attic - certificate of compliance

dingdong22

Hi

I did an attic conversion , 2 years ago,
all regulation staircase, fire escape window, fire alarm, but did not use RSJ - steel beams.

We used wood instead of steal , the floor is good.

My question is can i certificate of compliance now that work is done?

or any advice

gsxr1

dingdong22 wrote: »

Hi

I did an attic conversion , 2 years ago,
all regulation staircase, fire escape window, fire alarm, but did not use RSJ - steel beams.

We used wood instead of steal , the floor is good.

My question is can i certificate of compliance now that work is done?

or any advice

I did attic conversions years ago for a builder. We used 4X12 as the purlin and hung the new floor of it.
And engineer signed the design off over 15 times with us. Non habitual space though, even though it was being used as a spare room.

the lads on the construction and planning forum here will know all the ins and outs of it.

Yes to Lisbon a

dingdong22 wrote: »

Hi

I did an attic conversion , 2 years ago,
all regulation staircase, fire escape window, fire alarm, but did not use RSJ - steel beams.

We used wood instead of steal , the floor is good.

My question is can i certificate of compliance now that work is done?

or any advice

I am a structural engineer and have had experience with this type of situation.
For an attic conversion you should get a certificate of compliance from an engineer which covers the building regulations, planning and structure. An architect can certify the first two but not the structure. The majority of people get an architect to certify the first two but forget the last. They get away with it most times as when they sell their house most people don't ask for any certs much less a structural one. I have often wondered could a person sue their architect for not telling them they required an engineers cert.

The structure can be checked after construction, but its more difficult and some opening up works may be required. I have had many experiences where I have been asked to certify attic conversions after they were built and it is a very difficult situation to be in and I don't like it. The reason is that in most cases they are dangerous conversions and you are simply the bringer of really bad news. In one case the seller of a house asked me and I found it wasn't safe structurally and major expensive changes had to be made. This was all the more painful as he didn't convert the attic himself, the previous owner had, but he didn't ask for the structural engineers cert prior to purchase.

In the case above he didn't use RSJ's either and the only reason the attic didn't collapse was because the first floor timber stud walls were propping the attic floor/roof. They weren't designed for this and were beginning to show signs of stress. Also any changes to these walls or fire in the building would have caused a sudden collapse.

Converting an attic is quite complicated and should be designed by an engineer prior to commencing work and then inspected and signed off by an engineer afterwards. A good attic conversion company usually has an engineer on board and the problem attics I have looked at were usually done by the cheapest builder around who had less experience of conversions.

RKQ

Yes to Lisbon a wrote: »

Converting an attic is quite complicated and should be designed by an engineer prior to commencing work and then inspected and signed off by an engineer afterwards. A good attic conversion company usually has an engineer on board and the problem attics I have looked at were usually done by the cheapest builder around who had less experience of conversions.

100% agree, especially with "Converting an attic is quite complicated and should be designed by an engineer prior to commencing work."