frequently asked questions
planning permission
There are circumstances under which it will be necessary to obtain planning permission but, in the majority of cases, our standard units will not require planning permission because the height of the flat roof designs is below 3000mm and that of the pitched roof designs, below 4000mm.
In addition to living in a conservation area, National Park, Area of Oustanding Natural beauty or if your house is listed, the common reasons for requiring planning permission are where the structure:
- would be nearer to a highway than the original house or less than 20 metres from a highway
- would take up more than 50% of the land surrounding your house
- is to be used for purposes other than domestic eg: running a business
changes to planning requirements
From October 1 2008, the Government introduced new rules which will affect most people contemplating installing any structure in their garden. The detail can be found under the section 'Sheds' on the following link but in summary, the rules prohibit the installation of a building within 2 metres of a boundary unless that structure is less than 2.5 metres high. We can design a structure less than 2500mm high but headroom is reduced to a minimum of 2100mm so the ideal is to find a space at least 2 metres from a boundary.
We strongly recommend you seek advice, possibly starting here:
Planning Portal - Householders Guide
building regulations
These are the standards of construction to which certain structures must be built in the UK. They do not apply to structures built in the garden of your home provided the structure:
- is less than 30 sq metres in floor area and single storey
- does not contain sleeping accommodation
- does not contain a WC.
However, any fixed electrical installation in a building of this type must comply with the electrical safety requirements of Part P of the Building Regulations.
We strongly recommend that you seek advice on whether your structure will have to comply with Building Regulations and the following web site is a good place to start:
Communities and Local Government: Planning, building and the environment
That said, the standards required of insulation, windows and glazed doors are a useful benchmark when considering the purchase of a building of this type. Our belief is that, for a building such as a garden office or room, surrounded by fresh air, it pays to exceed the standards set out in the current Building Regulations for insulation, including windows and doors. For this reason, we offer two specifications:
Penthouse 100 - Meets the thermal insulation requirements of the Building Regulations
Penthouse 150 - Exceeds them
operating costs
The main, if not only, operating cost is the cost of heating the pace. With the high levels of insulation we include plus orientation of windows and doors to collect some heat from the sun, the requirement for heating is much reduced. In broad terms, using electric underfloor heating you will need approx. 100 Watts of power for every square metre of floor area. Assuming you only require heating for 6 months of the year for an average of 4 hours a day, excluding weekends, the costs for a 10 sq metre space look like this:
- 10 sq metres x 0.1kW x 4 hrs x 5 days x 26 weeks x £0.15 kWh-1 =£78 a year
Many of our competitors use electric convection heaters to heat their offices and a 3kW heater is likely to be necessary. So, to heat the same space will cost 3x as much or £234 a year.
¹ Based on electricity cost of £0.15 per kWh.
electrics & wiring
Your Vivid Green building will come fully wired and connected to a local fuse box, all carried out by a qualified electrician. Standard wiring includes electricity, computer and phone cables. Cabling for alarm sensors can also be included and the number and location of sockets varied.
The connection between your electricity supply and the local fuse box in our building is subject to a number of rules and regulations notably:
- cable should be armoured and buried 45mm below the surface
- connections to your fuse box and ours should only be carried out by a qualified electrician
For these reasons, we do not include the cost of this connection in our prices and believe you will be better placed to source a suitably qualified local electrician. The best place to start is the following web site:
foundations
Our buildings require a sound, level surface on which to sit. This need not be concrete foundations but will require 200mm of compacted hardcore laid on the sub-soil and contained so that it will not spread. Usually this groundwork is better contracted locally to our specification but, if you would like us to take on this activity, we will be pleased to provide a quote.
Please contact us by email at mail@vividgreen.co.uk or by phone on 07500 877700 / 01525 715964 or via the website.
