West Lothian Coffee Morning WLCM

This is a gathering of Small Business Owners and organisations with a Small Business interest in West Lothian. If this is YOU this is a must attend event. It is held each Friday morning at the Winter Garden in the Centre, Livingston. The brain child of Neo Recruitment (Claire Hammond) and Simple HR (Paul Hunter) the WLCM now regularly attracts between 30 – 50 people with such diverse business interests from high finance to knitting, architecture and magic.

The format is very informal, just a chat over a cup of coffee however the benefits are immense for small business and include:
 Development of ideas with like minded people.
 Ad hoc but invaluable mentoring in a diverse range of subjects.
 Free advice and simply blethering.

Its free and open to anyone so if you are interested just come along and join in. If you would prefer an introduction just give me a call.

For an idea of the great topics I have discussed have a look at the WLCM labels on my posts.

Good Luck,
Bruce.

Before you build it . . .Plan-It.

Home Extensions- Engaging a design consultant.

You should invite a Building Surveyor or Architect or someone who has a professional knowledge of the building and design process to discuss your project in your home. This will be someone who can prepare plans and is actively involved in submitting applications to the local authority for home extensions. This consultant has the advantage over all other advisors of being able to offer you a design solution to meet your own needs and also give guidance on what is legally acceptable.

You should avoid consultants who do not carry Professional Indemnity Insurance. This is a sign that they are probably “moon lighting” and as such will not have your best interests first and foremost.
This insurance is mandatory from all the professional institutes and exists to protect you in the event of your consultant making a mistake. Any one offering these services without Professional Indemnity Insurance is telling you that they are already acting in an unprofessional manor.

You should also avoid consultants who do not specialise in this type of work. Many larger practices and some individuals simply can not deal with this type of work efficiently. In construction terms these are small works but in real terms are every bit as demanding of time and resources. As such the fee level does not allow some practices to operate at a profit and they will only accept this work as a last resort.

Having identified your prospective consultants you should invite them to your home.

Before you build it . . . Plan-It

Modern Door Widths

The building regulation now stipulate that all rooms should be accessible through a door with a clear width of 800mm. This can be reduced to 775mm in certain circumstances but not many. The out come of this is wider passage ways, bigger doors and generally less living accommodation or more costs.
The purpose of these doors is a new word "visitability" meaning that anyone may visit any property without being restricted by lack of access.

Before you build it . . .Plan-It

FINANCIAL INCLUSION NETWORK (FIN)

FIN is a network of Voluntary, Local Authority and Business organisations who have come together to assist all citizens of West Lothian with various financial matters. There objective is to ensure that all residents are aware of there financial choices and to promote access to financial advise, financial products and other services particularly for the most excluded social groups. Over 60 organisations are involved with FIN including Credit Unions, employability, welfare, health and financial literacies and Small Business Groups

For Further information contact The FIN secretary Janet Munday on 01506 633222

Fire escape windows

Although Fire escape is not usually a concern for most two storey houses the regulations were changed in 2005 to introduce a means of escape from every room at first floor level.
A window ( nick named a dreep window) must now be installed to allow occupants to (dreep) escape in the event of a fire.

Down stairs loos.

The Building regulations do not permit the removal of a down stairs toilet. These are installed in the current regulations to facilitate people with mobility issues. They were installed in the past for convenience. Either way you can no longer remove them.

Project 1060 completes