The answer is yes they are.
What is Building Control?
Building Control is the term used to describe the statutory function performed by either your local council or by independent, government approved inspectors. Its purpose is to check if your works are likely to comply with the Building Regulations.
What are the Building Regulations?
The Building Regulations are a set of standards which need to be considered and if required followed whenever a new building is erected or when an existing building is extended or altered. The regulations set the minimum standards that you must follow to meet the government’s requirements for the health, safety, welfare and convenience of people in and around buildings. It also sets standards for the conservation of fuel and power, and for preventing waste of water.
On the whole conservatories are exempt from building regulations as long as it is
- Less than 30 square metres.
- At ground level.
- At least 50% of new walls are of a transparent or translucent material.
- At least 75% of the roof is of a transparent or translucent material.
- It must be separated from the habitable parts of the dwelling by external quality windows / doors.
- Any glazing below 1500mm in height in doors or within 300mm of a door must be toughened / laminated glass or polycarbonate.
- Any glazing below 800mm in height must be toughened / laminated glass or polycarbonate.
- Any heating or cooling systems must have independent controls / thermostat.
As a replacement solid slate or tiled roof means that 75% of the roof no longer has transparent or translucent material, then you do require a Final Certificate under building regulations.
So if you are being advised by a company that you do not need a Final Certificate from an Approved Building Inspector when a polycarbonate or glass roof is replaced with a solid roof then beware as the likelihood is that you will not be able to sell your home.
Conservatories are traditionally lightweight and not generally designed to carry the weight of a solid roof; changing the roofs structure would mean a real possibility of movement or even collapse especially when additional wind and snow loads are added.
There are presently several ways to reroof an existing conservatory on the market. One way is to wrap a new roof over and under the existing roofing system. However, this method is most likely to overstress the existing roof and wall structure and great care is needed. If the roof is an existing polycarbonate roof it is very unlikely this method can be done safely. This method also has the potential to introduce a condensation problem which will inevitably occur if plasterboard is applied to the underside of the existing roof with little or no insulation above it.
With Nu-Look Conservatory Roof Solutions all existing roofs are completely removed and replaced with a new structure of treated lightweight timber beams and all load bearing areas are fully supported with steel brackets.
Due to the process of installation that we follow it allows us to provide Final Certificates on all of the conservatories where we replace the original polycarbonate or glass roof.
We work in partnership with The Local Authority Building Control. Each installation will be checked by your local council Inspectors for structural and thermal compliance during the installation. The Inspectors will visit to ensure the work is installed properly and in compliance with Building Regulations giving you complete confidence in our work.
Remember any company visiting your property to quote for this type of work should be able to reassure you they can provide you with a Final Certificate. This will be needed if you sell your property.