Planning and Regulations

Planning Permission

You will need to check if planning permission for your oak frame building is required, often if you want to construct a new oak building or make a major change to your property you will need planning permissions, but there are some exceptions. We can help with the design if this is the case.

Planning permission for an oak extension is not always necessary, providing certain conditions are met as set out in the Permitted Development Rights. These rules may not apply if your property is, for instance, a listed building, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or Conservation Area. Outbuildings such as oak garages are considered to be within permitted development as long as it is a reasonable size and not higher than 4 metres. Oak Outbuildings should not take up more than half of the land surrounding your property, or be built in front of an existing building line.

We always advise checking with your Local Planning Authority’s regulations before proceeding. The local Authority’s Building and Control Department should also be notified before work commences. We are able to help with this, included in our price are a complete set of plans. These can be used for planning consents as well as Building Regulation Approval and Building Notice, also essential for use by your groundwork’s contractor and other trades such as the electrician and roofing contractor

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Structural Calculations

Structural Calculations are included in the price of all our standard oak buildings which have been supplied to us by a professional structural engineer. We can commission our engineer to produce calculations for all other oak frames at an additional cost.

Buildings that are under 4 metre ridge height and 30 square metres or less which includes our range of oak framed single storey 1 and 2 bay garages do not require structural calculations but we supply these to you anyway as they come in handy for your groundwork contractors.

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Building Regulations

Building Regulations are minimum standards set by the UK government necessary for the design, alteration and construction of oak frame buildings. They are aimed at protecting the health and safety of people living in them as well as meeting minimum standards for energy efficiency and sustainability and ensure that buildings are durable, safe and robust.

Building Regulations cover all areas of construction from the foundations, the structure, damp-proofing, insulation, heating, electrical, fire hazards and means of an escape route and to make sure disabled people are protected to comply with safety standards, to ventilation. Our Engineer’s Structural Calculations confirm details such as the timber sizes, the span, various types of joints that satisfy Building Regulation requirements.

If the building is subject to approval of building regulations, the process is to apply to the Local Authority Building Control Department using our Engineer’s Structural Calculations, at the same time as when planning permission is applied for. Alternatively, apply for a Building Notice after receiving planning permission.

For a quicker response on your behalf, we use a private company employing Approved Inspectors who advise on the regulations, check the plans and notify the local authority of the intended work, they also inspect the work at various points and issue a final certificate.

Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

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