Turning a window into a door – building warrant question

We have a ~2.4m window we’re looking to have turned into a doorway to open up the dining room onto the patio. No new lintels, no structural work just cut down existing brick course and pop in a bifold door.

All fairly straightforward work and understand that building warrant will be required. Company who gave us a quote have offered to do the warrant work for £1k on top of quote for doorway.

As there is no structural calcs needed, is the building warrant a DIY job I could do myself? I would have imagined  a sketch up on CAD / sketchup should be sufficient..?

A grand kept back to spend on decorating would be appreciated.

ta

All fairly straightforward work and understand that building warrant will be required

Who says, and what’s the risk if you don’t bother?

In England you could just go ahead and do it AFAIA.

We’re in Scotland FWIW and as far as I can tell, risk is if and when we come to sell the property not having paperwork in place.

The guy who came out to quote make it quite clear that the council could not and would not oppose and it’s just a tick box exercise for them. This i would rather not have to fork out a grand for what might just be an hours work…

when we come to sell the property not having paperwork in place.

I had this with a couple of things I hadn’t had signed off by building control.

I had to take out a liability insurance policy to cover any possible issues in the future.

It cost less than the sign off would of cost me.

There are many factors!

How old is the house, what is the lintel made of, is the current window supporting the brickwork above!? (my 140 yr old previous house had a window like this!)

I’d want to know my bi-fold doors would work when completed – any lintel droop could lock them shut. 🙂

FWIW – my builder made our rear dining room window into patio doors last year (about half your width). There was no mention of building regs and there was no need for him to hide this either as he was building a small extension at the time which required them and could easily have covered both at the same time. I’m in England.

Another point – if the windows are being professionally installed I’d just let them do it or you could be arguing the toss if there are any issues with the doors further down the line.

And how much paint do you need? A grand is a lot and there will be less wall to paint! 🙂

Also, sometimes buildings insurance might not pay out if you haven’t gone through the correct channels. Something to think about

If I’m reading that correctly, door+doorway +£1k for paperwork?

Will a FENSA (Scotland) installer sort it all for you for less?

Check the current Scottish regs on the gov website or your local authority website. The regs have been relaxed over recent years, there will be a list of what is permitted and what is not.

In England the choice is to use a FENSA registered fitter who will give you a certificate on completion or to use a building inspector (most councils have them and the fees are much much lower than a grand).

We had a window turned into patio doors a couple of years ago. Got a FENSA cert. off the fitters somewhere. To be honest if certification isn’t a standard part of the job steer clear of the cowboys. When you sell a house you will need the certs.

Also try contacting the building control dept at your local council. They are usually fairly helpful.

Scottish and English Building Control are worlds apart.

FWIW £1,000.00 sounds steep for a straight forward cut down with no structural works required.

Id suggest asking around for local Architectural Technicians, smaller the better, to quote.

If you decide to tackle the drawings yourself you’ll need sections through the slip step, jamb and possibly the lintel. Standard details were at one time available on the Scottish Building Standards website. Can’t remember if u-values will come in to it but you will need to detail external steps/plats and show how you’ll maintain subfloor ventilation if you obstruct any existing vents.
The good thing is that you’ll get a ‘faults’ letter detailing any lack of information in your drawings and it’ll reference the standard you need to satisfy. A bit of research will tell you how to meet the standard and it’s just a case of showing/detailing it on your drawing.

best of luck!