Garages And Carports
Garage Construction Belfast
Thirty square metres and one metre from the boundary is the line that decides whether your garage is a simple job or a regulated one. CSW builds on both sides of it, and tells you which one you are on.
The Line That Decides What Your Garage Costs
Almost every garage question we get in Belfast comes down to the same two numbers, and almost nobody knows them before they ring. A single storey detached building is exempt from building control if its floor area does not exceed thirty square metres and it stands at least one metre from a dwelling, a road or a boundary. Miss either condition and the job changes character completely: drawings, an application, inspections and a different budget.
Thirty square metres is roughly six metres by five. That is a comfortable single garage with a bit of workshop, or a tight double. One metre from the boundary sounds generous until you measure a Belfast side garden and discover the fence is 700mm from where you wanted the wall. These are not technicalities, they are the whole shape of the project, and they are worth establishing with a tape measure before anybody quotes.
We build detached garages, attached garages, carports and conversions of existing garages into habitable space. Those are four different jobs with four different answers on consents, and the conversion is the one people most often assume is the simplest when it is in fact the most regulated.
Detached Garages
Block or timber frame, up and over or side hinged doors, pitched or mono pitch roof, power and light run in. The version that stays under the exemption thresholds is by far the most common thing we build.
Attached Garages And Carports
Built off the existing house, tied in so the roof line and brick or render read as original rather than bolted on. A carport open on at least two sides sits in a different category again.
Garage Conversions
Turning an existing garage into a room, office, utility or annexe. Floor build up, insulation, damp proofing, a proper opening into the house and a window where the door was.
Why CSW For A Garage
We Measure Before We Quote
The exemption thresholds are a tape measure job. We check the boundary distance and the footprint on site rather than assuming from a description over the phone.
Foundations Done Properly
A garage carries a car and a roof full of water. Skimped foundations show up as a cracked slab and a door that stops closing straight.
Roof Line That Matches
An attached garage that reads as an afterthought hurts the value of the house. Tying the roof and the finish into the original is most of the skill.
Joinery In House
Doors, frames, lintels and any internal fit out are done by our own joiners rather than bought in and hoped for.
Drives And Aprons Included
The garage is no use without something to drive on. Paving, aprons, drainage and levels are part of the same job.
Straight Answer On Consents
If your garage needs a full building control application we say so at the quote stage rather than discovering it when an officer arrives.
Garages, Exemptions And Where They Stop
Garages are the clearest example on this site of a job where two measurements change everything. The figures below come from Schedule 2 of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 and the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015. They are general guidance, not a ruling on your garage, and your district council is the authority on your specific case.
The Thirty Square Metre Exemption
Class 7(a) of Schedule 2 exempts a small detached building from building control where it is single storey, has a floor area not exceeding thirty square metres, and stands at least one metre from a dwelling, a road or a boundary. That is the clause most ordinary detached garages in Belfast are built under.
There is a second, smaller class. Class 7(c) covers a single storey detached building not exceeding fifteen square metres standing at least one metre from a dwelling. Useful for a workshop or store, not usually big enough to be a garage.
- Both conditions have to be met. Twenty eight square metres sited 800mm from the fence is not exempt.
- Floor area is measured internally and includes any store or workshop partitioned off inside the same building.
- Single storey means single storey. A room in the roof takes the building out of the class entirely.
Attached Garages And Carports Are A Different Class
An extension to a dwelling is dealt with under Class 8, which covers a conservatory, a porch or a carport. A carport is exempt where its floor area does not exceed thirty square metres and it is open on at least two sides. That last condition is the one people fall foul of, because a carport that gets a wall added to keep the weather out has stopped being a carport.
An enclosed attached garage is not a carport. It is an extension to the dwelling, and it is treated as one for building control purposes regardless of what you call it on the drawing.
- Open on at least two sides is a physical test, not a matter of intention.
- A porch under the same class is exempt only up to five square metres, which is much smaller than most people picture.
- Enclosing an existing carport later is work in its own right, and it needs looking at again.
Converting A Garage Into A Room
This is the one that catches people. A garage conversion turns a space that was never built to be lived in into one that is, and it is fully within building control. Floor build up and insulation, damp proofing, insulating the walls, ventilation, and a properly formed opening into the house all have to satisfy the regulations.
Building control in Northern Ireland is administered by your district council under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012, and there is no private approved inspector route here. Whichever district you are in, it is the council's building control service you are dealing with.
- The existing garage slab is usually not at the right level or standard for a habitable floor.
- Losing the parking space can matter in planning terms on some estates, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
- Where you are keeping the garage door opening as a window, the new wall below it needs a proper foundation, not just infill.
Planning, Separately
Exemption from building control is not exemption from planning, and the two are decided against completely different criteria. Permitted development rights for a dwellinghouse come from the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 and are decided by your district council.
If your street sits under an Article 4 direction those rights have been removed and a planning application is needed for work that would normally be permitted. Belfast City Council has made Article 4 directions, Malone Park being a published example.
- A garage forward of the principal elevation is far more likely to need permission than one behind the house.
- Listed buildings and conservation areas need looking at separately before the design is fixed.
- Any new boundary wall built alongside the garage is limited to two metres generally, and one metre where it adjoins a road or footpath.
How We Build A Garage
Base And Slab
A garage lives or dies on its base. We dig out, remove soft material rather than building over it, lay and compact hardcore in layers, and pour a slab thick enough to carry a vehicle without cracking across the middle in three winters.
Falls matter more than people think. A slab laid dead flat holds water at the door threshold and the bottom of the door rots. A slight fall to the opening, and an apron outside taking water away from the building, solves a problem you would otherwise live with permanently.
Walls And Roof
Blockwork with the correct lintels over the door opening, which on a wide garage door is a heavier section than people assume. Where the garage is attached, the finish is matched to the house and the cavity is closed and trayed properly at the junction so damp does not track across.
Roof to suit the setting: a pitched roof where the garage sits next to the house and needs to look like it belongs, a mono pitch where headroom and boundary distance are tight. Gutters and a downpipe going somewhere sensible rather than onto the neighbour's path.
Doors, Power And Light
Up and over, roller or side hinged, in steel or timber. Side hinged timber doors made and hung by our own joiners are still the best looking option on an older Belfast house and the easiest to repair in ten years.
Power and light are worth running at build stage even if you do not think you need them, because chasing them in later means lifting the apron. Northern Ireland has no statutory certification requirement for domestic electrical work, so ask for an installation certificate from a registered electrician rather than assuming one appears.
Conversions, Room By Room
A conversion starts by finding out what the slab actually is and what is under it. From there it is a floor build up with insulation and a damp proof membrane, insulated stud or blockwork to the walls, and the garage door opening closed up with a proper foundation under the new wall.
The opening into the house is a structural job if the wall between them is load bearing, and it is inspected as one. We would rather form that opening properly once than see a homeowner discover at sale that a room was made without approval.
How A Garage Job Runs
Measure The Two Numbers
Footprint and distance to the nearest boundary, road and the house itself. Those two measurements decide which side of the exemption you are on and therefore what the job is.
Agree What You Actually Want
Parking only, parking plus workshop, or a room in disguise. It changes the specification enormously and it is cheaper to decide now than to add a floor build up later.
Consents Where Needed
If the design falls outside Class 7(a) or Class 8, or planning is in play, the applications go in before we order materials rather than while the base is curing.
Base And Drainage
Dig, hardcore, drainage and slab, with falls set so water leaves the building and the apron rather than sitting at the threshold.
Build And Roof
Walls, lintels, roof structure and covering, then doors, guttering and any power and light. Matched into the house where the garage is attached.
Apron And Tidy Up
Paving or apron outside the doors, levels made good, and the site cleared. A garage you cannot drive onto is not finished.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a detached garage need building control approval in Northern Ireland?
Not if it stays inside Class 7(a) of Schedule 2 to the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012, which requires it to be single storey, not exceeding thirty square metres of floor area, and at least one metre from a dwelling, a road or a boundary. Fail either the area or the distance and the exemption does not apply.
How big is thirty square metres in real terms?
Roughly six metres by five. That is a generous single garage with room for a bench and some storage, or a very tight double. If you want a comfortable double garage you are almost certainly outside the exemption, which is fine, it just means an application and a different budget.
My fence is less than a metre from where I want the wall. What now?
Then Class 7(a) does not apply, even if the floor area is small. You have two options: move the garage so it clears a metre from the boundary, or accept that it falls within building control and make a proper application. Both are perfectly normal, but the second one has to be priced in.
Is a carport treated the same as a garage?
No. A carport falls under Class 8 and is exempt where its floor area does not exceed thirty square metres and it is open on at least two sides. That open condition is a physical test. Add walls to keep the rain off and it has stopped being a carport and become an extension.
Do I need building control to convert my garage into a room?
Yes. A conversion turns a space that was never built for occupation into habitable accommodation, and the floor, insulation, damp proofing, ventilation and any structural opening into the house all fall within building control. It is the garage job people most often assume is the simplest and it is actually the most regulated.
Will I need planning permission as well?
Sometimes. Exemption from building control is not exemption from planning. Permitted development for a dwellinghouse comes from the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 and is decided by your district council. A garage forward of the principal elevation, or a property under an Article 4 direction, is far more likely to need an application.
Can you match a new attached garage to the existing house?
That is most of the work, and it is what separates a garage that adds value from one that reads as a lean to. Roof pitch, eaves line, brick or render finish and window proportions all have to follow the original. We would rather spend a day getting the roof line right than save it and look at the result for twenty years.
What kind of foundation does a garage need?
More than people expect, because a garage carries a vehicle and a roof full of water on a slab that is often laid over made up ground. We dig out soft material rather than building over it, compact hardcore in layers and pour a slab that will not crack across the middle. Skimping here shows up as a door that stops closing square.
Should I run power out to a detached garage now or later?
Now, every time. Retrofitting power to a detached garage means lifting the apron or the driveway you have just paid for. Bear in mind that Northern Ireland has no equivalent of the England and Wales Part P regime and no statutory requirement for domestic electrical certification, so ask for an installation certificate rather than assuming one will arrive.
Can you do the driveway at the same time?
Yes, and it is cheaper done together. CSW does paving, flagging and hardscaping as well as building, so the apron, driveway, falls and drainage can be finished by the same team while the plant is already on site. Ordering it separately afterwards costs more and leaves a gap where the garage is unusable.
More Building & Construction From CSW
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Tell us the size you are after and roughly where it would sit, or better still let us come and measure the boundary distance. Five minutes with a tape usually settles what the job actually is. No charge for the visit.
- Call us: 07703 433214
- Email: Cswbuild@gmail.com
- Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland