building an extension......

[KaicosMummy]

Hi everyone :waves:
In the next few monts I will be having an extension built on the back of my house, it is going to be a dining room/somewhere for the mindees and my own children to play (desperate to reclaim my living room!).
Do I just need to ring Ofsted and notify them? Do I need to close down for the whole period? (Builder has said twelve weeks, eek), or can I just risk assess and stay open, the only way it will interfere is by having my garden out of action for that time, but I live yards from local playing fields and two parks so that should be ok.
Will ofsted need my plans etc of what we are having done or just want notifying?
Also as a last cheeky request...does anybody have a sample risk assessment I can have a look at or point me in the direction of one please? I dont really know how to word it or what to put in it, how ridiculous do I sound now?
Lots of questions, thanks in advance....

[cathtee]

I had a conservatory built this time last year, I just sent them an e-mail saying what was being done and that at no time the builders would come into contact with the children and that the garden would be out of use for the time the builders were going to be here.

The only time that there was nothing between us and the builders was when they took the old patio door out and put the french doors in. All in all the whole thing went smoothly and the lo's loved watching through the patio door.

Hope all goes well with your building.:thumbsup:

[KaicosMummy]

Thank you very much, that is very helpful :-)

[hectors house]

We extended our front room about 7 years ago (this is the room I use for childminding), builders built the outside walls first which was at front of house, so we could still use garden, children liked watching out of lounge window, when they got onto doing inside things we just went out on lots of trips and picnics and at other times we stayed in the kitchen and dining room. This was before EYFS so rules not so strict, but I didn't notify Ofsted and if I was doing it again I still wouldn't. I just made sure the builders understood how important it was that they locked all doors after themselves when they came in and out, understood that they had to check with me that there was no one in the loo before they used it (no lock on door and didn't want any child to go home saying man came in toilet when I was having a wee!), and they understood that I was working from home and would not be making them an endless supply of tea!

[KaicosMummy]

Thank you for your advice :-) luckily my builder is a good friend of mine and I have warned him to pass on the message all doors will be locked snd they will only have supervised access to the toilet ;-) also like you I have said I wont be an endless cafe and to bring flasks. I am quite lucky in that they shouldnt really need to come in the house, but if they do I will just supervise :-)

[hectors house]

They shouldn't need much access to the house when building the main walls etc but may need to pop in and out to check floor levels between the existing house and the extension and obviously when they knock through doorways etc it will create lots of dust and it's very noisy, so you may need to base yourself somewhere else or go on lots of trips. Also they may need to turn your electric or water/gas off to add more lights/sockets and radiators to your existing heating system. So I would aim to start this when it is a little warmer and drier!

[weedotes]

Thank you for your advice :-) luckily my builder is a good friend of mine and I have warned him to pass on the message all doors will be locked snd they will only have supervised access to the toilet ;-) also like you I have said I wont be an endless cafe and to bring flasks. I am quite lucky in that they shouldnt really need to come in the house, but if they do I will just supervise :-)

Can I just chip in ..when we got our extension done I also made good use of the experience . Kids watched out thru windows and doors wearing hard hats driving diggers playing with bob builder stuff and we read a great wee book by shirley Hughes about building an extension called The Big Concrete Lorry . We were nearly sorry when it was all finished

[KaicosMummy]

Ooooooh thank you I shall go see if they have the book on Amazon!! I have told the contractor that whilst I dont want the workmen peering in my windows and gawping at us, I unfortunately cannot allow them the same luxury, and we will probably be spending a lot of our time with faces pressed up against the windows watching. Also of course you can chip in, I need to be prepared for the good, the bad and the ugly, I want to know as much as I can so my last nerve doesnt snap mid build x

[weedotes]

Thank you for your advice :-) luckily my builder is a good friend of mine and I have warned him to pass on the message all doors will be locked snd they will only have supervised access to the toilet ;-) also like you I have said I wont be an endless cafe and to bring flasks. I am quite lucky in that they shouldnt really need to come in the house, but if they do I will just supervise :-)

Can I just add , we ve had a conservatory / extension added , followed all those rules and the wee ones really enjoyed the whole process . Watching through the window and door in their hard hats and Bob the builder and construction toys and books . A great wee book we read was the Big Concrete Lorry by Shirley Hughes . It talked all about foundations and concrete setting and about an extension being built .
Ps I tried posting this this morning but it disappeared ..hopefully I m not duplicating .