Building Regulations

When undertaking a new project the loft conversion building regulations, as you would probably expect, are in-depth and dense. At this point it should be noted that the building regulations are not the same as planning permission and, in some cases, both the building regulations and the planning permission criteria must be complied with. The regulations are the minimum allowed standards of construction and design as laid down by the government and, for loft conversions, they fall into five main categories:

Structural Stability For anything other than light storage solutions you will need to install new ceiling joists and will more than likely have to double them up. That new room in the loft is going to have to carry some serious weight and the loft conversion building regulations quite rightly insist that joists and load-bearing walls are strong enough to support that extra weight. It is very likely that you will also have to install new steel beams to support those new joists. Another facet to structural stability is the roof itself and whether its structure needs to be altered to fit in your new loft design.
Fire Safety It goes without saying that the loft conversion building regulations on this point are very strict and rightly so. The plans for your loft conversion must give plenty of consideration to fire safety and your design will need to include a self closing fire door. Your new loft floors and walls must be able to resist fire for thirty minutes and glazed door panels must be made of fire-resisting glass.
Escape from the loft in the event of fire must be addressed with each new room in the loft having an escape window that is at least 450mm x 450mm. It must be ensured that the escape window can be accessed from outside with a ladder – sounds obvious but not a detail to be overlooked. Mains operated smoke alarms, linked to others in the property, must also be installed.
Ventilation New loft conversions need rapid and background ventilation. Rapid ventilation simply means a window which is equivalent to one twentieth of the floor area. If you are converting your loft to a bathroom then mechanical ventilation is also required which needs to extract 15 litres per second. In addition the new roof void needs to be ventilated to prevent condensation and you may also need to ventilate at the eaves level and ridge. There must also be a minimum air space of 50mm between the roof covering and the insulation though this may not be necessary in older houses with no roofing felt.
StaircasesProbably the most important element, in both an aesthetic and practical sense, of your new loft conversion. Getting the loft stairs and access right will have a massive bearing on the success of your project but the loft conversion building regulations throw up a number of things that you will need to consider when planning your staircase to the loft. Because of the importance of the staircase to your loft conversion there really is no quick way to sum up the relevant loft conversion building regulations.You will need to read the building regulations in quite some depth in order to successfully install the correct staircase for you. The surrounding red tape is in place to quite rightly ensure absolute safety, but as such it is a mine field to navigate through.
Insulation You don’t really need to be told that this is important, and surely why would anyone go to the trouble and expense of converting their loft and then not insulate it? Nevertheless the loft conversion building regulations insist that your loft, including new internal walls, must be fully insulated. This not only encompasses several environmental and energy friendly benefits, but keeps the warmth in and the cold out.