves and development nearby
Local Nature Reserves are declared by councils under the 1949 Act and sit in the local tier of policy protection. The indirect effects that defeat applications and the evidence that answers them.
Equivalent area in background ventilation
Approved Document F sizes background ventilators by equivalent area, a tested figure rather than a geometric one. Why acoustic units change the arithmetic and how to present a schedule.
Energy requirements for a Class MA conversion
A Class MA prior approval cannot consider energy performance. The duties arise under the Building Regulations on a material change of use, and overheating in deep floorplates is the real risk.
When a Transport Statement is enough
For most schemes of one to nine dwellings a Transport Statement is the right document. What it must contain, why statements get rejected, and how to scope it with the highway authority.
Internal wall insulation in a listed dwelling
Consent for internal wall insulation in a listed house is decided on fabric loss and moisture risk rather than appearance. Which build-ups are accepted, and how to detail the junctions.
Does amenity policy protect daylight to offices
An office occupier objecting on daylight grounds usually loses on amenity policy. The two routes that keep the issue alive, and why the civil right to light is the stronger lever.
Structural movement and subsidence on a development site
Subsidence rarely stops a permission, but it changes the documents and sometimes the scheme. How soil, trees and foundations interact, and the evidence a council will condition.
Attenuation under an adopted highway: what is allowed
Highway authorities rarely accept attenuation storage under an adopted carriageway. The reasons, the technical bar where it is considered, and the alternatives that keep storage inside the site.
Protected vistas and strategic views in London
A London protected vista is a defined corridor with a threshold plane, not a general presumption against height. How the components work and what evidence a borough expects.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope