Building a Raised balcony Deck with Ground level decking below - Dorking, Surrey - Planning permission and Building Controls Regulations.

Interesting decking project that required Planning permission AND building regulations control.

There are many different interpretations with different local authorities as to what type of deck requires planning permission. Aspect taken into consideration include, the height of the deck, the volume of the deck structure and the rights to privacy to neighbouring properties. Some local authorities have a very relaxed - modern - attitude to deck structures. Others do not!

The main consideration for this particular deck, was that - together with other recent building works - it exceeded the 'volume' allowance for 'extensions'. The 'other' recent works included a car port - built several years ago!

All stages of the high level deck were inspected more or less daily by the Building Controls Officers. It was a little of a novelty for them, as not too many decks in their jurisdiction had incurred their interest. The fact that the deck needed planning consent, meant that it automatically landed on the desk of the building regulations officers.

There were no problems throughout, and it is tr7ue to say that this particular deck was not constructed in any way different to other similar decks built by the same company. If you are building a raised deck, then it has to be serious work with safety in particular at the forefront of minds at all times.

The main 'interest' by the building regulations officers, was that of safe access and egress from the upper floor of the house. This involved ensuring that the structure was solid enough, and conformed with regulations about height of balustrade railings, the gap between all fittings of the balustrade, and the angle of the staircase together with height and tread of the individual stairs.

As I understand it, if the raised deck had simply been a free standing deck - not abutting the house nor giving access to or egress from the house, then the Building Controls Department would have no interest - CHECK!

The Building Regulations for Deck Staircase.

For interest - please check these before you start any project, as regulations might have changed.

Balustrade Railings...
- Height of Hand rail to be 1100mm above the surface of the deck. Top of hand rail to deck surface.
- Distance between spindles. There is to be no gap at any point wider than 100mm. That is to say that a 100mm sphere cannot be passed through at any point.
- Likewise with the bottom rail, the 100mm rule applies. So the bottom rail needs to be no more than 100mm above the floor of the deck.
The Staircase....
- The 'pitch' of the staircase to be no more than 42deg from horizontal. This was barely met on this project, for there was not a lot of room at the bottom of the staircase for access to the lower deck.
- The balustrades to be no less than 900mm from the top edge of any step.
- The treads of the steps to be 200mm horizontal tread from 'nosing' of tread to nosing of next tread.
- Height of tread to be between 190 and 200mm.
Headroom above staircase...
- Not applicable in this case, but there should be minimum of 2000 (2m) clear room between surface of any tread and overhead obstruction.
Misc ....
- Where the stairs reach the house at the top, there should always be a suitable 'landing' in this case the balcony deck. Staircase should not simply abut the house access or egress.
- There is no minimum width of staircases, though it is generally accepted that around 860mm is suitable.

Upon inspecting the staircase, the building regulations officer simply walked up and down the stair, turned to me and smiled. "They are fine than you". I asked how he could be sure without measurement, and he stated that everything in the project had been done correctly, and in any event - he had walked up and down many thousands of staircases in his long career, and could tell by 'feel' if a staircase was just a few mm out or a degree or so at the angle! A professional.

How we got to this stage! - See below

Building regulations were required for this project. The fact that it was to be constructed at first floor level, involved structural and safety issues that had to fall within the scope of the Building regulations as described in the document K2. This document/recommendations, lays down criteria for the height of balustrade hand rails, the gaps between spindles, and also the pitch and general construction of the staircase. There is also a construction issue, in that timbers must conform to various standards normally found in British Standards. Foundation holes also fell within the remit of the Building Inspectors - to ensure adequate support for the structure. There were no building regulations control required for the lower deck.

Planning permission was also required, for the simple reason that the balcony deck exceeded the volume allowance whereby planning permission is waived. (Other extension works had eaten into the 'allowance)

The construction images below, should be sufficient for anyone building this type of deck. If you have to scratch you head about any detail, then get a proper professional to do the work for you.

Staircase Construction

Balustrade details.