Man caves and planning permission
Discussion
I’m looking into getting a man cave/outbuilding installed at the end of the garden so have been looking into the planning permission side of this at the same time. I’m looking at building something just smaller than 30m2 and 2.5m high to get around planning permission but then I also saw the clause of requiring to be at least 1m from all fence boundaries or be made of non combustible material. I’m looking at placing the building 0.5m from one of the neighbours fence so my question is what counts as non combustible materials? I mean does it refer to steel sheet cladded or just non wood materials? If anyone has had experience of this or advice that would be very helpful
to begin you need to understand the difference between planning permission and building regulations as you appear to be confusing the two and both may apply.
Building control aren’t concerned with height (that’s planning) but to be exempt from build regulations it must be either less than 15m2 floor area or alternatively less than 30m2 and substantially built from non-combustible materials.
No further definition is given for the above but non-combustible is generally considered to be brick or block.
Building control aren’t concerned with height (that’s planning) but to be exempt from build regulations it must be either less than 15m2 floor area or alternatively less than 30m2 and substantially built from non-combustible materials.
No further definition is given for the above but non-combustible is generally considered to be brick or block.
The non-combustible materials bit, specifically, is Building Regulations rather than Planning, but the other thing to bear in mind in both cases is that these rules don't necessarily mean that you can't do something, just that you need to seek permission for it.
I've done many dozens of timber structures on boundaries, with Building Regulations approval. Worst case is usually that you need Class '0' external surface spread of flame along with 30 minutes fire integrity from both sides (internally and externally) of the structure.
The former usually requires factory treated timber cladding (I've yet to come across a treatment that can be applied on site that is suitable for external use - most leach out over time and need re-application, so won't be accepted by Building Control). Or you can use cementitious cladding like Cedral or Hardieplank.
The latter, depending on the precise design of the structure and how picky the Buidling Control Inspector is, may demand fire-resistant boards on both sides of the timber cladding panels. So, working from the outside in, you'd have factory treated timber cladding, treated battens, exterior quality fire board (eg. 12mm. Magply), timber stud supporting framework, then another layer of fireboard on the inside face (Magply or fireline - this one doesn't necessarily have to be exterior quality).
If you want insulation (which you will in a man-cave) the construction becomes more complicated, with VCL, breather membrane and potentially counterbattening on the cladding.
All of this adds considerably to the cost of course.
I've done many dozens of timber structures on boundaries, with Building Regulations approval. Worst case is usually that you need Class '0' external surface spread of flame along with 30 minutes fire integrity from both sides (internally and externally) of the structure.
The former usually requires factory treated timber cladding (I've yet to come across a treatment that can be applied on site that is suitable for external use - most leach out over time and need re-application, so won't be accepted by Building Control). Or you can use cementitious cladding like Cedral or Hardieplank.
The latter, depending on the precise design of the structure and how picky the Buidling Control Inspector is, may demand fire-resistant boards on both sides of the timber cladding panels. So, working from the outside in, you'd have factory treated timber cladding, treated battens, exterior quality fire board (eg. 12mm. Magply), timber stud supporting framework, then another layer of fireboard on the inside face (Magply or fireline - this one doesn't necessarily have to be exterior quality).
If you want insulation (which you will in a man-cave) the construction becomes more complicated, with VCL, breather membrane and potentially counterbattening on the cladding.
All of this adds considerably to the cost of course.
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