rendering firewalls.........change to the thermal element

Members online

Total: 333 (members: 4, guests: 329)

Share this page

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

puckoon

Member
hi all, I have a building maintenance firm in brighton. I do lots of roofing works and firewalls.
I had cause to have a visit from building control the other day, commencement of works, putting a velux in. when the building control guy was there, he asked me if I was doing any other works on the house. I told him about removing a wall, putting a steel in, and works to all firewalls.
"are you hacking all the render off"
"yes I said"
he then said, "then you will have to submit a form to the office, as you are changing the thermal element, and will need to upgrade"
I have never heard anything like this, neither have any of my building contractor mates.

anyone come across this, I cant find anything online. is he talking out his chad?
I thought I would ask here, before I ask him about it. cheers, alan.
 
puckoon said:
hi all, I have a building maintenance firm in brighton. I do lots of roofing works and firewalls.
I had cause to have a visit from building control the other day, commencement of works, putting a velux in. when the building control guy was there, he asked me if I was doing any other works on the house. I told him about removing a wall, putting a steel in, and works to all firewalls.
"are you hacking all the render off"
"yes I said"
he then said, "then you will have to submit a form to the office, as you are changing the thermal element, and will need to upgrade"
I have never heard anything like this, neither have any of my building contractor mates.

anyone come across this, I cant find anything online. is he talking out his chad?
I thought I would ask here, before I ask him about it. cheers, alan.
Click to expand...
Yes it is true what he said ,50% i think you are ok :RpS_unsure:
 
Welcome along Alan, you've come to the right place. Sure someone will come along with the answer soon :RpS_thumbsup:
 
well I usually take off 50% of top, cut a centre line, and take the side off, and renew the lot. never heard of this. how can you adjust the thermal element then? put celotex on the brickwork, mesh and render?
that would create a step on the top.
if I am removing defective render, with no thermal element, and re-rendering, where is the problem?
 
You will have to put 60mm thermal board on the external walls. It's been a requirement for a long time once you hack original render off on the inside, ask a chartered surveyor, the requirements are always changing.
this is for inside works only I have no info re external
 
Last edited:
If I remember rightly about this the onus is on the property owner not the contractor, but the contractor is obliged to make the owner aware of this 'requirement' The owner then has a choice of whether to upgrade or not. :RpS_thumbup:
 
johniosaif said:
You will have to put 60mm thermal board on the external walls. It's been a requirement for a long time once you hack original render off on the inside, ask a chartered surveyor, the requirements are always changing.
this is for inside works only I have no info re external
Click to expand...
cheers, I understand that. when I do my loft conversions, I install insulated board to the walls, but never heard of anything "outside" ie: thermal board sitting on the lead flashings, and on top of the firewall.
 
puckoon said:
cheers, I understand that. when I do my loft conversions, I install insulated board to the walls, but never heard of anything "outside" ie: thermal board sitting on the lead flashings, and on top of the firewall.
Click to expand...
Same as I am afraid to says, new one on me
 
puckoon said:
ok keith, then how would you apply a thermal element, I don't understand mate.
Click to expand...
try not to get to that mate ,if you know what i mean ,they will be talking full insulation on all wall , to a top heat lose value , very costly
 
There's some info here, but you'll have to do some digging around to see what's necessary in your area :RpS_thumbup:


Planning Portal - External Walls

Read the second paragraph under 'Thermal elements' where it says the works should be 'cost effective'.

Also bear in mind that this may be out of date as the rules change all the time.
 
Last edited:
you will be ask to fit an external wall insulation system to the building.
we had this a few months back a couple in their 80s wanted the render which had blown, removed and rendered. the house was on the main road into the town, a building control officer had stopped , when he saw the render being removed,and told them it needed to have ewi system which they could not afford nor did they want at their time of life.
as our vehicles are not sign writen, the couple moved into their sons house for a week, and it got rendered in sand and cement and decorated and that was that.
 
i take it this means that if you have a house that is brick face work you can not just render it in sand and cement,, or you can no longer hack off f----- render and rerender
 
If more then 50% of the internal render is removed on a renovation ,it can then come into Building control regs ,i came across this 2 years ago
 
keithuk said:
If more then 50% of the internal render is removed on a renovation ,it can then come into Building control regs ,i came across this 2 years ago
Click to expand...
so if you are not touching the inside att all you can still render a brick house etc
 
johniosaif said:
Never heard of it for external though, big costs involved there
Click to expand...
Internal John , i was shocked , i know the building control guys well in my area ,most renovations they are not involved ,but the one i was on they were ,due to an extension and walls being moved , once in they take the whole property under their regs :RpS_scared:
 
Hi guys

Yes what he told you is correct but the easiest way if possible is to have the cavity insulated, I don't know about everybody else's area but here you can have it do free of charge, .
 
This has been in force since April 2008. I think it is when more than 50% of the wall is hacked off? You have to apply for Building Regs Approval.

You have to get the wall to a thermal value. This can be by cavity wall insulation, Ewi or iwi. The onus is on the property owner not the contractor to obtain this legal requirement.

They cannot make you get it up to a thermal value and you can ignore the rule like the old couple did below. But if the Council know you have started a job which has not met the required thermal value it will be held on record. When the property is up for sale and the buyers solicitor does a local authority search it will come up with works that has not yet been signed off. That is when the problems start.

I tell all my customers and in writing so I am covered but most ignore the rules and chance it especially on the solid wall houses. Their choice. On average I get 1 customer a year get caught. The local inspectors know me and I simply tell them that they are chancing it and if the customer is not in they get a letter. That is when the sh!t hits the fan lol. Most customers get over it on solid walls that they intend to iwi the walls eventually.
 
well I spoke to the building inspector, and said I am not going to hack it all off, (top and sides) just cut out enough to put my new lead in, render that section, rendaid the side and top, the re-render.
done loads of these here in brighton, first time I have had a building inspector mention it, but then again, he asked what I was doing, and I told him.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top