Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Building log cabins as extra sleeping accommodation

Recently I believe there was an article on GMTV about moving someone into a log cabin in your garden. Ofcourse this sounds like a great idea but there are some complications. At Cabin Living we focus on providing cabins ideal as an office, or as extra rooms for your family to grow. You could easily have someone round for a sleepover but if it becomes permanent accommodation you enter a different ball game.

If you visit the planning portal it states "ancillary to the main home" meaning an extra you could live without and also states "with no sleeping accommodation". So if you are planning on moving your son or daughter into a log cabin you will need to seek planning permission.

Secondly if you are going to move into your cabin you will need connection to mains services. This is where building control come in. You will need building control approval for all service connections to ensure they conform to current regulations.

Finally as your cabin will be permanent accommodation building control will have an interest in the insulating capacity (part L1 A of building regulations for new build)and proposed heat source for your cabin. This is called the SAP (standard assessment procedure) rating.

The first step is to contact an architect who can take the drawings of your proposed cabin and present them to your local planning department as part of a package covering issues such as fire escape etc.

An architect would also be able to advise of the most appropriate solution for connection to sewerage and other services.

Finally the architect should be capable of liasing with building control to ensure your log cabin meets the necessary SAP rating.

There are cabins available that are designed to meet the SAP rating but they will still need approval form your local council.

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