Garage Conversion Building Regulations
All garages converted to a living space will need building regulations approval and as a national company we take care of the process for you. It is vital that the conversion is given approval as a garage conversion without approval is illegal and the local council can and often do ask that the works be removed and the garage returned to it's original state.
At the Garage Conversion Company we have succeeded in forming a partnership with Bedford Borough Council the local authority of our head office. The partnership is called a "Type Approval" and we are the only garage conversion company to be accredited with this scheme. This scheme means that our designs are acceptable to all Local Authorities in England because the detail of our type of conversion has already been approved by a local council. This can save a considerable amount of time and in most cases provides a seamless way of securing approval by the quickest route possible.
Before starting work our office submits a Full Plans Building Regulation Application to the Bedford Borough Council and then Bedford forward it to the local authority in your region. The design has already been approved and all that is necessary from then on is for your local authority to check that we are building your conversion in accordance with the pre-approved design.
The Building Inspector in your area inspects the work as we progress and when the conversion is complete he sends you a completion certificate.
It is important to keep your completion certificate in a safe place because when you eventually decide to sell your property, the solicitor of the buyer of your house will ask if any building works have been carried out on the property whilst you owned it and if so were those works done in accordance with the Building Regulations. He will require the completion certificate as proof.
Garage Conversion Planning Permission
Although every conversion requires building regulations approval only around 80% of the conversions required planning permission.
This is due to most properties having their 'permitted development rights' intact. Permitted development is a category of works described by the government that can be undertaken without the need for planning permission.
Garage Conversions fall into this category most of the time and it is only if the permitted development rights were removed at the time of building that planning permission would be required.
Once you have signed our contract we will make the requisite enquiries to your local authority to find out if planning permission is required. This enquiry can be verbal or in the form of a written request depending on the council and whilst a verbal enquiry is usually answered within 2-3 days a written enquiry can take as long as 2-3 weeks!
If planning permission is required then we will produce all the necessary drawings and submit your application. There is an additional fee charged for this service and is dependant on the council as to what they charge.
Once the application has been accepted it can take a further 6-8 weeks to go through the process and for a decision to be made.
It is worth noting that we have only had one planning permission application declined and that was because of an error by the local council! The error was corrected, the application re-submitted and permission was granted at the second attempt.
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