The Guild of Master Craftsman represent lots of different professions and it’s not just Loft builders who are members. There main aim is to support and promote the excellence of their tradsmen, their tradesmen include Bricklayers to electricans, Plumbers to plasterers, Thatch roofers through to stone macers. Supporting everyone makes the tradsmen strive for excellence but with monitored stardards to keep the Guilds code of pratice in order.

The guild of master Craftsman represents skill, quality service in all their members professions.

to check out more visit  www.guildmc.com.

The Country’s leading Rooflight company.

The mechanics behind the design make Velux world class from their standard M04 roof window to their amazing roof terraces and cabrio balcony systems.

Every loft (unless over 7m high) has to have a window from the front of the house as a means of escape, the code Velux use is called an GGL-M08.
The first part “GGL“ is the code in which velux know what family of window you are wanting to buy.
The second part “M08” is the size of the window you are looking for. 

To help here is a list of codes from Velux, the second part are the sizes.

M08 780mm x 1400mm (Fire escape) this window has to be top hung and not centre hung as this is the emergency window.

C02 550mm x 780mm This size is perfect for over the staircase. The first dimension given is the width of the window and the second is the length.

C04 550mm x 980mm This window is slightly longer by 20mm and is the same width as the C02 (above)

M04 780mm x 980mm This is the best selling Velux window. A good size and comes either top hung or centre hung.

M06 780mm x 1180mm Slightly longer and a bit more expensive than the M04.

S06 1140mm x 1180mm This is a monster of a window. One of the biggest roof lights Velux manufacture.

For the first part of the code you will have to order the Velux brochure and decide what style and finish you want to choose.  

Check out www.velux.co.uk to discover all the ranges of roof lights and roof terraces available.

You will find that most building companies are members of the Federation of Master Builders.

The FMB is the building industry’s largest trade organisation, representing over 13,000 small and medium size companies in the UK.

The federation promotes standards of excellence, and helps its members to continually improve levels of business performance and customer service. For Builders to join the FMB they need to pay an annual fee and as long as they dont get too many complaints in a year, then there will not risk of losing their membership. I say too many complaints because they will let one or two be forgotten due to an average builder/customer disagreement which can’t really be prevented. This is not perfect for the customer but if that company have ten or more complaints in one year the FMB will investigate and it could jeopardise the builders membership for good.

You can check all the expelled Members out @ www.fmb.org.uk.

“I know of one or two companies who have lost their FMB due to lying to clients saying that they were inculding an FMB Masterbond Warrenty in with their contract price, Filing out the all the paperwork in front of the customer and then throwing it all away without sending it to the Federation.”

An FMB 10 year Masterbond Warrenty is where your builders work is covered by the federation so if there are any structural problems within that period the FMB will cover any costs for materials and labour by dealing with another FMB Member.

All FMB members must have a proven track record and good business standing, aswell as being carefully vetted before they are allowed to join. They are also required to adhere to a strict code of practice which is like a set of guidelines that they have to agree to. The FMB Masterbond Warrenty normally costs around 1.5% of the overall contract between you and your builder. For more information about the FMB Please go to www.fmb.org.uk.

Just check out some of these lofts…..

What do you think???

click on the picture to leave a comment or enlarge

Not bad, Above all its been designed to match the rest of the property with good use of tiles that really blend in well.
The windows could have been better aligned with the ones on the 1st floor, but with out seeing the inside layout its hard to comment on window decision as it might work well for maximum light in the bedroom and shower room. 

click on the picture to leave a comment or enlarge

WELL!!! What can i say… Awful! who ever bulit this loft should be ashamed of their craftmanship and so should the architect. The lead work has left something to be desired and the guttering is one of the worst designs I have ever seen. Even the Velux hasn’t even been fixed into the roof properly. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see all the tiles comming off around the velux. If you do choose a builder with these standards or when the builder asks for his final balance with nothing but satisfaction on his face. GOOD LUCK… Remember….. “If you pay Peanuts, Expect Monkeys!”

click on image to leave a comment or enlarge

GOOD. Both these front Pitched dormers have been designed well and blend in fantastically with the rest of the house. You can see that the roofs of the dormers are matched to the same angle as the front gable window making it all tie in nicely (The front gable is the cream triangle in the bottom left of the picture with a window inside for people who dont know). Very good job indeed. It almost looks like the house was built with the dormers already on the property. 

A certificate of lawfulness is not a legal requirement unlike planning permission, however it is a certificate issued by your local authority saying your proposed loft conversion complys within permitted development rights. You may wish to apply for a certificate even if you do not require planning permission as this may aid the sale of your property.

An application will still need to go to the planning department, the council give an 8 week deadline to process the application. You can go online to your local authorities website and download the application forms, or alternatively you can apply via the Planning portal. You will also need to attach a copy of your drawings in PDF format. If you are applying for the Certificate yourself,your Architect/Loft company should be able to provide you with the PDF drawings, and a payment of £67.50 is required you can send this seperately in a cheque by post, or pay online by credit card.

Once your application has been received, the planning admin department will then subject it to various checks, in order to validate it. Once it has been made valid, the 8 weeks will start, and the application is passed to a case officer.

You can contact the planning department and ask for the application reference number e.g. Ref:2006/5647, and the decision date, and the case officers name and contact details.

The case officer will need to undertake a site visit in order to confirm there are no extensions to the property that have not been declared in the application,or garages or sheds within 5 metres of the property. This is because these will be included within your permitted development allowance. Many people may be more than willing to remove a garage etc in order to achieve a larger loft conversion. If this is the case the council will need to see you have removed it prior to their site visit, or preferably removed before the application is submitted to the council, this is because the case officer may not make you aware of when their site visit may be.

As long as the council are happy everything complies they will issue the Certificate, and send you a copy of this in the post for you to keep for your records, and this will also be saved in the councils planning database.

Please be aware if you are submitting the application yourself, you need to be aware that you cannot raise the ridge height within permitted development, or build on the party walls and different types of properties have different amounts of allowances they can extend until. For example a typical mid terrace has 50 cubic metres to use over the entire property of which 40 cubic metres can be used within their loft. If you have built an extension, you will need to find out the volume and deduct it from your overall allowance. You can also ask your architect to do this, as they would have taken the dimensions when undertaking the survey. Just be aware the size you will achieve in the loft maybe alot less than you had hoped, therefore it may be better to apply for planning permission. You can also search your local authorities planning database in your area and street, and see what else has been granted under planning permission to give you a better idea.

Rear Mansards are normally used in loft conversions when either the customer prefers the look of a Mansard, or the local authority have only allowed permission for Mansards.

The design is similar to a Rear dormer although the rear slope is at a 70 degree angle instead of a 90 degree. Mansards are quite often seen built up with brick sides but this can only be achieved under planning permission.

Due to the degree of the rear slope, Mansards look softer on appearance and less top heavy than that of a dormer construction, however this will also be a cost increase as more time and effort will be required to cut the timbers to the required angle.

Do check with your local authority if they are likely to approve planning permission for a Mansard, alot of authorites do not seem to like the design of a Mansard construction. You can call your local planning department, or search online in their planning database records, or a good way to tell is to have a look in your street or in the area and see what has been built, this should give you a good indication of what you will be allowed.

A Rear Dormer conversion is when the back roof slope is removed, and is built up into a box shape from the rear elevation. Dormers are normally built right off of the back wall and up on both the sides, and finished in tiles or slates depending on the styles and characteristic’s of the surrounding streets and houses.

Dormers are usually built to the full width of the existing property to maximise the usable head height inside the loft space.Sometimes people find dormers unattractive and too top heavy compared to the rest of the house. They can be stepped in from both sides so it looks a bit softer, but the further you step it in the more head height and floor space you lose in your new proposed bedroom.

In some urban cities like London the loft bedroom is so valuable it’s really not worth stepping in the dormer unless this is required by the local authority due to planning permission.

Appearance from the back should still be a high priority, if your chosen company use cheap materials to finish your loft it will age very quickly and may even de-value your property. (You should ask when getting quotes from the loft companies where the materials come from just to be safe) The design is also very important too e.g. where the windows have been placed and the size of the fascia boards.

Make sure the architect that either you or your company are using only design loft conversions. Some may say they do however you may be there first client so ask to see an example or a set of plans prior to giving them the go ahead. Once you’ve seen a previous customer or a set of plans you can make your own mind up deciding weather the designs they have drawn previously will be good enough for your property.

The reason it’s VITAL to use a loft Architect and not a general Architect or “friend of a friend” is because they don’t know everything there is to know about lofts. The design is completely different compared to an extension or conservatory architect. A couple of reasons are, making the stairs work so it feels completely in keeping with the rest of the house is a major part of the design, maximising the bedroom space to its full potential is again very important and the way the room works i.e. where the beds going to go, where you can walk and can you walk around the bed.

A Party wall agreement is a document you need to have signed by your adjoining neighbour/s before starting your Loft Conversion.

When building works (even putting a nail into the wall!!!) are being undertaken, a party wall notice needs to be served on the neighbour along with a copy of the drawings. They will need to sign the document saying they are content for the works to commence. If the neighbour signs the notice saying they are not content you will need to instruct a party wall surveyor.

The neighbour/s will also need a surveyor, this will be at your cost, we recomend using the same surveyor as this will be more cost effective and shorten the time the surveyor takes to draw up the party wall agreement, in order to do this you will need your neighbour/s to agree to use the same surveyor, they do have the right to object and instruct an independant surveyor.

There are ways around using a surveyor, some companies will have employees who can discuss technical questions the neighbours may have, or presenting insurance certifcates and taking photographs of the party wall may be enough comfort for the neighbour to sign the party wall notice, you can ask your chosen Loft company if this is something they are happy to do. It is a good idea to ask your neighbours to sign the document as soon as possible, not only could this delay your job if the neighbour decents, but your neighbours could also be approached by surveyors who search the planning records on the councils websites to look for people who are having work done, they then approach the neighbours inplanting insecurities about the proposed works or the company you have chosen to do the work to the party wall, which you will end up paying for and this could be at an extortionate rate.

You can view the Party Wall Act 1996 for more information by clicking the following link :

Party Wall Act 1996

If you are interested in Loft conversions then you have come to the right place. This blog aims to show you everything you could ever want to know and more about the Loft Conversion industry such as what companies to choose from, quality of materials, how to spot a bullshit builder and many more points and facts about the industry. Please enjoy reading my blogs and i really hope it helps people to have the best loft conversion money can buy.