Construction

The elements in a building are roughly divided into two parts

the envelope of the building like walls floors, doors etc. the services such as wiring and drainage.

Thinking of a house as a number of elements is the traditional way of organising the construction process and works well around the various trades involved. However [...]

Structural engineer

There are few house designs which will not require the input of a structural engineer at some point. Although span tables are available for structural timbers such as floor, ceiling[for the purposes of part B of the Approved Documents] – A part of a building which encloses and is exposed overhead in a room, protected [...]

Design it yourself

Have fun designing your house.

There are several worthwhile advantages if you do your own design work (or at least part of it) -

it may be the only way to get what you want. you achieve a kind of creative act that you can do in very few realms of your life. you [...]

Part L and SAP (England)

The Building Regulations, part L, is the section which covers energy conservation for new buildings (with part L1A covering new buildings and part L1B covering existing ones)

At present there is a period of transition which is well explained in an NHBCThe National House-Building Council describes itself as being “the leading warranty and insurance provider [...]

Architectural technologists

These are the people who know the nuts and bolts of building. They may work for architects or they may be in a separate business, sometimes linked with a building company. If you go to them with a design you have carefully worked out they can usually knock it into shape ready for [...]

Green Design

October 2011

Background

If you are thinking of building a green building then it pays to be aware of where this whole process is going

Eco-house design is a fairly recent development which started getting off the ground in the UK during the mid 1990s.

more +/-»

Although you will probably end up using [...]