If you’re considering improving your home with a conservatory, double glazing, extension etc obviously the price you pay will be a key consideration, particularly given the current economic climate.

However, according to recent research by Lloyds TSB there has been a 16% increase in the number of ‘botch’ jobs by rogue traders in the last 12 months - possibly as a result of people being more price sensitive; and therefore going for the cheapest quote.

It seems however, that many homeowners are being penny wise, but pound foolish, and they are now having to foot the bill to correct the work undertaken by unscrupulous tradesmen.

Lloyds TSB’s research suggests that on average it costs an additional £1,250 in remedial works to repair a poorly installed conservatory - a sobering thought indeed. Particularly when you consider that these homeowners were looking to save a few hundred pounds - but actually end up spending far more.

Sadly nearly a third of victims admitted that they failed to check up  on workers’ qualifications, or even seek references from previous customers.

Top Tips to Avoid the ‘Cowboys’

If you’re looking to undertake home improvements - be it having double glazing or a conservatory fitted, or getting your home extended avoid the ‘cowboys’ and check out our top tips:

1. Don’t assume that anyone who can afford to advertise will be OK - adverts in local directories / newspapers etc aren’t particularly expensive, and these publications offer you no guarantees about the businesses who advertise in them. If you’re looking for double glazing or conservatories then check that your chosen supplier is FENSA registered.

2. Get at least three quotes so you can compare prices.

3. When getting quotes make sure you’re comparing like for like so you can be sure that the cheaper quote isn’t down to lower quality materials being used.

4. Do some background checks - e.g. check that they are registered with FENSA, check how long they’ve been in business, look around online for adverse reviews etc.

5. Ask for references - and make sure you follow them up!

6. Any reputable company or individual will offer guarantees for their work. Make sure your chosen supplier does too.

7. Get a written and signed agreement detailing the work which will be undertaken, the cost, how long it will take, when work will commence and how much you have agreed to pay.

8. Agree up front payment terms - e.g. deposit and payment on completion and include dates. Never pay the full amount in advance.

9. Trust your gut. Often your instincts will be correct - if you don’t feel comfortable, then find someone else to do the work for you.

10. If it seems too good to be true - it probably is!

Obviously if you are considering replacing your windows, or getting a new conservatory, we’d love the opportunity to quote. Browse our website to view our range, drop into one of our show centres, call us on 0800 666 444 or book a home visit.

Image credit a.drian

How you decide to furnish your conservatory will ultimately depend on how you plan to use it, however within this article we will provide you with some ideas of how to make best use of your conservatory, and give some handy hints and tips on how to furnish it.

Conservatories as Dining Rooms

Many people elect to use their conservatories as dining rooms - which can be a lovely way of enjoying your garden even when it’s a little too chilly to actually eat outside. Alternatively in the Summer months you might elect to eat outside, and then move into the conservatory for post dinner drinks as the temperature drops.

If you’re planning to use your conservatory as a dining room there are a vast number of options open to you - many people elect to furnish their conservatories with furniture which can be easily moved outside when it’s warm enough, but looks equally at home inside.

Traditionally people have used rattan, cane and wicker furniture in conservatories, but there’s absolutely no need to be tied to these materials - you can create a lovely modern look with glass and chrome, or a more traditional cosy look with wooden furniture.

Conservatories as Offices

Some people elect to use their conservatory (or part of their conservatory) as a home office. If you’re considering this there are some fantastic solutions out there which enable you to hide your home office away once you’ve finished working. Make sure you’ve plenty of storage for papers, files and so on; and consider using a laptop rather than a desktop computer; as it’s much easier to store. That way you can use your conservatory in your leisure time - rather than using it purely as a working space.

If you are considering working in your conservatory, bear in mind that at certain times of day the bright sunlight may make it difficult to see your computer screen. As such it might be worth investing in some quality blinds. SEHBAC have a fantastic range of blinds so there’s bound to be something to suit you.

Conservatories as Living Rooms & Play Rooms

Many people elect to use their conservatories as additional living rooms and/or play rooms for adults and kids alike! Here the possibilities are endless - a conservatory can be a great place for that pool table you’ve always wanted!

Likewise a conservatory can make a fantastic living room - think comfortable sofas, arm chairs, bean bags - and a glass of wine with friends. Again it’s a lovely way of feeling like you’re outdoors even when the Great British Summer conspires against you!

Conservatories for Hobbies

If you like to paint, or are into arts and crafts a conservatory can be a great place to indulge your pastimes. The light will be fantastic for any kind of artwork, and again you’ve the benefit of feeling like you’re out doors.

Similarly, if you’re a keen gardener you can use your conservatory to grow plants which couldn’t normally be grown here.

Multi-Purpose Conservatories

Want to do a bit of everything? No problem. there are some fantastic furniture solutions out there. Choose a folding table, or choose a table which you can extend with additional leaves - that way, when you’re not entertaining in your conservatory you’re not stuck trying to manoeuvre around a large dining table.

Similarly, clever office furniture can allow you to hide away your workspace so you can use your conservatory for fun too!

Here at SEHBAC we’re committed to ensuring that you get the very best out of your conservatory. Our advice is always to plan ahead - so if you’re thinking about having a conservatory built, think carefully about how you are going to use the space. Our staff will be happy to talk through the options in order to come up with the best solution for you.

Why not call us on 0800 666 444, or book a home visit.

SEHBAC launch a brand new TV advertisement for Spring/Summer 2009, to promote their range of conservatories and double glazing products. You can view the advert below.

Gary Emmerson from SEHBAC says “In the current climate, with many electing to ‘improve not move’ - a new conservatory is an ideal solution, providing additional flexible living space. You can use your conservatory as a living room, a dining space, a play room for the kids - the possibilities are endless.”

The adverts are running throughout March, April and May in various primetime slots on ITV1 in the Anglia South region.

Here at SEHBAC we’ve been building beautiful conservatories for over 38 years. Obviously we’re primarily focussed on the domestic market, but nevertheless you can’t help but be inspired by some of the truly amazing conservatories out there.

Whilst you might not neccessarily have the space (or indeed the budget!) for a conservatory on this sort of scale, it’s fun to dream, isn’t it?

So without further ado, we present our top ten amazing conservatories:

1. Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

Garfield Conservatory - Great Fern Room

Image credit Senor Codo 

The Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago is over 100 years old. Built over 2 years between 1906 and 1907 it was designed by Jens Jensen in collaboration with architects Schmidt, Garden and Martin. The conservatory is a staggering 18,000 square metres in size and houses a huge variety of permanent plant exhibits.

2. Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco

Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers

Image credit David Paul Ohmer

Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory of Flowers is constructed of wood and glass. Built in 1878 it is the oldest municipal wooden conservatory in the USA. It houses a collection of exotic plants including a collection of around 700 varieties of orchids, plus collections of aquatic plants and carnivorous plants.

3. Bloedel Floral Conservatory, Vancouver

Bloedel Floral Conservatory

Image credit sillygwailo

Located in Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver the Bloedel Conservatory, was opened to the public in 1969. The impressive structure is 140 feet in diameter and 70 feet tall. The dome is built from 1,490 acrylic glass ’bubbles’ which are illuminated at night. In addition to housing over 500 species of plants - the conservatory also acts as a home to over 100 birds of various species.

4. Muttart Conservatory, Edmonton

Muttart Conservatory

Image credit sany0050

Located in Edmonton, Canada these four glass pyramids house plants from arid, tropical and temperate climates, whilst the fourth pyramid’s theme changes throughout the year. Designed by architect Pete Hemmingway, these very unusual conservatories were constructed thanks to a donation from the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation, the Province of Alberta and the City of Edmonton.

5. The Eden Project

The Eden Project

Image credit youMayCallMeSheep

The Eden Project in Cornwall comprises of a number of domes - each of which emulates a natural biome. The domes are contructed from a series of hexagons and pentagons made from tough plastic. Conceived by Tim Smit and designed by Nicholas Grimshaw; the project took 2 and a half years to build.

6. Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

Image credit tboard

First opened in 1915, the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory forms part of the Como Park Zoo in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It houses a bonsai gallery, a butterfly garden, and Japanese garden and a magnificent palm dome which is home to more than 150 species of palm in addition to a collection of orchids and bromeliads.

7. Franklin Park Conservatory

Franklin Park Conservatory

Image credit tlarrow

Located in Columbus, Ohio and originally built in 1895, the Franklin Park Conservatory contains more than 400 species of plants.  In 1974, the original glass structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

8. The Great Conservatory, Syon House

The Great Conservatory at Syon House

Image credit stevecadman 

Situated in West London, Syon House belongs to the Duke of Northumberland and now acts as his family’s London residence. The Great Conservatory at Syon House was designed by Charles Fowler in 1828. It was completed in 1830 and was the first conservatory to be built from metal and glass on such a large scale.

 9. The Palm House

The Palm House

Image credit kyz

Situated in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, and built in 1858 by Robert Matheson, the Temperate Palm House is 72 feet high, and remains the tallest in Great Britain to this day. It was built with a parliamentary grant of £6,000; and is effectively an extension of the first glasshouse - the Tropical Palm House, which was built in 1834.

10. The Davies Alpine House, Kew Gardens

The Davies Alpine House

Image credit Jim Linwood

Situated in Kew Gardens, London the Davies Alpine House opened in March 2006. This striking structure allows alpines to be grown in an environment very different to their native habitats, and features automatically operated blinds which prevent the house from overheating which would harm the alpines grown within.

So, what do you think? Is there a glaring omission from our list?
Please let us know in the comments…

New planning regulations came into effect on 1st October.

Our partners at RoofWright Conservatory Design Software (who provide the software which we use to design conservatories for our customers) have written a fantastic summary of the key changes in England.

You can read the full article below, or by visiting their site by clicking here.

New planning regulations came into effect on the 1st of October. This document describes the changes with an emphasis on conservatory planning applications.

This article relates to English Planning Regulations. The Welsh regulations are likely to be similar, but have not yet come into force, and Scottish Regulations are not covered here (however, at the end of this article are links to the relevant Scottish rules).

The new regulations were announced around the 10th of September just three weeks before they became law. From conversations with some of our customers it is obvious that the details and implications of the new regulations are not yet clear. In fact, talking to a local planning officer, they too are still trying to digest the implications having had just a few days notice of the changes.

The transition to the new laws is bound to raise many questions. Not least, the fact that any new installation started October 1st or later comes under the new rules. Any orders you may have had established did not need planning under the old rules may need reviewing quickly!

The government has been considering the changes to the planning regulations for some time but the speed with which they were brought into force has caught many people by surprise (not least the planning authorities themselves!). If you are unsure of the details read on for a recap of the major aspects of the new rules.

Please note that building regulations can still apply to conservatories see below for more details. Another very interesting point is that any decking or raised platform that needs planning will also almost certainly need building regulations approval.

Disclaimer

We cannot guarantee that what we say here is totally correct or the final word on planning - the full document describing the new law is complex. Planning officers themselves are not totally up to speed yet, so where you are in any doubt whatsoever, ask your local planning office for advice. This document refers only to the regulations in England - if you are based elsewhere, please consult with the relevant authorities. We can accept no responsibility for any errors in this document.

The new rules replace the old

Planning permission is required in various circumstances where a project is said not to come under “permitted development” rights. Essentially the new rules say what is / is not allowed under permitted development. The first point to clarify is that the new rules totally and completely replace the old ones. You cannot argue that because a project would have been permitted under the old rules that it should necessarily be permitted under the new ones. Secondly, the new rules remove any distinction between a conservatory and any other type of extension in regard of planning - the rules are the same for either.

To come under the old rules, building must have started before 1st October 2008.

What has gone from the old rules?

Two primary aspects of the old rules have been removed:

1. There is no longer any reference to maximum volumes for a conservatory.

2. There is no longer any reference to the need for a percentage of clear material used in the construction to qualify as a conservatory.

What is likely to affect conservatory installations?

A summary of the new rules is available on the planning portal. To help we have split the list of rules listed into those most likely to affect the conservatory industry and those less likely. Remember that the rules are now no different for conservatories than any other extension so where the text reads “extension” it applies equally to conservatories. Note that all sizes are relative to the “original house” - see the notes below.

First, the primary rules likely to affect conservatories are:

1. No extension forward of the principal elevation or side elevation fronting a highway.

2. Maximum depth of a single-storey rear extension of three metres for an attached house and four metres for a detached house.

3. Side extensions to be single storey with maximum height of four metres and width no more than half that of the original house.

4. Maximum eaves height of an extension within two metres of the boundary of three metres.

5. No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.

6. On designated land no permitted development for rear extensions of more than one storey; no cladding of the exterior; no side extensions.

7. No more than half the area of land around the “original house” would be covered by additions or other buildings.

8. Maximum height of a single-storey rear extension of four metres.

We did wonder originally if any conservatory built on the side of a house might need obscure glass on the side. This is not the case, it only applies to first floor windows.

Notes

Some of these rules could be interpreted in different ways so to help us understand a little better we asked our local planning office a few questions. Here are a few notes on the above rules that we managed to clarify:

The point numbers below correspond to the rules above.

1 - This means that any conservatory on the front or side of a house that will be closer to a public highway than the original house will need planning permission. A highway is any public right of way including footpaths!

2 - The width of a conservatory running along the back length of a house is not constrained at all unless it projects beyond the house which is constrained by rule 3. A house is only detached if there is no solid structure connecting it to a neighbour. A “link” house is therefore not detached nor would be two houses with a common garage. The rules on what counts as being detached have not changed from the previous ones.

For some conservatory installers who either install most of their jobs on none detached houses or jobs predominantly over four metres in projection a large percentage of their jobs may now need planning permission.

3 - This one seems surprising in that it means that as long as the other rules (4 in particular) are not broken a conservatory could run the whole side of a house at any width up to half the width of the original house. In conjunction with rule 2 this allows for some very big conservatories without planning permission. Taking this literally it would allow two conservatories/extensions on both sides of a house doubling the total length of the front wall of the house but this is probably one point that still needs clarification.

After writing our original document we began to wonder how the four metres, on a detached property, and three metres otherwise would be affected if the property was stepped at the back. It turns out the reason we were not sure is because the rules do not mention this. In an earlier consultation document it was stated that these distances would be applied to give a stepped allowance following the shape of the house but this did not make it into the final document. However, there is a good chance that the consultation document will be followed in the absence of a mention in the actual law.

The datum to where an extension is measured currently looks like being a post code lottery. The rules clearly state that the three / four metres at the rear should be measured from the back wall of the existing property. The new build should fall within three/four metres of this wall. However, with regard to the new build it is not so specific and some planning authorities are taking it to mean to include guttering! The counter argument is that if you measure to the edge of the new guttering you should measure from the edge of the old guttering but no, it clearly says existing WALL. This further reduces your allowance.

What if the walls to the side are stepped? Where do you measure from and what width are you allowed to build to then? The answer is probably that the allowance is stepped as well but we don’t think anyone is too sure. We would advise you to always ask.

4 - At first sight this rule is unlikely to apply to conservatories. However, if the ground is sloping then eaves height must be measured from the lowest point on the ground and hence this rule could apply.

5 - This rule could cause some problems and we believe it needs further clarification. There are separate rules for any raised area like decking etc which seems to mean that any conservatory with steps over 30 cm high therefore needs planning permission. This seems in stark contrast with a conservatory itself that could in some circumstances be many square metres in size. Note also that any area of decking or any other raised area contributes to the total area used referred to in rule 7.

It is now our belief, and at the moment this is not certain, that steps on a conservatory will not be considered to be a platform which comes under a different schedule than a conservatory would. Therefore, they should not trigger a need for planning on the basis of being higher than 300mm. However, any steps facing towards the rear of the garden will contribute towards the three / four metre rule.

6 - Designated land refers to conservation areas etc. Definitions of what constitutes designated land is similar to before.

7 - If the total area covered by a conservatory, decking etc plus any other additions made to the building (the original house when it was built or 1973 if built before) are in total more than half of the area around the “original house” then planning permission will be required.

8 - This rule is only likely to come into effect where a conservatory has a steep roof pitch or on larger conservatories (in which case they would probably have failed at least one other rule anyway).

One of the comments made by a planning officer was that although they are unsure of whether this will affect less or more conservatories, it is likely that you may be asked to produce outline drawings for a “pre-application” check, to allow them to decide whether a full planning application is required. Some authorities undertake this for free, whereas others make a small charge (typically around £30 per job).

Rules less likely to affect conservatories:

We believe the following rules are in most cases less likely to be an issue for a conservatory. There could of course be exceptions so it is always sensible to check these especially if you were looking at a two storey or elevated conservatory.

• No extension to be higher than the highest part of the roof.
• Maximum depth of a rear extension of more than one storey of three metres including ground floor.
• Maximum eaves and ridge height of extension no higher than existing house.
• Roof pitch of extensions higher than one storey to match existing house.

A few other notes

There are a few other areas of law that can and do affect conservatory installations including the following:

• the Party Wall etc Act is still in force
• building regulations have not changed and are still in force.
• there is a new form that should be used to apply to do work on any tree covered by a tree preservation order.

Certficate of Lawfulness

It is worth noting that because the rules at the moment are more complex than before it may be worth asking the local planning office for clarification on whether a particular build falls within PD (Permitted Development) and therefore does not need planning permission. Some planning offices charge for this service.

The bad news is that the High Court recently ruled that a letter from the planning office does not constitute proof that a build fell within PD. This might not be an issue now but when your customers come to sell their house in a number of years someone may ask for proof. The only sure way to get around this issue is to apply for a Certificate of lawfulness from the planning authority. This costs £75 (or £150 if applied for retrospectively) and may well need planning drawings to be submitted with the application. As a certificate of lawfulness does not require a search they should be granted pretty quickly.

Building Regulations

You may now be able to build quite a number of conservatories without planning permission that previously would have needed it. However, building regulations have not changed and the following rules must be followed to remain exempt from them.

So while permitted development rights now allow for the construction of many conservatories without planning permission rules 1 and 2 above may still limit their size and material construction if you want to avoid building regulations. If a conservatory you are building does not meet any of the above four rules then it will have to adhere to building regulations in full.

Resources

A summary can be found on the Planning Portal Web Site at

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315205815.html.

The full document can be found at

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20082362_en.pdf.

More details on building regulation changes can be found at

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315206234.html

Scottish Rules

Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970008_en_1

And Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2006/pdf/asp_20060017_en.pdf

The majority of the 2006 act is not yet in force.

The Scottish government announced last week plans to simplify and speed up their planning process. The document was added to their web site very recently 5th November 2008.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/05100742/1