Door/window replacement with patio doors

[amClueless]

I would be grateful for any advice. I would like to replace a kitchen door and window with french doors (4ft x 7ft) and a lintel. The survey says (i have just bought the house) that the current window and door need a new steel lintel whatever is there is not adequate. My builder says i do not need to involve building regs as we would be improving the current situation. He says a concrete lintel would suffice. Is this right or should i get in building regs before we start. Also do stud walls need building regs for removal. I have uploaded a couple of images for more clarity. Thank you [GALLERY=media, 14652][/GALLERY] [GALLERY=media, 14651][/GALLERY]

 

[mikric]

If you are installing a new lintel it is technically classed as structual and as such requires building regs, also if your new doors are not being fitted by a fensa registered company you need building control to sign them off if you want it done legitimately.
Stud walls generally do not need regs to remove, depends on the layout you are trying to achieve and do not create inner rooms or make situation worse for fire escape etc.

 

[Richard C]

My builder says i do not need to involve building regs as we would be improving the current situation. He says a concrete lintel would suffice. Is this right or should i get in building regs before we start.

If he’s giving you advice like that, I’d think about getting myself another builder, this advice is sound;

If you are installing a new lintel it is technically classed as structual and as such requires building regs, also if your new doors are not being fitted by a FENSA registered company you need building control to sign them off if you want it done legitimately.

You need certification that both the lintel & replacement doors/windows comply with current Building Regs. You will be asked to produce compliance certificates when you eventually come to sell, no paperwork could affect the sale; “it was already like that” is increasingly no longer an option!

 

[^woody^]

The lintel replacement is maintenance, and not controlled work. The fitting of the doors will require a b/regs application though, or a FENSA installer

 

[Richard C]

The lintel replacement is maintenance, and not controlled work.

The guidelines can be woolly to say the least; minor works, repair & maintenance do not generally require BR approval but I would suggest that removal & replacement of a structural support lintel is rather more than minor works; a quick phone call to your LABC will confirm one way or the other.

I would be very interested to hear the answer.

 

[amClueless]

I have contacted building control and they have said that the removal and replacement of the lintel will require building regs approval - so i guess i have heard it straight from the horses mouth!!

Thanks to all of you for your input. You are doing a great job - this site is invaluable for first enquiries and a basis for deeper research

Thanks.

 

[Richard C]

I have contacted building control and they have said that the removal and replacement of the lintel will require building regs approval - so i guess i have heard it straight from the horses mouth!!

Many thanks for taking the trouble to relay that info back.

 

[^woody^]

I have contacted building control and they have said that the removal and replacement of the lintel will require building regs approval -

That's rubbish - the horse wants shooting

Thousands of these lintels are replaced routinely by builders ... and by the Local Authorities themselves in their refurb schemes ..... along with other "structural" joists, beams and roofs etc, and none of these have ever required an application.

Replacement is maintenance. It only may become controlled work if there is alteration or addition

You probably spoke to the janitor

 

[Richard C]

That's rubbish - the horse wants shooting

So go get your gun woody !

Thousands of these lintels are replaced routinely by builders ... and by the Local Authorities themselves in their refurb schemes ..... along with other "structural" joists, beams and roofs etc, and none of these have ever required an application.

That they do it doesn’t make it right; cowboy builders get up to all sorts of things.

Replacement is maintenance. It only may become controlled work if there is alteration or addition

It's all about what's considered minor works & something more significant; replacing a structural lintel is significant IMO &, at the very least, requires consultation. They want to take a look & why not, with so many cowboys around who can blame them; it’s no big deal!

You probably spoke to the janitor

Some are not so good I’d agree but on this occasion I think they are correct; encouraging the OP to disregard sound advice, given by me & his LABC, is hardly gracious

Edit
&, of course, mikric

 

[mikric]

So then Woody are you saying if maintenance then you can do what you want and put anything you like in ?? Why when you replace items would you need fensa, gas safe, napit etc ??
Guess I must be the office "janitor" but I would have given the same answer to this query.

 

[^woody^]

No you can't do what you want.

You should know what is and is not controlled work.

A replacement lintel, just like a replacement brick, a replacement joist and a replacement rafter is maintenance, it is repairing what was there, it is replacing an item with a similar item supporting the same loads

It is only when we get into the realms of altering - of altering loads, of altering components' ability to support and spread loads, or of significant replacement - whole sections of walls, floors, roofs, that the Building Act comes into play.

There are various things explicitly specified in the b/regs which are controlled, but lintels are not one of them. If that's not the case point it out to me.

We don't know the context of the OP's question, or the information he gave to make the person he spoke to give that answer, but he should probably be demoted to plan checking

 

[mikric]

Plan checking is actually one of the most important and skillful parts of being a bco and is usually done by seniors, you would not want a numpty to give an approval decision on an app then find its all wrong..... would you.Or perhaps they ask the janitor to do the fire regs etc for large complicated developments.
For one of my exams I had to do a plan check and consultation for a shopping complex with a hotel,cinema,nightclub,shops,flats and a hotel in it so was a piece off ****

 

[^woody^]

Yes but is plan checking the best part of the job, or would everyone rather be doing something more interesting?

As I recall it, the nubes/assistants/agency guys got this important part of the job

 

[mikric]

yes ideally everyone in the office will do plan checking but will always have a second check by a senior/principal before a decision is issued.Some jobs are far to complicated to let assistants/newbs lose on.Thats how we do it in our area, but your right I personally will try to dodge larger complicated jobs and would much rather be out and about.