Planning success

[Terry]

Just completing the groundworks on mine at the moment, or I would be if I hadn't had a chest infection for the last 4 weeks!
Trying to do everything myself without paying for any outside contractors.
Used the Backactor(digger arm) on my tractor to level the site and dig the pads for the steel frame and the footings for the walls.
Ferried 6 tons of ballast from the local quarry in the trailer behind the tractor and used it to mix the concrete in the PTO mixer for the pads and footings.
Started to lay the hollow concrete blocks on the footings up to floor level and that is as far as I have got.
Once I am 100% I will finish the block work up to floor level and then order in my structural steel work to weld the frame up with.
My biggest hurdle will be getting 6 m3 of ready mix concrete up a steep stoney track and across the meadow to pour the floor with.
I have assurances from my pals that they will lend a hand, I will hire a 5 ton dumper I think and use it to ferry the concrete in 2 loads. That's further down the line though as I am not going to pour the floor until after the roof is on.

Just a small point, but 6m3 of concrete comes in at almost 14 tons so a bit more than 2 trips in a 5 T dumper.
Also factor in your steep, stoney bank which will result in changing angles and slop of the concrete meaning you cannot take full loads to avoid significant spillage.
Probably need to look at 4 or even 5 loads.
Should not be a problem if you hire the dumper for the day - as long as you are not driving miles each way.
Just be aware that generally concrete companies dont allow for long turn-arounds so you need to mention your expected timings - which might incur extra cost.
One way to avoid this is to be flexible as to when you get your delivery and opt for a slow period.

That said, I opted for a quiet day only to find that the trucks were coming to site with long delays between as the slow day had suddenly turned very busy due to a bridge construction project being ready to pour a day earlier than scheduled.

[Wendelspanswick]

Thanks for that, I will most probably use the tractor and trailer in conjunction with a hired dumper and have a mix with a fairly low slump.
Its about 750M from the offload site to the pour site so I will discuss getting the mix retarded as well.
Its progressing though, 3 tons of steel are being delivered on Friday for me to fab into the main structure.

[vushtrri]

Well in short , our planners mistakenly applied a 56 day rule. When I told them they acknowledged there had been a cock up and as the law goes I can just go ahead with my plans as they hadn't responded in the required period...

[Wendelspanswick]

Good news!
Well done.

[Terry]

Well in short , our planners mistakenly applied a 56 day rule. When I told them they acknowledged there had been a cock up and as the law goes I can just go ahead with my plans as they hadn't responded in the required period...

Haha - ignorance of the law is no excuse etc etc. Nice when it works in our favour.
Still get a warm glow thinking back 7 or 8 years to when a cock up by planners worked in my favour on the house.
Strangely my neighbour had a similarly ignorant planner (different one) who was telling them to stop what they were doing until she (the planner) was informed by my neighbour what the law actually stated and what it permitted. The final outcome there was the planners literally being laughed out of the planning committee meeting after a very witty, but sarcastically damning tongue lashing from one of the councilors
Going by the evidence, albeit mostly anecdotal on sites like this, planning departments are not really fit for purpose and may explain the wildly varying approaches by planning departments around the country.
Certainly my planning officer at the time was unqualified, yet I HAD to deal with her rather than her supervisor and she had difficulty understanding standard drawings as required by the planning process.

Dont want to be too down on the planning system as it is there to perform an important function - just wish they would employ more competent personnel and get some consistency going in how they apply the planning laws.