Design adaptation

Dream house design has been selected, but it turns out that it does not meet the requirements of urban planning regulations or does not fit into the previously purchased plot? There is nothing to lose! You do not have to give it up, you can just adapt it.

What is a design adaptation?

Acquisition of a ready-made house design is a solution that more and more people are opting for nowadays. It generates lower costs than preparing an individual custom design. The average cost of a finished design is around 2-3 thousand PLN.

However, starting construction of the house on the basis of the ready-made design requires some adaptation. Adaptation allows to adjust the design to your plot of land. The designer gets acquainted with, among other things, the terrain, location in relation to directions of the world, load-bearing capacity of the ground, depth of freezing, level of ground water throughout seasons, as well as local building regulations.

Adaptation can only be carried out by an authorized person; such a person is obliged to apply changes as per the finished design with use of permanent red graphic method.

Relevant and irrelevant changes

Construction of a house has started and it turns out that some previously planned element does not fully meet our expectations. Is everything already lost? Is it possible to change the design at the construction stage?

According to changes implemented in the construction law, there is a possibility to deviate slightly from design assumptions when the building permit has been already obtained.

According to the current construction law, the changes that are important in case of a single-family house include:

• changes in development of the plot or land (e.g. watercourses, sewage system);
• changes in characteristic parameters of the building: cubic capacity, area, height, width, number of storeys, etc;
• changes in intended use of the building or its part;
• changes in arrangements of the Local Spatial Development Plan or the Planning Permission;
• changes requiring expert opinions, permits and other documents;

Minor deviations from the single-family house design

In terms of irrelevant changes, these are all other changes that have not been covered by the provisions on relevant changes. Among the irrelevant changes we can indicate, for example:

• changing the function of rooms (e.g. kitchen instead of living room);
• changing the number of windows along with dimensions and shapes of window openings;
• changes in size and number of doors
• change of wall construction materials; however their thickness shall be maintained
• changes in type of roof material
• changes to course of the electrical installation, water system, heating system or location of the boiler in the house
• changes to home façade
• changes to roof slope angle, ridge height, and slope layout, if these do not affect the building cubic capacity and complies with requirements of the local development plan.

How to change a house design?

Changes to a design depend on the previously quoted classification. When a designer determines a change as relevant, it is necessary to commission a substitute design that takes into account the amendments. The building supervisor may also ask for documentation related to construction works. The amended design along with the application for change or for permit should be submitted to the administrative unit. Once a positive decision has been made, construction works may be continued.

In the latter case, i.e. when the changes are irrelevant, the procedure is considerably facilitated. Designer marks the changes during construction and supplements them with appropriate drawings. The design that has been modified should be submitted to the building supervision inspectorate after its completion.  

The most frequent design modifications in terms of terrace windows and doors

Large glazing

Windows make an element that offers us quite a lot of flexibility. There are hundreds of different solutions related to windows and balcony doors. When deciding on a perfect system for your dream home, we often modify window elements resulting from the ready-made design.

In modern designs, designers often rely on large window constructions, which affect visual qualities of the house, and on the other hand increase the investment costs. One of the most frequent changes in designs are those related to large glazing.

People who build a house with large and expensive HST constructions, most often replace them with cheaper solutions, e.g. they choose a balcony with a low double-sash threshold. In case of glazing smaller than 3m, they often decide to replace more expensive HSTs with cheaper PSKs.

Another modification is related to reduction of balcony windows or their division into more sashes, of which only one remains open.

There are also changes involving replacement of balcony doors with ordinary windows, as customers give up a balcony at all.

Sliding and non-opening windows

Other modifications that people like to make at the window selection stage include replacement of tilt and turn windows with sliding windows in the kitchen to give themselves more flexibility.

While analysing arrangement and function of windows, customers also perceive possibility of replacing parts of the opening windows with non-opening ones. This is a great idea when there are already a few opening windows in the room. Non-opening windows are usually large and it is usually not possible to install such an opening window with a single sash only.

Reshape of windows

Another frequent modification at the construction stage is abandonment of non-typical window shapes - arches, triangles and trapezoids in favour of classic square or rectangular structures. This decision results both from financial issues (extraordinary shapes make windows about 60-70% more expensive) and from difficulties related to selection of roller shutters and curtains for non-standard windows.

Roller shutters

Roller shutters make an another element that is being changed at the construction stage. When choosing incorporated roller shutters, it is necessary to arrange appropriate lintels. Customers who have forgotten to report their willingness to use incorporated roller shutters at appropriate stage of construction, replace them with overhead roller blinds.