Safety as well as Substance paramount in Loft Conversions

There are a lot of things to consider when planning a loft conversion, but safety should always be at the top of your list. It’s not worth gaining all the benefits of extending your home into the loft if that extra living space could endanger the people using it.

Not everyone has the expertise to identify potential hazards, or find solutions for them, which is why homeowners are legally required to ensure loft conversions comply with building regulations.

Although many loft conversions don’t require planning permission, you must inform the Building Control Service at your Local Authority of your plans. The work will then be inspected at each stage and, if it is satisfactory, the relevant certification will be issued.

The safety topics covered by the building regulations include:

Structural safety

It’s important to consider what physical effect a loft conversion will have on the house as a whole. For example, what additional stresses will be put on the existing load bearing walls and foundations? In most loft conversions, new timber floor joists and / or steel beams will be needed to support the extra weight. Where new openings are made in the roof to accommodate windows or dormers new rafters might have to be added, or the existing ones strengthened, so the structure of the roof is not weakened.

Fire safety

Fire prevention measures, and a protected escape route from the loft conversion, are essential for your safety. The escape route from the loft to a ground floor door must have passive fire protection of at least thirty minutes. This usually involves fitting fire doors, and perhaps fire-resistant partitions, if they are not already installed. The regulations also state that you must have mains powered, interlinked smoke alarms within the stairway – one on each floor.

Electricity and gas safety

Every year in the UK around 43 people are killed and 2900 are seriously injured by electric shock accidents and fires caused by faulty electrical wiring. This is why the building regulations insist that all electrical work in a loft conversion must be carried out by a properly qualified electrician. Similarly, anyone working on gas supplies or appliances must be on the Gas Safe Register.

No matter who does the actual work of converting a loft, the property owner is ultimately responsible for any breaches of the building regulations so choose a contractor with care. If someone offering to convert your loft tells you that you don’t have to worry about the ‘red tape’, you should be very worried – about them!

Look for a reputable company that gives free, no obligation consultations and ask about the safety aspects of loft conversions. A professional loft conversion company will be familiar with all the current building regulations and happy to discuss any specific safety concerns you might have. For added peace of mind, ask about the qualifications and experience of their staff, and if they will undertake to inform and liaise with the Building Control Service on your behalf.

Extend your Bungalow with a Bungalow Loft Conversion

If you love living in your bungalow but changed circumstances mean you really need a larger home, moving is not your only option. How much space is there in your roof? Enough to provide one extra room – or more?

What would you like? Children’s bedrooms and a quiet study area? A welcoming guest suite? A spacious home office? A luxurious master bedroom that will enable you to turn your ground floor bedroom into a dining room or playroom? It’s your bungalow, so the choice is yours!

A loft conversion is often the most practical and cost effective way of increasing the living space in a bungalow, especially in the older types that have steeply pitched roofs providing plenty of headroom. In most cases, planning permission is not required as long as the plans conform to certain conditions. For example, the conversion must not include any structure that is higher than the highest part of the original roof. But as some Local Authorities have different planning rules you should always check this before any work begins.

Careful planning is essential for any successful conversion project, and you should be aware that there are some important differences between converting the loft of a bungalow and that of a two-storey house.

Structural strength
The foundations of a bungalow are not always the same as those of a house and it might not have been built with the load bearing inner walls necessary to safely support the extra weight of a loft conversion. You will need to have a structural survey carried out and take expert advice on how to remedy the problem if any weakness is found.

Position of staircase
In a conventional house, the extra flight of stairs needed to access the loft can usually be fitted into the existing stairwell. In a bungalow, unless you have a large entrance hall, the staircase will have to rise from one of the ground floor rooms, making that room a little smaller. Depending on the layout of your bungalow, there could be several suitable places for the stairs so it’s advisable to look carefully at all the possibilities before making the final decision. If you are using a specialist loft conversion company their designers might well come up with some clever space saving ideas.

Fire regulations
Fire safety must be considered in any home, but a bungalow loft conversion is not subject to the same strict fire regulations that apply to house loft conversions. There is no need to install expensive fire doors for example.

If you’re not sure if your bungalow loft is suitable for conversion, or exactly how much extra floor space it might give you, ask the advice of a specialist loft conversion company that is happy to give you a free consultation and a detailed, no obligation quotation. Once you’ve investigated all the options, weighed up the pros and cons, and done your sums, the benefits will be obvious. If you loved your bungalow before, just imagine how you’ll feel about your new, bigger one!

Marc Loppas owns Bespoke Lofts Ltd; an Essex based, family run company with over 20 years experience offering all types of expert quality loft conversions, house extensions and garage conversions. For more information call 0800 783 9456 or visit: http://www.bespokelofts.co.uk/