Recently I was approached by a local builder who was consrtucting a single storey flat roof extention.
The Architect who designed the extention has specified a Roof Light in the roof to provide natural light.
In addition she has specified an all Aluminium Roof Light with Triple Glazing.
Most Conservatory roofs while Aluminium based have uPVC top caps, and internal cladding, however I was able to source an all Aluminium structure and showed some samples to the said Architect.
It was a little more expensive than other roofs available, but we agreed a price.
The roof duly arrived and was fitted in 2 days. Now the fun started.
First she did not like the design despite signing off on the design plans.
Secondly she objected vigirously to the Tie Bars, which are a structural requirment, to prevent the roof spreading in extreme wind or under the weight of four feet of snow.
Various attempts were made to have us take out the Tie Bars all of which were unsuccessful.
Realising that an Architect is not a structural engineer I decided that me best line of defence was in engineering data.
I contacted the roof suppliers who forwarded a statment that the Tie Bars were required, I downloaded all of the Certifications, and tests that the suppliers had conducted to obtain BBA Certification, and I downloaded reports of extreme weather conditions to which the roof may be exposed.
I gave all this info. to the Architect with a warning that is she insisted in tampering with the structure, that all warranties would be void.
So the roof is now in place three weeks, the householders are happy, the builder is happy, and the Architect has enough Structural detail to keep her in reading for a while.
''To each his own''
