Building Permits

[Sparky123]

Hi Gang

First time here - great board!!

I would like some ballpark advice on what I NEED to tell my local council about when it comes to renovation work.

Back home, (UK) you only need building permits if you do anything that changes the external building line of your property i.e. extend outwards or upwards. You can do whatever you like inside.

I'm renovating a 30's WB and I'm thinking about taking out a couple of internal stud walls - whether or not I do it depends largely on if I need to spend time (and money) having plans drawn etc.

I appreciate that there are probably two answers to this question - what you should do, and what you can get away with. So feel free to PM rather than post. I'll post a summary of replies (no names - promise) if anybody wants me to.

TIA

Take it Easy
Pete

[seriph1]

Hiya Sparky and welcome to the forum! You'll find a wealth of info and opinion here that will really help you enjoy your reno's!

The laws here are similar as the UK I believe in that the owner/builder has a responsibility to inform council (and guarantee) of any works done that affect the structure of the home - that would include removal of structural walls ..... and there's your challenge - you need to establish if the walls are load-bearing. But don't worry. It's a fairly straightforward process. Get a builder/chippie to go up into the roof with you and see where the supports for the roof are - they will know if the walls in question are important to the roof support and be able to advise what to do - trust me: you can't just remove them and hope for the best I did once, a loooooooong time ago and still shudder at what I risked. But that's why youre here-to do it right.

A 30's home will be a lot of fun to work on. Re doing plans .... it never hurts to do a basic plan anyway - it helps you see how moving things around and adding things on can impact the living spaces etc. You should be able to do it yourself in a day or so.

When removing walls, think carefully about how you go about it - I mean: don't remove them all the way to the ceiling and walls if you don’t need to - it is actually possible to gain the full enjoyment of added space without taking out an entire wall - the upshot of this is, you don’t have to repair cornice, ceiling, walls etc. if you leave what’s called a bulkhead -it doesn’t have to be more than 30-50cms deep but it can make a big difference to cost. It also looks very good if done right, as it serves two purposes - opening a space up while allowing the two areas to "feel" separate if needed.

have fun and if I can help with further info, let me know - also if you would like to see one extensive project done on a home similar in vintage to yours, go to my very bad website and have a peek - www.geocities.com/seriph1

cheers