Existing garage conversion point of concern (fire regulations)
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duckanddufus
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Existing garage conversion point of concern (fire regulations)

by duckanddufus » Tue May 28, 2013 2:23 pm

Good afternoon all,

Thank you for reading this I hope some of you maybe able to put my mind at rest.

We're looking at buying a property which has an existing (1990's) extension above the garage. I'm new to regulations but I was under the impression that the RSJ's should be covered in plasterboard then skimmed to maintain 30mins of fire resistance. There was a leak (from the flat roof gutter) and some of the plaster skim has turned translucent, what is underneath has a grain similar to chipboard!!! The garage roof also has 4inch blanks running the length forming the ceiling, these under the bedroom (and only the bedroom) have been skimmed but again no plasterboard.

There is a door at the far end which the HomeBuyers survey listed as needing replacement, it’s a normal internal door, however the window next to it only has a single sheet non-toughened glass surely this should also have been wired (believe it’s called Georgian)???

The house was rented out and this gave us false hope that although the décor would be in need of some TLC the rest of the property would be of a high (ish) standard with regards to regulations.
Please can someone shed some light on this as I really don’t want to buy a house that is a tinderbox, although the room above the garage would be used for guests and therefore firmly into mother-in-law territory we’d still prefer it safe for when others also stayed :o)

Yours

Richard

welsh brickie
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Re: Existing garage conversion point of concern (fire regulations)

by welsh brickie » Thu May 30, 2013 4:34 pm

ask a structural engineer to give you a report on everything that's worrying you, you can then present this to the owners and get the price reduced, don't go with the usual surveyors report they are not qualified enough for this survey

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