Building regs for a new shower room

[Just4Fun]

Please excuse that this is not a woodworking question but I think there are people on this forum who know the answer.

My mother has recently had health problems and suffered a loss of mobility such that she is effectively restricted to the ground floor of her house. She currently has no bathroom downstairs. There is a small WC on one side of a brick wall and on the other side of the wall is her large living room. I plan to steal some space from the living room to create a shower room, taking water supplies via pipes through the wall from the WC. I could either route the drain through the wall to the existing WC or through the external wall to a pit which is conveniently positioned just outside. I might also put a WC in this new room but I am not sure about that yet.

I am confident that I can do all of this apart from the electrical work which I will have to get a professional to do. My question is what building regulations will I have to comply with? I should point out that although I am based in Finland my mother is in England so it is English regulations I need to know about. An online link to the regs would be great so I can plan the job in as much detail as possible before I visit to do the job.

 

[lurker]

Not an answer to your question, but she might be eligible for a grant.
Only reason I know this is I bought a terraced house that had been modified via a grant by the previous owner. You might also consider a wet room rather than a shower cubicle.

Edit: you will need to get social services to assess her, if I understand correctly

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi,

in England and Wales the building regs are embodied in a set of approved documents:

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/2 ... _documents

You'll probably need to conform to Part M regarding disabled access and layout e.g. door sizes, minimum dimensions etc. also Parts F, G and H - also P (for electrics, as you've spotted this needs a registered professional who should give you a certificate for the completed work) and possibly others, depending on what you want to do.

The best thing would be to contact the Building Control department at your mother's local council (the one she pays council tax to) - they should be helpful and explain the procedure and how/what they would inspect - and any fees payable. You'll help them if you can be as clear as possible on the detail of what you want to achieve - 'before' and 'after' drawings with some explanatory words.

Cheers, W2S

 

[sunnybob]

moving might be a viable option, If she owns the house then its easy, if she is in rented, then apply to the council for a sheltered housing flat or bungalow.
Youre talking a couple thousand pounds to build a wet room.

 

[whiskywill]

Not an answer to your question, but she might be eligible for a grant.

I was going to suggest that. My mother had her bathroom converted to a wetroom at no cost to herself. I don't know the details of who arranged it however, because, although she is nearly 94 years old, she is still completely independent and does everything for herself.