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Laws on digging holes


Chesterfield

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Can anyone help - Im not usually prone to such daft ideas, but I have one which I am investigating, more details only if it proves to be viable. :blush::lol:

 

One piece of information I would like to know is whether there is any legislation on how large a hole can be that is excavated in your own garden and remains well within your own property boundary?

 

Anybody know?

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OK, sounds daft, but seeing the house stew posted gave me an idea on the extra garage I wanted to build. Rather than have the front of the house dominated by garages, I was pondering the posibility of building a double or triple garage under the front garden with vertical hydraulic lifts and having the tops still retain the turf of the lawn, ala Thunderbirds.

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OK, sounds daft, but seeing the house stew posted gave me an idea on the extra garage I wanted to build. Rather than have the front of the house dominated by garages, I was pondering the posibility of building a double or triple garage under the front garden with vertical hydraulic lifts and having the tops still retain the turf of the lawn, ala Thunderbirds.

 

Sounds and looks B)

 

Do it :thumbs:

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Although underground, the 'development' you have have in mind will require planning permssion as it is the the front garden.

 

Now if it were at the side or back, or formed a basement level in the garage.....

 

Its the 'purpose' to which the operation serves that matters. If you simply decided you wanted a landscaped hole in your garden then that could be argued as not requiring planning permission but now you have indicated the purpose you will probably have to think of parking your Ferrari elsewhere I'm afraid.

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regarding how big/deep and how close to a neighbour you can dig, the Party Wall Act 1996 applies (amongst other things such as Planning Law, Building Regulations etc.)

 

See page 26 in the explanatory booklet on this page

 

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/buildingregs/legislation/bccurrentlegislation/bcpartywalletcact

 

 

As a rule of thumb never ever excavate to a depth lower than a line at 45 degrees extending from the underside of any foundations and then only if the ground is stable

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Correct Attak,

 

As a Groundworker, I dig a lot of holes!

 

Basically you have to ensure your not undermining neighbours (or your own foundations)

 

Therefore You usually keep a metre off neighbouring walls, which is roughly the 45 degree thing.

 

What a lot of people dont realise on these kind of projects, is the amount of muck (earth) you'll be shifting, you could be talking about 10-20 20 tonne lorry loads... at £200 a pop, its not cheap.

 

You then have to tank it (waterproof) it, and run electrics etc to it.

 

And above all else, it has to be safe..... Often means trench sheets, or a big box in which to work in, even these can be about £200 a week to hire......

 

So yeah, its feasible, you. will need a big digger, and anything can be done for the right money, but as they say there are £1000's in the ground and £100's above it....

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That sounds ace :thumbs:

 

I have always liked the idea of an underground garage with a turn table... drive in and drive out :lol:

 

 

I hope your not prone to any sort of flooding, you could end up with a 3 car underground swimming pool :scare:

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im loving that idea chris B) the expenisve part would be the mechanism lifting unit!! making it waterproof wouldnt be a problem as we'd just 'tank' it like you do a a cellar and the top section would be waterproofed by the companies unit and that 'should' be fine as its tried and tested!! be interesting to know what money your taking for the unit

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Hi seen these a few years back, some are fitted with a sump with built in water pump so if you get a flood etc the pump automaticaly starts up ,,, the ideas are endless ... dig hole fabricate steel frame (using load tests etc) source 4 hydraulic rams a pump , limit switches etc etc . :yahoo: . could be done on the cheap if you are mechanicaly / fabricated background .... like myself :teeth:

 

Ste .

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