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Building Regulations and FENSA

Planning Permission and Building Regulations - what are they? Are they required for the conservatory that I am thinking of having? How does Planning Permission differ from Building Regulations? In this section we aim to answer all these questions and guide you through the issues involved.

If you decide that you would like us to provide you with our Free Design and Quotation Service for your conservatory, when our designer visits your property he will assess whether planning permission or building regulations are required. If in any doubt, we will check with the local council.

Planning Permission

If planning and/or building regulations are required, Scott James Commercial Ltd will make the necessary applications on your behalf.

Conservatories come under permitted development rights. This means that provided certain criteria are met, there will be no need to apply for planning permission. Planning Permission is not concerned with the structural details of the conservatory, only with where the conservatory is due to be located.

Planning Permission will not usually be required under the following circumstances:

The cubic measurement is calculated from the external size of the conservatory.

Terraced houses, houses in National Parks, Areas of outstanding beauty, conservation areas and in other specially designated areas, the limit by which a property may be extended is 50 cubic metres or 10% of the volume of the original house.

Detached or semi-detached house may be extended (subject to the conditions above) by up to 70 cubic metres or 15% of the volume of the original house, whichever is the greater and subject to a maximum of 115 cubic metres.

The term ‘original house’ refers to the house as it was first built or if it was built before the 1st July 1948, the size it was at that date. If the house has already been extended, the cubic content of those extensions must be deducted from the permitted development limits quoted above.

Please note that outbuildings within 5m of the house count as extensions.

Planning Permission will be required in the following circumstances:

Any conservatory that falls outside of the permitted development rights above.

Listed Buildings.

Where a conservatory is within 20 metres of a road or public footpath where the conservatory is nearer to the road or public footpath than the original property.

The conservatory is within 2 metres of the boundary AND is over 4 metres high.

The conservatory and any other additions to the original house exceed 50% of the total area of the garden within the boundaries of the property.

Your permitted developments rights have been removed. This is becoming more prevalent on new build housing developments

Building Regulations

Building regulations are a set of standards which have to be followed in the building of a conservatory, if not exempt. They are not related to the conservatories location and should be considered as a separate issue to Planning Permission

A conservatory is exempt from Building Regulations if it meets the following requirements.

The conservatory has a completely transparent or translucent roof.

The floor area of the conservatory is less than 30 sq. Metres.

The conservatory is built at ground level.

The conservatory is glazed in accordance with the requirements of Part N of the Building Regulations.

The conservatory is separated from the house by a door.

The walls of the conservatory are substantially glazed (should not have more than 25% of its wall area as brickwork)

The heating to be placed in the conservatory must be controllable within the conservatory and have separate temperature and on/off controls.

If any of these requirements are not met then a Building Regulations Application will be required.

Note: FENSA.

FENSA is a self assessing scheme for building regulations in regard to windows and doors being installed into a property. IT DOES NOT COVER CONSERVATORIES IN ANY WAY and should not be portrayed as covering building regulations for a conservatory or for the standard or quality of work and or materials used in a conservatory or windows/doors being installed into a house.