Certified Govt Building Plan - but Room Size Larger, Engineer Signing Necessary?

[scooterboy]

Hi Guys!

We are using a free government building plan that is already certified. Normally, this would be automatically accepted at the local government building office without any problem. I would imagine that the office is very familiar with these free (and quite popular) government plans.

However - we find the room sizes to be somewhat small and would like to make them larger than the actual plans - but still keeping with the same overall house design. Roughly speaking, the house would be about 1m wider and about 1m longer than the original plans (which still adds up to many extra sq.m.)

We've found a builder who can do the build - he didn't comment much on the enlarged rooms, other than to say houses were often built slightly differently than the original (and certified) plans - without the building office being concerned in any way at all - as long as photos were provided of the finished build.

We live up-country, where perhaps rules and regs aren't so strict. Still, we wish to keep things legal and above board.

I've been informed that building plans for houses over 150 sq.m. require an engineer's signature.

My concern is, that now that the "enlarged" house would cover more than 150 sq.m., will it be necessary to either get completely new plans drawn up, or maybe an engineer's signature on the existing plans?

Alternatively, can we just submit the original government plans to the building office and verbally mention that we want to enlarge some rooms?

Some good advice would be appreciated - along with any experiences of local building offices.

Thanks for your time - and cheers

[IMHO]

Extending a room by 1 meter might be trivial, but it also might not - i.e. you might actually want an engineer's review for your own peace of mind..

Do posts have to move to accommodate the larger room size?

Does the change increase the span of any beam to >4M?

Will the extra 1M require an overhanging beam?

Edited June 29, 2014 by IMHO

[scooterboy]

Thanks for your info, IMHO - some room widths are less than 4m, so enlarging to 4m and/or 4.2m.

[Langsuan Man]

Simple. One building plan submitted to the tessa ban for the permit, a revised one to the builder

No one ever checks and there are no inspections during or after the build

[bankruatsteve]

Simple. One building plan submitted to the tessa ban for the permit, a revised one to the builder

No one ever checks and there are no inspections during or after the build

It depends on where you live. I have built where they do inspections and currently where absolutely nothing is required and they don't even know what you're talking about. Suggest a visit to the Ampur to find out your requirement.

[Farma]

We found our local upcountry Tessaban planning office friendly and helpful when we needed a 12 x 8 metre extension on an existing shophouse.

The Tessaban architect drew up the plans and his office gave the building approval all for B4,200.

Luckily the town planner during an inspection noticed a mistake as the builders were marking out the area. There was a restriction the planning dept had missed on how close to the road we could build. The architect redrew the plans to 11 x 8 metres at no cost and the build went ahead.

You may think inspections aren't carried out but they do take notice during the build. The main concern appears to be that the building work doesn't encroach upon restricted areas.

scooterboy from my experience they are helpful and worth a visit just to prevent problems later down the line.

[scooterboy]

Well, we've decided that in the first instance we'll go to the Building Office with the original (smaller) plans and just chat to the person as to whether we need to strictly follow the plans - or whether we can 'change' things slightly without any bother.

We're led to believe that they don't actually care too much about what (or even how) you build, as long as you register the build with them (which apparently a lot of people here don't even bother to do).

Anyway, we're off to the said office today (or tomorrow if it's raining). I'll post the result soon.

Cheers - and thanks for your comments.

[scooterboy]

Just got back from the Building Office. Everything went smoothly and there were no problems.

The wife asked about whether altering the room sizes slightly would mean any further documentation and she was told that she could change things how she wanted without the need for any new documents.The guy she talked to was very helpful, especially after hearing that we live next to some locally "well-known" people. That always bucks things up in Thai society. Too, she was dressed extremely politely, which no doubt furthered her cause.

To accompany the building plans, she needed to have a copy of the tabien barn, chanote and ID card - all of which she had with her.

We weren't aware that 2 copies of the building plans were required by the Building Office, but it would be quite okay to drop off the second set in a day or two. However, if a bank is involved (i.e. loan, mortgage) then a further set is also required.

The wife was told that she could start the build right away - the approved building permission would be available in about a week's time.

So - that's it. Thanks to all for the tips, advice and experiences - all very welcome!