Building Control for Icotherm solid roofs

Friday May 27 2022 BY ICOTHERM

With Building Regulations now giving more specific guidelines on what should be happening with new thermal layers (such as a solid roof), it is all the more important that homeowners understand the implications when it comes to having extension work carried out on their property.

As it is the homeowner’s legal responsibility to ensure that any work carried out on their property meets the current regulations. Below are some guidelines on how it works. MFA, Icotherm’s partners for Building Control inspections, explain it as follows:

 Planning permission and Building Regulations

These can often be confusing when considering building a new addition to your property, but it is important that your investment meets with the relevant approval processes.

In many instances you can add an additional extension to your property under permitted development without planning consent, however this will depend on several factors:

• Have you already extended your property?
• Is the addition to be built on the rear, side or front of the property?
• Is your home in an area of outstanding natural beauty?
• Is the property listed as being of importance such as grade 1 or grade 2?
• Your local planning authority will be able to advise you if planning consent is required, and it is best to check before work begins.

Building regulations

These are a separate matter to planning permission and are there to ensure that the alteration or addition meet with safety standards, thermal values and the design has been verified as meeting prevailing legislation. Whilst older type lean-to conservatories were regarded as a greenhouse type structure and exempt from building regulations, modern conservatories with heating elements etc., which are used as an extension from the house do require building regulation approval.

Your home insurance policy requires that extensions to your property meet with building regulations, otherwise they may not be covered by your policy. In addition, should you wish to sell your property in the future you will need to provide your Solicitor with a copy of the building regulations final certificate for the sale to proceed.

The June 2022 revisions to the building regulations mean more emphasis on thermal efficiency and thus any changes to `controlled elements` such as roofs or replacing doors/windows for example, will be subject to building regulation compliance.”

Building Control for Icotherm solid roofs themselves is a straight forward point. All our roofs are building control compliant, so you can ask for it to be installed on your room in the knowledge that it will pass building control certification inspections.