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converting a garage into an office...

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thekitchendesigner

thekitchendesigner

Free Member
Dec 5, 2005
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Wiltshire
i have a detached garage to the side of my house, which is perfect for conversion into my office.

does anyone know if this needs planning permission? the only structural element will be replacing a single door with large glass doors which will mean knocking a section out. the whole conversion will be done so that it can easily be converted back into a garage.

and if anyone has done a simple conversion for business purposes and has any hints/tips or any info i need to know etc that would be good!

thanks
 
I've looked into this in the past. Sounds like you will need only building regualtions. Speak to your local planning officer in the council office.

Theres a nationa wide company called the garage converter company. Not sure how cheap/expenzive they are but they'll have the job done within a few days.

I've been reading about them in a franchise mag

Cheers

Lisa
 
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Speak to Building Control at your Local Authority. In any event you will need them on your side. You may need to seek advice from an Accountant about the tax implications if you have not done so. You may also be liable for business rates

Jonathan
 
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I can't speak about regulations, but I can give some practical tips. I've worked from an office in my garage for several years now.

1) We have a 2-car garage. My office consumes just one half. The end wall to the office is about four feet from the garage door, which leaves a nice storage area for bikes, etc. I don't know how to explain this, but the ceiling of my office is lower for about two feet at that end. This allows the garage door to retract between the office ceiling and the top of the garage. It was a little trick that allowed us to get maximum use of the garage space without preventing the operation of the garage door.

2) Be sure you have sufficient power sockets. Even though it's a small office, I have 12 of them. I also have a separate phone line (and separate phone number) from the main house.

3) In the wall between my office and the house, we had an entire set of wall cabinets built. This gives me quite a lot of storage space without consuming my working area.

4) We extended the heating and air conditioning system so that my office is a part of it. Obviously, the garage is not heated, but my office is. Despite this, I use a stand-alone radiator as a second source of heat during the winter.

5) Be aware that converting your garage into an office reduces the value of your home. For me, it's worth it because of all the time and money I save not having to drive somewhere to work.

Having a wife, six children, and two dogs, I could never have an office in the house itself. An office in my garage works really well, and I'd highly recommend it. You must start to become disciplined, though. It's easy to spend every hour of every day in your garage office.
 
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Something else springs to mind...will you be employing staff there?... as a guess, you won't be. However, if you are the the Health & Safety regs may apply

Steve has made some good practical points, mine as always, based on legislation! ;)
 
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Thanks for your comments so far!

Lisa - i have found the company you mention, and shall look into that. Many thanks.

Jonathan - when the project comes to fruition i'll contact the authorities. I have had an accountant for a few years so shall consult him on tax etc. i wouldnt be employing staff there at any time. My business operates virtually (so to speak) so staff will be dotted across the country.

Steve - excellent points there! i know exactly what you mean about space for the garage door to open into. i was planning exactly the same. i'm not going to remove the main door as we do need some storage, and the third that isnt office will be blocked of and used for this, with access via the main front door.

Luckily the previous owners put power across to the garage with a seperate section on the fuse board. theres only a light and 2 sockets currently, but i'll get my electrician in to expand this adequatley. i will hopefully be doing the same with the phone line, but i'm trying VOIP before i decide what to do!

i would be converting this not only to form an office, but a really nice 'garden room' with big french/patio doors that open onto the garden. that way we can have a sofa, tv etc there so when i'm not working in there (if that happens!?) it can still be used. i've also been told to make it so that all the stud walls can be taken down and it converted back to a garage for re-sale, which links in to why i wont replace the main door. hopefully that wont effect the value.

i can see why you have the need for the garage come office!! :-)

i'm running out of storage space in my current 3rd room come office!

Thanks all again and looking forward to more members comments....!
 
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One good thing Mark, you will not have to pay a designer :lol:

Sound lovely what you are going to do with it.

Jayne :D
 
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1. Local Authority as previously explained

2. Check out your house insurance as most will not cover business equipment in a building not attached to the house.

3. Good idea about garden room as this is often used to mitigate business rates as the structure is not for sole use as an office.

4. If you are having clients to the new office or indeed on your home premises for appointments you will need public liability and also this may trigger a change of use requirement if you are having cars arriving etc.
 
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If you do decide to be based in the garage you could consider a 'virtual address' which allows you to use an alternative address and you can usually meet clients at that address too. This would prevent people turning up unannounced.

Antonia makes some useful legal points which I forgot to add, in haste.

Jonathan
 
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could you elaborate on the idea jonathan - i like the sound of that!

i've looked into mail services, i.e. for sending mail to a more buisness like address, but this sounds different?!?
 
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Don't forget that Steve lives in America and the cars over there are like aircraft carriers on wheels. (and handle with the same finesse)

So when he says that his end wall finishes about 4 feet from the garage door, that still gives his 196 feet of office space behind him! :)
 
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Agri-Hire said:
Don't forget that Steve lives in America and the cars over there are like aircraft carriers on wheels. (and handle with the same finesse)

So when he says that his end wall finishes about 4 feet from the garage door, that still gives his 196 feet of office space behind him! :)
Click to expand...
Trust me - it's a standard sized garage! Our Toyota Camry can just fit in the remaining space.
 
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OK guys, i work as an Architectural Technologist for a local authority.

1) You will need to contact the planning dept. as they will need to know if youare using the building for commercial premises then they may have limitations in your area as to the type of business you can run from home, even if it is just an office. Some councils are very funny in this situation.
2) Buidling Control may not need notifying. It really depends on the extent of the work. If you are eplacing a garage door wih a set of other doors then you will not need building regs approval. If you are altering the loading on the building ie putting a hip roof on instead of a flat one then you will require building regs approval for minor works.
3) As stated before, you will need to ensure your household insurance covers business use otherwise you could find yourself in a mess.

If you need any specific information relating to what you want to do then PM me and i will advise you.....and i won't send you :wink: a bill

Chris
 
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Howdy, a client of mine, Space Solutions, are specialists in this type of work. Give them a call and ask for Jason. They have information on their website about it, but would be more than happy to help you.
 
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Hi All,

I am looking into converting our large double garage and cellar into a kitchen with cold storage in the cellar to support our catering business. The Garage is totally seperate from the house and rather than renting expensive premises we thought we could convert.

Does anyone know of any regulations preventing us from doing this or where you start with a project like this?

Any advice is gratefully recieved.
 
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foodforthought said:
Hi All,

I am looking into converting our large double garage and cellar into a kitchen with cold storage in the cellar to support our catering business. The Garage is totally seperate from the house and rather than renting expensive premises we thought we could convert.

Does anyone know of any regulations preventing us from doing this or where you start with a project like this?

Any advice is gratefully recieved.
Click to expand...

Hi

You should start with your local planning department because a change of use from domestic to commercial would definitely require planning permission. To be honest I would be surprised if you got it for the "kitchen" if this was to be used for business purposes.

Regards

Dotty
 
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I can't believe I just read the thread again! It's an old one.

New question though. You need to ask your local planning office. You're going to need to for the whole kitchen thing.

Cheers
 
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