Do Porches Need Building Regulations Approval?

Under Schedule 2 of the Building Regulations 2010, a porch is exempt from building regulations if all three of the following conditions are met:

• Condition 1 - Size: The ground floor area of the porch does not exceed 30 square metres
• Condition 2 - Glazing and electrics: Any glazing and fixed electrical installations in the porch comply with the relevant requirements (Parts N and P respectively - see below)
• Condition 3 - The internal door is retained: The existing door between the porch and the house is kept in place

All three conditions must be met. If any one of them is not satisfied, the exemption does not apply and you must seek building regulations approval for the porch.

The requirement to retain the door between the porch and the existing dwelling is often misunderstood. The logic is this: the existing door provides the thermal and fire separation between the porch and the house. If that door is removed, the porch effectively becomes part of the house, and the whole enlarged dwelling must then comply with building regulations as if the porch were an extension.

In practice, this means:

• If you keep the existing front door of the house in place, the porch is a separate, unheated lobby space and the exemption can apply
• If you remove the existing front door to integrate the porch into the hallway, you have created an extension and need building regulations approval

Many homeowners remove the internal door for aesthetic reasons without realising this collapses the exemption. Check with your builder before making this decision.

Even for an exempt porch, the Schedule 2 exemption explicitly states that glazing must comply with the relevant requirements. Part N of the Building Regulations (Glazing - Safety in Relation to Impact) requires that glazing in critical locations is made from safety glass (or protected so that people cannot easily impact it).

For a porch, the critical glazing locations include:

• Side panels of the entrance door where the glazing is within 1500mm of floor level and within 300mm of the door
• Any glazed panel within 800mm of floor level in a wall
• Low-level glazing in screens or partitions

Safety glazing means either toughened glass (which shatters into small granules on impact) or laminated glass (which holds together). The glass must be permanently marked with its safety glass classification. If in doubt, ask your porch supplier to confirm that all glazing meets BS EN 12600 Class 3 or better in critical locations.

The Schedule 2 exemption also requires that any fixed electrical installations comply with Part P of the Building Regulations. If you want a light fitting, power sockets, or a video doorbell with internal wiring in your porch, this is notifiable electrical work.

As with other Part P work, the simplest route is to use an electrician who is registered with a competent person scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, or ELECSA). They can self-certify the work and the notification is made to building control on your behalf automatically.

If you use an unregistered electrician, you must notify building control separately and arrange an inspection. The same applies if you do the electrical work yourself.

Building regulations apply in full to a porch in the following situations:

• Porch over 30m2: Exceeds the size limit for the exemption - unlikely in practice for a standard domestic porch, but possible for large entrance lobbies
• Internal door removed: The porch is integrated into the house, making it an extension - full building regs apply including Part L insulation, Part A structure, and Part B fire safety
• Habitable room function: If the porch is designed as a habitable room (study, utility room, sitting area) rather than a transitional lobby, it is effectively an extension and building regs apply
• Roof lights or dormers on the porch: Complex roof structures may trigger Part A structural requirements

Even if your porch is exempt from building regulations, the foundations still need to be adequate for the structure. The Building Regulations 2010 exemption does not mean you can build on inadequate footings - it simply means the council does not inspect the work.

A competent builder will excavate to a suitable depth (typically 450-600mm minimum for a single-storey porch on normal ground, deeper on clay soils) and use appropriate concrete. If the porch is a UPVC or aluminium-framed structure on a dwarf wall, the foundations should be designed accordingly.

Poor foundations on a porch can cause cracking, heave, and settlement that affects the house facade. It is worth specifying this explicitly with your builder even on an exempt porch.

Planning permission and building regulations are entirely separate. For planning purposes, a porch is usually permitted development under Schedule 2, Class D of the GPDO 2015, provided it:

• Does not exceed 3 square metres of internal floor area
• Is no more than 3 metres in height
• Is not forward of a wall forming the principal elevation facing a highway
• Is not on a listed building

Note the planning threshold (3m2) is much smaller than the building regulations exemption threshold (30m2). Most UPVC porches fall well within both limits. Use our free PD checker to confirm your porch is permitted development for your specific property.