It never rains but it pours
- May 13, 2016
- 2 min read
Yesterday we had a letter from Building Control saying that we shouldn't have started the build without clearing the conditions attached to the approval. Who knew?! Building Control will continue to inspect but at our risk.
There are 5 outstanding conditions:
Please provide full structural engineers details for the following:- Timber Frame, Floor Joists, Roof Design, Balustrading, Glazed Wall Panels. We've chased Vision Development of Reading who are supplying the frame for these.
Detail means of escape windows on the plans and elevations. Details for the escape window from the bedroom are shown on P663-01-23-FF DETAILS, P663-01-25 ELEVATIONS B, P663-01-22 FF STRUCTURE so I've asked what additional information Building Control requires.
Detail new foul water and surface water drainage runs and design. This detail is shown on P663-01-14 DRAINAGE so I've asked for further clarification on this condition too.
Water efficiency calculations to be provided.
Confirm intake and extract ventilation to the new study as per App Doc Part F.
I confirmed that ventilation to the study (#5) would be via a 20 litre extract mechanical vent through straw bale and an intake vent to floor vented to outside.
The architect said we should get a plumber to do the water efficiency calculations (#4). The calculations have to show a daily usage of less than 125 litres of potable water per person. I decided I would do them myself. It's not rocket science and there are online calculators that will do the number crunching for you. I used The Water Calculator The hardest part is finding the flow rate for the products. After struggling for a couple of hours I discovered The European Water Label website which gives the flow rate for all the products of the major manufacturers. I didn't choose specific products - the models will have changed by the time we come to install in a couple of years or so - but rather used typical figures for fairly efficient models. The result was a pleasing 106.46 litres per person per day.
Whilst all this brain work was going on violent thunderstorms accompanied by torrential rain were rolling around us and very soon there were a few inches of water in the footings.
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