[pure_geordie]

Hello People, hope someone can help.

I am going to convert my garage into a HT room, Do you need building regulations just to remove garage door frame, insert founds and build a brick wall up and install a window.
If a registered builder does it you don't need building regs, is that right!!.

Cheers

Make a phone call to your local authority, building control dept and ask to speak to a building control officer for your area. Explain what you want to do and he should give you an answer over the phone.
You dont say if the door is the car entrance or a single personnel door. If it is the latter it will already a foundation underneath anyway. You might be lucky and have a foundation underneath a car entrance door as well.

Forgot to respond to your final question.
If you do need building regs approval, employing a registered builder wont exempt you.

[pure_geordie]

Cheers...ringing is the obvious answer, me a dope ! ...thanks 4 your reply

I will ring
Its the garage Door and there is no founds so will have to dig out.

Cheers

[woody67]

Registered Builder? - with who? There is no such thing as a registered builder in the UK.

You would need to apply for Building Regs approval and this would be to convert the garage to a 'habitable room' - not just for bricking up the doorway. There are many ways to comply with building regs, so make sure you get some good advice, or you could pay more than you should.

You don't need new foundations across the existing doorway. It could be spanned with a lintel at ground level, or what I did was build off the existing threshold concrete and laid expanded metal into some of the wall mortar beds and this in effect formed a self supporting wall with no load to the ground below.

[pure_geordie]

Cheers woody

[mhuk05]

You can always leave the garage door in place and build a stud partition wall on the inside.

[clockworks]

Originally Posted by mhuk05

You can always leave the garage door in place and build a stud partition wall on the inside.

That's what I did at my last house. I left the first 5 feet of the garage as a storage/workshop area. I didn't need planning permission, since the external appearance and footprint wasn't altered. Obviously, the work still has to comply with building regs.

[pure_geordie]

Don't want to go down that route but a good point anyways..

[QUOTE=woody67]Registered Builder? - with who? There is no such thing as a registered builder in the UK.

You would need to apply for Building Regs approval and this would be to convert the garage to a 'habitable room' - not just for bricking up the doorway. There are many ways to comply with building regs, so make sure you get some good advice, or you could pay more than you should

There are actually several schemes that builders can sign up to and become 'registered'. there have even been Government schemes in the past but these have not had a good take up and I am unsure if any are running currently. Popular bodies are the Federation of Master Builders and NHBC.
Personally, and I talk as someone who has worked in the building industry for 25 years I would question the benefits that many of these schemes give to the customer. I would take recommendation over bits of paper and fancy logos every time.

With regard to getting building regs approval to convert the garage to a habitable room I think you are mixing up build regs approval with planning approval. You should in theory request planning permission for the conversion under a 'change of use' application.

All the above said I agree that geordie shouldnt need to put foundations in if he uses a steel beam as a lintol and builds up off the existing slab. But again its wise to check with building control .

[woody67]

A registered builder in this context means one that is a member of various 'quality schemes'. But these are more for consumer protection from cowboy builders, than ensuring compliance with building regulations. Although glazing and electrical contractors can self-certify their work, structural building work requires a formal application for building regs approval.

There is no change of use under planning law, as domestic buildings are in their own 'Use Class' under the TCPO 1987. A change of use means something like domestic to retail or food to commercial office use ie a different category of use.

Under the Building Act (ie building regs) a change of use from a garage/store to a habitalbe room would require certain aspects of heating, ventilation and fire protection/means of escape to be upgraded to suit the different use of the room.