converting attic to office

cluelez

does converting attic to casual office i.e. not a habitable space may have impact on BER?

I plan to use insulation boards between the rafters and wool on the floor then boarded, 70 cm stairs...




Mod edit: Original post reinstated as the content was deliberately changed by cluelez in attempt to avoid compliance with planning and building regs

sydthebeat

cluelez wrote: »

does converting attic to casual office i.e. not a habitable space may have impact on BER?

I plan to use insulation boards between the rafters and wool on the floor then boarded, 70 cm stairs...

first question, why do you think "casual office" isnt habitable space?
If its a room you "live" in then its a habitable room.
You may apply to your local building authority for both a section 5 declaration that the conversation doesnt require permission AND a dispensation from building regulations. This would be a definitive answer.

the general consensus is that a home office space is habitable.

after that, if the area is serviced by a fixed stairs, and has a ceiling in excess of 2.0 m high and is clearly used, then its included in the overall floor area and thus the BER will change.

Please note, DEAP has its own definitions of "habitable" which are different from planing / building regulations.

Attics:
 should be included if they are habitable rooms, accessed by a fixed staircase;
 roof spaces (even if within the insulated envelope, i.e. where the roof insulation is provided at rafter
level) should not be included unless they are habitable rooms accessed by a fixed staircase.


A habitable attic generally meets the following criteria:
 Part of the attic should be at least 2 m in height.
 The room should be “finished”. A finished room typically has finished internal surfaces (walls and
ceiling are papered and/or plastered and flooring rather than having exposed joists and rafters).
 Attic Room has lighting and possibly a window/rooflight.
 Structural timbers not preventing free movement.
 Water cistern not present in the attic room.
In cases where an attic meets most of these criteria and is clearly and effectively employed as a habitable
area by the occupants then it may be considered as habitable for the purposes of DEAP assessments.

Your conversion still has to comply with ALL building regulations, including structure, ventilation, fire, energy conservation etc

cluelez

if I migrate the idea of using the space as an office, how can I make the usage of the space and not make it habitable but still have fixed stairs and roof light in it?

sydthebeat

cluelez wrote: »

if I migrate the idea of using the space as an office, how can I make the usage of the space and not make it habitable but still have fixed stairs and roof light in it?

well as far as DEAP is concerned, its still habitable and it will affect your BER ... so thats your original question answered.

as far as planning goes, non habitable space doesnt require permission.
so if you use it as storage its non habitable.

Its not really the dimiensions that decide whether its habitable or not, but the use of the space. Theres a 'suggested' dimension in the ventilation regulation regulations for what attic habitable space should conform to.

cluelez

sydthebeat wrote: »

well as far as DEAP is concerned, its still habitable and it will affect your BER ... so thats your original question answered.

would there be way around it? Am I scaring myself too much on this topic.
basically, is it difficult to achieve satisfactory BER results when attic is converted?

sydthebeat

cluelez wrote: »

would there be way around it? Am I scaring myself too much on this topic.
basically, is it difficult to achieve satisfactory BER results when attic is converted?

the BER procedure is not something you pass or fail. Theres no need to be scared of it at all.

You may find that your rating will actually increase with this conversion. You can take this opportunity to increase your attic insulation and to properly insulate out the conversion.

and if you retain all technical data regarding the materials you use, photograph everything too, then the assessor can give you the best values for the new construction, and thus your rating may improve from what it currently is.

its a bit of a weird anomaly in DEAP (the software used in the asesment) that the larger your floor area, the less your living space is as a percentage of over all area, and this works to your benefit.

cluelez

sydthebeat wrote: »

the BER procedure is not something you pass or fail. Theres no need to be scared of it at all.

You may find that your rating will actually increase with this conversion. You can take this opportunity to increase your attic insulation and to properly insulate out the conversion.

and if you retain all technical data regarding the materials you use, photograph everything too, then the assessor can give you the best values for the new construction, and thus your rating may improve from what it currently is.

its a bit of a weird anomaly in DEAP (the software used in the asesment) that the larger your floor area, the less your living space is as a percentage of over all area, and this works to your benefit.

thank you, regarding converting the attic, my story is as follows:

The block is timber frame, there is a rumor in the neighborhood that the attics in our area are not meant to be converted due to the load not being acceptable to bear the weight of the room. Regardless many of people living in the area have converted their attics, there seem to be very little info in local coco regarding the planning permission. One retention has been conditional (remove velux windows), I don't know particulars of this application.

My terraced place is located with north facing entrance and south facing rear, I planned to use rear roof to include the roof-lights. I planned to install fixed stairs, however due to lack of space I am limited into the space of the fixed stairs as I would need to steal some space from the bedroom to use it for the stairs.

Someone (neighbor) told me to make 70cm wide stairs to make it comfortable to walk to/from the attic storage space, storage storage with roof-lights.

Another neighbor, person next door to me made 60cm wide stairs, again I presume storage so without fire resistant doors etc (again, I don't care what he did).

My original plan was to (converting but Not as habitable), but still for my own peace of mind:

1) insert the roof-lights according to building regulations as to height (my own initiative)
2) wire the fire alarm system to attic (my own initiative)
2) build stairs (haven't decided on the width as yet), maybe motorized or automated stairs if I can find suitable
3) enclose the stairs to achieve fire-resistance and to minimize sound leaks
4) remove the wool from between the rafters and use it on the floor
5) put osb floors on the attic floor
6) use insulated boards (150mm-200mm between the rafters, leave gap between the insulated boards and waterproof membrane which is on the top of the rafters
7) add the fire-resistant doors at the top of the stairs (I may scrap this idea as it may always be a storage only)

I'm bit worried my another side neighbor may oppose the roof-lights, would they have grounds to oppose these?

should I move above question to new thread?

sydthebeat

You need to engage an architect / technician or engineer to specify up what works you need to do to comply with regulations. You also need someone to certify what youve done is in complaince with regulations.

I cannot advise you from this remove that what your doing is ok, it would be irresponsible of me to do so.

cluelez

sydthebeat wrote: »

You need to engage an architect / technician or engineer to specify up what works you need to do to comply with regulations. You also need someone to certify what youve done is in complaince with regulations.

I cannot advise you from this remove that what your doing is ok, it would be irresponsible of me to do so.

would I still need to engage architect /technician or engineer if I decide to convert the attic to become the storage only with fixed stairs and roof-lights?

I have to admit, cost is the factor and as far as I know county council wouldn't grant planning permission for habitable conversion.

Or am I incorrect about speaking about county council, are attic conversions exemptions from the planning permission requirements?

Is here on boards any technician /architect or engineer who at a small fee could asses the idea and tell me what options do i have?

forgot to mention: velux- type window do the back of property

sydthebeat

cluelez wrote: »

1. would I still need to engage architect /technician or engineer if I decide to convert the attic to become the storage only with fixed stairs and roof-lights?

2. I have to admit, cost is the factor and as far as I know county council wouldn't grant planning permission for habitable conversion.

3. Or am I incorrect about speaking about county council, are attic conversions exemptions from the planning permission requirements?

4. Is here on boards any technician /architect or engineer who at a small fee could asses the idea and tell me what options do i have?

forgot to mention: velux- type window do the back of property

2. my general understanding of councils is that they view non habitable conversions ie storage as exempt. However youd only be fooling yourself if you think you can just call it storage and still be safe using it as an office.

1. you still need to comply with building regulations. see here

3. no, theres a bit or a grey area and there are an bord pleanala decisions which may indicate certain conversions are exempt, but the general consensus is as above.

4. you can post in this thread in the approved manner.

cluelez

can I please ask to modify the thread name to: converting attic to part of dwelling to use to dry the clothes

sydthebeat

Makes no difference to your original question so request denied.

cluelez

thank you for your help so far

muffler

cluelez wrote: »

can I please ask to modify the thread name to: converting attic to part of dwelling to use to dry the clothes

I think you're taking the proverbial at this stage with comments like that. Please have a read at the forum charter especially section 6.1

cluelez

I read, thank you. I may need to talk to specialist first to get advise on what I can or what I can't do.

Poor Uncle Tom

cluelez wrote: »

The block is timber frame.....

Just to clarify, maybe I missed it somewhere, but are you talking about an apartment block?

cluelez

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Just to clarify, maybe I missed it somewhere, but are you talking about an apartment block?

The building contains 4 terraced houses and two end of terrace houses so I call it block of 6 houses. Again my terminology misled the reader.