HELP! New Extension is 3 cm too long

[Tina106]

Hi

We bought a house in May last year and applied for planning permission for a ground floor extension. Initially we applied for a 5m rear extension but just got approval for 4m from the council.

Anyway the extension work is almost finished , just the kitchen needs to be fitted and patio tiles need to be laid down.

Our next door neighbor (who has some sort of issue with us , constantly complained during the whole build, the builders were too loud , they were making a mess on her driveway, her internet signals were disrupted because of our build ) so on and so forth. Never met anyone like her in all honesty.

Now we have come to know that she has applied for planning permission for a rear extension to her house. And on her application to the council she has given the dimensions of our extension to the council as being 4030 , she has also taken pictures of our house and submitted to the council along with her house pictures. We don't know how its 3 cm too long as when the brickwork was done the builder was very careful about the 4m measurement, the only thing we can think of is that it he might have taken measurement from the old rendered wall instead of scrapping it off first and then measuring from the brickwork.

I was just wondering if this is likely to cause issues for us. Anyone has any experience of something like this.

Many thanks for your help.

If the measurement is 4030 and not 4003, then it’s 30cm not 3cm too long. The council website may have advice as to what they will do in these circumstances.

Op, that’s nearly a foot too long, not 3cm are you sure?

No, it’ll be 3cm - if it was 4030cm that would be a 40m long extension. 4030 must be in mm, so 3cm long.

No, 4030 mm = 4.03 m. We are talking an extra 3 cm.

No idea about your question, but when your neighbour starts her work you will discover that neighbours' building work is deeply annoying and perhaps have more sympathy with her complaints than you've indicated here.

Is it, 4030 cm is 4.3m

That’s defo not right,

4030 cm is 4.3m

4.3 m would be written as 430 cm or 4300 mm.

4030 cm is 40 m and 30 cm. 4030 mm is 4 m and 3 cm.

4030mm =
403cm =
4.03m

Maths people!

Our loft extension ended up a similarly insignificant height higher than it should have been.

That part of job wasn't signed off by council who advised they wouldn't take enforcement action.

We sold and it was covered by indemnity insurance.

It's four thousand and thirty millimetres.
3cm.

@Tina106 have you actually measured it yourself to confirm it is 3cm too big? Your post says that the neighbour's submission says it is, but have you actually verified it yourself?

1 m = 100 cm = 1000 mm

OP according to Google you generally get 100 mm tolerance so you should be grand.

I don't know but your neighbour sounds like mine and I've just put up with her bloody build (sorry started groundwork today and she's being an arse). I guess you'll have to measure it before doing anything else.

Apologies, my maths wrong!
would you be able to ring the council planning and ask what the penalty may be if a neighbour of yours had built something that many cms too long. They may be able to confirm what would happen which may put your mind at rest.

OP there's an allowance for common sense when it comes to measurements like this. It'd be pretty much impossible for regular builders to get it absolutely spot on. Councils allow for that.

I imagine it's been measured from Google Earth - you've not seen them round with a tape measure have you? Not as accurate as you'd imagine.

Thank you for all your comments.

I haven't actually measured it myself , since she has it in her plans , it thought her architect must have measured it. But I will definitely double check this.

Our houses are semidetached , so no separation between her garden and our extension.

Have building control been to sign off the works?

The building control inspector is set to come in 2 weeks , once the kitchen is fitted.

I work for a council. They would not be interested in this.

Building control do not measure extensions and do not consult the planning drawings either. They are interested in the technical plans only and certainly do not get involved in the dimensions for planning.

The planning department will not take issue with an extension 3cm longer than actually approved.

Even if they did, you would just need to submit an application for a minor amendment to the original approval.

Enforcement action seeking to reduce by 3cm would be totally disproportionate and unreasonable.

Thank you for all your comments. It has set my mind at ease, hopefully it wont be a problem.