Siting a Shed - Building Regs
 

I want to put a shed in the garden. Just a small one, probably about
6' by 8'. As far as I can make out such a structure would be exempt
from building control under schedule 2 - Exempt building and work. It
would appear to come under class VI - small detached buildings. The
relevant section stating:


CLASS VI

Small detached buildings

1. A detached single story building, having a floor area which does not
exceed 30m2, which contains no sleeping accommodation and is a
building-
(a) no point of which is less than one metre from the boundary of its
curtilage; or
(b) which is constructed substantially of non-combustible material.

2. A detached building designed and intended to shelter people from the
effects of nuclear, chemical or conventional weapons, and not used for
any other purpose, if-
(a) its floor area does not exceed 30m2; and
(b) the excavation for the building is no closer to any exposed part of
another building or structure than a distance equal to the depth of the
excavation plus one metre.

3. A detached building, having a floor area which does not exceed 15m2,
which contains no sleeping accommodation


A 6' x 8' shed would therefore come under subsection 3, being a
detached building with a floor area of less than 15m^2. If it comes
under subsection 3 then there is no restriction on location. Of course
it also matches the description of subsection 1, a detached building
with a floor area of less than 30m^2. If it comes under subsection 1
then it must be at least 1m from a boundary unless it is constructed of
non-combustible material. The person that I spoke to in the local
building control office thought that this was the case but couldn't
say what, if anything, then came under subsection 3. If that is the
case then as far as I can see subsection 3 is irrelevant. The guidance
notes from the ODPM are no more helpful.

Has anyone on this newsgroup come across this before or can anyone shed
[sic] any light on it? I would really prefer to place it near the
boundary, my neighbour has no objection, and would prefer not to have
to go for a metal storage solution.

Many Thanks,

Andrew


Oh, and before anyone asks it is most definitely not intended to
shelter people from the effects of a nuclear attack, just store a
lawnmower and bikes.

Has anyone on this newsgroup come across this before or can anyone shed
[sic] any light on it? I would really prefer to place it near the
boundary, my neighbour has no objection, and would prefer not to have
to go for a metal storage solution.

Yes, you can put a wooden garden shed next to the fence, just like the
approximately 15 million or so similarly located such buildings.

Christian.

Phil L wrote:

wrote:
:: I want to put a shed in the garden. Just a small one, probably
:: about 6' by 8'. As far as I can make out such a structure would be
:: exempt from building control under schedule 2 - Exempt building
:: and work. It would appear to come under class VI - small detached
:: buildings. The relevant section stating:
::
:: CLASS VI
::
:: Small detached buildings
::
:: 1. A detached single story building, having a floor area which
:: does not exceed 30m2, which contains no sleeping accommodation and
:: is a building-
:: (a) no point of which is less than one metre from the boundary of
:: its curtilage; or
:: (b) which is constructed substantially of non-combustible material.
::
If it's a timber shed, then you can put it where you like, if it's a brick
built single skinned shed, then it has to go at least 1 metre from your
boundary fence.

That seems to be exactly the opposite of what section 1 above
states.

However, as has already been said, there are many millions of
wooden sheds sited in such a way.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

Chris J Dixon wrote:
:: Phil L wrote:
::
::: wrote:
::::: I want to put a shed in the garden. Just a small one, probably
::::: about 6' by 8'. As far as I can make out such a structure would
::::: be exempt from building control under schedule 2 - Exempt
::::: building and work. It would appear to come under class VI -
::::: small detached buildings. The relevant section stating:
:::::
::::: CLASS VI
:::::
::::: Small detached buildings
:::::
::::: 1. A detached single story building, having a floor area which
::::: does not exceed 30m2, which contains no sleeping accommodation
::::: and is a building-
::::: (a) no point of which is less than one metre from the boundary
::::: of its curtilage; or
::::: (b) which is constructed substantially of non-combustible
::::: material.
:::::
::: If it's a timber shed, then you can put it where you like, if
::: it's a brick built single skinned shed, then it has to go at
::: least 1 metre from your boundary fence.
:::
:: That seems to be exactly the opposite of what section 1 above
:: states.
::
Section 1 deals with buildings, as do all the other sections! a temporary
structure is not a building, like a marquee, tent or dog kennel, a wooden
shed requires no building regulations, plans or anything else.



--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

In article , "Phil
L" says...
Chris J Dixon wrote:
:: Phil L wrote:
::
::: wrote:
::::: I want to put a shed in the garden. Just a small one, probably
::::: about 6' by 8'. As far as I can make out such a structure would
::::: be exempt from building control under schedule 2 - Exempt
::::: building and work. It would appear to come under class VI -
::::: small detached buildings. The relevant section stating:
:::::
::::: CLASS VI
:::::
::::: Small detached buildings
:::::
::::: 1. A detached single story building, having a floor area which
::::: does not exceed 30m2, which contains no sleeping accommodation
::::: and is a building-
::::: (a) no point of which is less than one metre from the boundary
::::: of its curtilage; or
::::: (b) which is constructed substantially of non-combustible
::::: material.
:::::
::: If it's a timber shed, then you can put it where you like, if
::: it's a brick built single skinned shed, then it has to go at
::: least 1 metre from your boundary fence.
:::
:: That seems to be exactly the opposite of what section 1 above
:: states.
::
Section 1 deals with buildings, as do all the other sections! a temporary
structure is not a building, like a marquee, tent or dog kennel, a wooden
shed requires no building regulations, plans or anything else.

But you said a brick shed would need to be a metre from the boundary.
Section 1(b) says it doesn't (unless you use combustible bricks, of
course).

Janet Baraclough wrote:

This was in Scotland, YMMV. It's only a phone call to find out.

Actually that was where I started before posing here but the woman that
I spoke to seemed to think that section 1 applied to everything and
couldn't explain the reason for section 3. So, disillusioned with the
staff at the building control office I thought I would try here
instead.

Andrew

Class IV discusses exemptions for 'temporary buildings' and that is
defined as any building which is not intended to remain where erected
for more than 28 days. I hope my shed will last al little longer than
that :-)

Andrew

On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 21:45:02 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

::
a wooden
shed requires no building regulations, plans or anything else.

Not according to my local planners and building control department.

If it's big enough to exceed the planning/building control limits then
it needs planning permission/to conform to building regs.

Cheers,

John

On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 20:57:01 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:


If it's a timber shed, then you can put it where you like, if it's a brick
built single skinned shed, then it has to go at least 1 metre from your
boundary fence.

Nope. If it's a shed of any material smaller than 10 cubic metres in
external volume (i.e. about 6' x 8') then (barring weird covenants)
you can put it where you like as long as it's not closer to the road
than your house

If it's higher than 4 metres (with a pitched roof or 3 metres without)
or covers more than 50% of the garden (in conjunction with all other
sheds etc.) or is bigger than 10 cubic metres and is within 5 metres
of the house the you need planning permission (see here :
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uks...4.htm#IDARND3D Class
E) and, as stated higher up the thread if it's really big (greater
than 15 square metres floor area) building regs kick in.

Building regulations don't cover temporary structures like sheds,
greenhouses or wendy houses, this is why they are called *building* regs,
anything else can be taken down and shifted.

Nice theory but wrong. Building regs and planning regs do cover sheds
and wendy houses over certain limits (which most sheds and wendy
houses don't exceed)

Cheers,

John

On 3 Jun 2005 02:15:24 -0700, wrote:

Janet Baraclough wrote:

This was in Scotland, YMMV. It's only a phone call to find out.

Actually that was where I started before posing here but the woman that
I spoke to seemed to think that section 1 applied to everything and
couldn't explain the reason for section 3. So, disillusioned with the
staff at the building control office I thought I would try here
instead.


I don't see the confusion here (Perhaps I'm confused !)

A wooden shed 10m2 in floor area built next to the boundary would be
exempt from building control due to sub-section 3. If sub-section 3
did not exist it would not be exempt therefore sub-section 3 does have
a reason for being there.

What am I missing ?

Cheers,

John (confused?)

"John Anderton" wrote in message
...

Nope. If it's a shed of any material smaller than 10 cubic metres in
external volume (i.e. about 6' x 8') then (barring weird covenants ...

or living in a conservation area or National park ...

you can put it where you like as long as it's not closer to the road
than your house

On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 20:40:53 +0100, "Mike" wrote:


"John Anderton" wrote in message
.. .

Nope. If it's a shed of any material smaller than 10 cubic metres in
external volume (i.e. about 6' x 8') then (barring weird covenants ...

or living in a conservation area or National park ...

you can put it where you like as long as it's not closer to the road
than your house

I don't know about National parks but certainly in the conservation
area I live in anything under 10 cubic metres is still OK,

Cheers,

John

Christian McArdle wrote:
Of course it also matches the description of subsection 1, a
detached building with a floor area of less than 30m^2.

P.S. There's no "of course" about it. The proposed building is not described
under subsection 1, as subsection 1 defines a building of less than 30m2
that is either far from the boundary or non-combustible. As it is
combustible and within 1m of the boundary, it fails to meet the description
and subsection 1 is not applicable.

There is some confusion about all this. Particularly about the
relationship between planning permission and building regulations. The
crossover seems to vary between councils. Pop along to
http://www.grantham-online.co.uk/planning/need.asp and click on
"Buildings or Enclosures". That suggests you can cover half the
garden in sheds if you want. There is no mention of the 1m rule.

But then if you telephone the planners (not the building inspectors) at
the same council, you get a different answer. AFAIK around here /any/
combustible building, temporary or otherwise, has to be at least a
metre from the boundary. But you don't get that in writing, oh dear me
no.

On 4 Jun 2005 09:31:00 -0700, wrote:

There is some confusion about all this. Particularly about the
relationship between planning permission and building regulations. The
crossover seems to vary between councils. Pop along to
http://www.grantham-online.co.uk/planning/need.asp and click on
"Buildings or Enclosures". That suggests you can cover half the
garden in sheds if you want. There is no mention of the 1m rule.

But then if you telephone the planners (not the building inspectors) at
the same council, you get a different answer. AFAIK around here /any/
combustible building, temporary or otherwise, has to be at least a
metre from the boundary. But you don't get that in writing, oh dear me
no.

It sounds suspiciously like your planners have difficulty reading
legal documents. It's not uncommon, I've met at least one who didn't
seem able to comprehend a simple sentence in an HMSO document. OTOH
I've also met several very knowledgable and helpful planners, you win
some, you lose some,

Cheers,

John