Making Sure Your Glass Extension Abides By Building Regulations

Purchasing a brand new conservatory or orangery is an exciting time for any homeowner, as is adding a solid roof to your existing extension to help reinvigorate it and give it a new lease of life. But on occasion, buyers are badly advised beforehand which can lead to potential issues further down the line.

People are sometimes unaware that their proposed extension may need to satisfy all planning permission requirements and building regulations, or either one of the two areas.

What is for certain is that Building Regulatory Approval has to be sought when exchanging a translucent conservatory roof for a solid roof.

To help you avoid making any expensive mistakes, read the following guidelines as outlined in Regulation 9(1), 21(4) which gives you an official definition of what is considered to be a conservatory or glass extension:

• They must be at ground level and have a floor area less than 30 square metres.
• They must be thermally separated from the dwelling by walls, windows or doors which meet the energy efficiency requirements.
• The dwelling’s heating system must not be extended into the conservatory, orangery or porch.
Local Authority Building Control guidance is that to be considered exempt from Building Regulations the conservatory must also:
• Have at least 50% of its external wall area formed from translucent materials (not, however including walls within one metre of a boundary with neighbours)
• Have at least 75% of its roof area formed from translucent materials
• Heating should either be completely independent of the dwelling or be provided with effective controls to operate and isolate the heating from the dwelling

To be exempt from having to apply and comply with Building Regulations, a substantial proportion of the roof and walls of the conservatory or glass extension must be glazed.

Incorporation of a solid roof will also require Building Regulations approval and planning permission will potentially need to be sought.

We can easily understand why you might be intimidated by all of this information but there’s no need to be as Hazlemere will always be there to guide you through the entire process.

Rely on us to make buying a conservatory or orangery, or adding a solid roof, a totally stress-free and hitch-free experience.