By Amy Hanlon
Gillies & Mackay Garages, Blackstone Garden Rooms and 3-Tier Sheds fully comply with Building Control regulations. We can build any of these buildings over 30m2.
But there’s an added complication. If you go to your architect and structural engineer first, they will design a Building Control-compliant structure. You then apply for your Building Warrant which will approve their designs. But this doesn’t mean that their specifications will be identical to ours. Building Control regulations ensure that buildings are safe and fit for purpose. But the standards they use are not recipes for buildings. There are many different ways to comply with this legislation.
And when you apply for your Building Warrant, your architect and engineer specify exactly how the structure will be built. Then you have to follow those specifications to the letter. If you don’t, your building won’t be given a completion certificate, and won’t comply with Building Control standards.
When should you involve us in your project?
If you come to us after your architect and structural engineer do their thing, we must comply with their designs. We have to do this even if they are wildly different to our usual Building Control-compliant specifications. And a different specification means that the entire process of creating and installing that building has to change.
We’ve developed our process over many years to accommodate the manpower, resources, expertise and equipment available to us. We’re really good at it. But if you want a completely different building specification, we need a completely different process. This takes large amounts of both time and money and usually drives the project cost out of budget.
This is easily avoidable if you involve us in your project from the start. Our project managers can collaborate with your architect and structural engineer. Together, we can ensure that any warrants comply with Building Control and comply with our manufacturing processes. This will help keep your budget reasonable. You can have Gillies & Mackay buildings over 30m2 as long as you come to us first.
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Do buildings over 30m2 always need Building Control?
Speaking of budget, there’s another simple step you can take to make sure your garden building doesn’t end up costing as much as your house. All you have to do is get clear about what you need the space for.
Maybe you want a 6m x 10m garage. You’re planning on storing a car, restoring a motorbike, housing a workshop and having some storage space left over. A huge garage would give you all the room you need to do all of these things, but the costs involved to make it Building Control-compliant are astronomical.
Enter permitted development, the legal hero that can save the day (and thousands of your hard-earned pounds). Provided you follow these rules, there’s no reason why you can’t have space for all your planned activities…in more than one building.
What are the rules for permitted development?
We have a handy checklist that runs through the rules for permitted development. The main thing to consider here is that all ancillary buildings (like Garages, Garden Rooms or Sheds) must take up less than 50% of your total curtilage. The curtilage is all the land that surrounds the property you own. It includes gardens, pathways, landscaped areas, fields, woodlands – any land that belongs to you according to your title deeds.
The 50% rule applies to the total area of all ancillary buildings. If you build a shed that takes up 50% of your curtilage, you can’t add a second shed and stay within permitted development.
Permitted development also limits the size of ancillary buildings to 30m2 – the size at which Building Control applies. But as long as your curtilage is large enough to accommodate them, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t have more than one 30m2 ancillary building.
Can I have more than one 30m2 building in my garden?
That’s right – why build a 30m2 garage when you can have two, three, or twenty 30m2 garages? As long as none of your buildings exceeds this size, Building Control does not apply. That means no architects, no structural engineers, no warrants, no completion certificates, no inspectors, no application processes. Just beautiful, solid, Building Control-compliant buildings, minus all the hassle and expense of Building Control.
You can house your classic car in one, restore your motorbike in another, create a craft room or workshop in another, have another for storage, another for the kids, another for a Christmas grotto – go wild! You can have the space you need and avoid the considerable expense of Building Control. This option can cut your project costs in half in some cases.
Another way to maximise your space is to add a carport to your Garage. This can create a sheltered seating area, protect a woodpile from the rain or provide parking space. The carport is not counted in the 30m2 limit so you can have a 30m2 Garage plus a carport without any problems.
Do Gillies & Mackay make buildings over 30m2?
Our Garage, Blackstone Garden Room and 3-Tier Shed specifications are all fully compliant with Building Control standards. As long as we can collaborate with your architect during the warrant application process there’s no reason why you can’t have Gillies & Mackay buildings over 30m2.
However, if you want to lower the cost of your project considerably, multiple buildings built under permitted development rules are a great solution as long as you have space within your curtilage.
If you’ve got a really big project in mind, come and see us and we’ll guide you through the entire process. Our Consultations give you the chance to explore your options and get the best for your budget. Our Team are here to help you get this project off the ground, whatever size you’re after.
