Garage improvement project

[Marcin Kaluza]

Hi All,
I am in a bit of a pickle and would appreciate some advice. I have an "attached" double garage which I would like to make more habitable as I tend to spend a lot of time tinkering with motorcycles. I intend to tile the floor, install some insulated plasterboard to external walls, add a plasterboard ceiling and insulate resulting loft space as well as add some light fixtures and power sockets (to be done by qualified electrician).
To be on the right side of the law I contacted local building control and they classified my project as "conversion" which requires building regs approval. If I understand it correctly, this would mean that I would need to achieve certain U-values which would make the whole thing prohibitively expensive and borderline impossible (imagine insulating existing garage floor while keeping existing level).
So the question is: is someone here misinterpreting the law and what could I do (or exclude) from this project to avoid involvement of building control? I intend to do a proper work on it but some aspect of the building regs would be simply not practical.

Best regards and TIA

Marcin

 

[DevilDamo]

Another thing you’d potentially struggle with is providing an insulated garage door that met the required u-values. If you had mentioned to Building Control about converting a space to provide habitable accommodation, then that is why they stated a BR application would be required. In terms of the electrics, providing your electrician can self-certify, then another reason why you wouldn’t need to involve Building Control.

At the end of the day, isn’t it just a glorified garage/workshop? If that’s the case, just crack on and insulate the walls and roof to what you see fit as you have no intention of insulating the floor (or door). If/when you come to see, it’d still be deemed as a garage anyway. It’s similar to those who have a shed and wish to insulate the walls and roof. That doesn’t mean it’s a conversion to provide habitable accommodation, but just making a colder space warmer (or sound proofed).

 

[Marcin Kaluza]

At the end of the day, isn’t it just a glorified garage/workshop?

That is exactly what it is. Anyway I managed to get to an agreement with my local building control. The person responding to my query has made an assumption that my "hobby workshop" is habitable space. When I explained the intended use and the fact that the garage will be still used to park my bikes and car, they confirmed that I do not need building regs as long as there is no central heating and the floor level remains 100mm below the level of the remainder of the house/doorway leading to the garage (which is OK in my case). My electrician is fully qualified and does self certs so i should be covered.