Frequently Asked Questions

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The glazing of any windows, doors and roof lights to an extension should be limited to 25% of the extension floor area (plus and doors/windows being built over)

The 25% rule is set by the government and is aimed at reducing global warming.

You can exceed the 25% rule if you demonstrate the increased glazed area does not increase the energy loss above that of a 25% or less glazed building (notional compliant extension). This can be achieved through compensatory measures such as increasing the insulation elsewhere in your home or even upgrading your boiler to a newer / more efficient model.

There are two ways to do this.

• Employ the services of an energy assessor to provide a whole dwelling calculation (SAP), this may give you greater flexibility.
• Providing an area weighted U Value calculation.

The amount of insulation is dependent upon the particular element (ie roof, wall, floor) and the u-value required.

Click on the LABC u-value guide download which gives you more information Download

There are two ways to insulate a roof see our Warm / Cold Roof Easy Guide for more detailsDownload

The size of rafters or joists will depend on several factors including the span and spacing of the timbers. The following is a guide for the most common sizes.

COMMON TIMBER SIZES FOR A GIVEN SPAN

If timber sizes to be used or the pitch of the roof differs to that indicated then further professional advice should be sort.

There are generally two types of soakaway, either a crate system or rubble filled.  Below is information on how to calculate the size required for each.

A) CRATE SYSTEM

Where ground has good soakage (such as sand/gravel) then the size/volume of a crate type soakaway can be calculated as follows:

Volume = Roof area being drained x (50mm rainfall rate per hr/3000).

For example, a 50m2 roof area would require a crate soakaway of

50m²x(50/3000) = 0.84m³

B ) RUBBLE FILLED

These soakaways are normally filled with clean brick/block/concrete pieces no larger than 150mm.  It can be assumed that the voids left between the rubble equates to about 30%.

To calculate the size/volume of a rubble filled soakaway, the same calculation can be used but the result divided by 0.3.

For example, 50m2 roof area requires a rubble filled soakaway of (50m²x(50/3000))/0.3 = 2.8m³

POSITIONS

All soakaways must be sited at least 5m from any building or road and preferably at least 2.5m from any boundary.

For larger areas to be drained or where ground soakage is not good, a soakage test and more detailed calculations should be carried out and further guidance can be found in Approved Document H and BRE Digest 365

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/442889/BR_PDF_AD_H_2015.pdf

Please refer to our technical guide which can be downloaded by clicking this button  Download