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A well-done renovation is a source of economy and comfort. It also allows to preserve its heritage. But before starting the work, it is advisable to be surrounded by a maximum of precautions.

Safety and environment on a renovation project

Renovate your home: which points to check?

Each renovation is particular, the project must take into account the type of site, its configuration, the materials used, its energy characteristics... The old habitat (until the first half of the twentieth century) often has superior thermal properties to those of the constructions realized in the years 1960-70.

Inopportune renovation can lead to disturbances with serious consequences for the building and the well-being of the occupants.
The geographic location is of paramount importance. To avoid setbacks, it is essential to consult the planning rules, directly in town hall or on the website of the municipality concerned. This makes it possible to learn about the authorized and possibly prohibited works, about the easements of view or passage, about the steps to be taken... Particular constraints are regularly imposed in the perimeter of a listed building or a protected architectural ensemble.
It is also essential to know if the dwelling is in a seismic zone or at risk: floods, land movements, marine submersion and erosion of the coastline, proximity of mines or industrial installations dealing with dangerous chemical substances... Municipalities exposed to it must be subject to a prevention plan in good and due form. A prefectural decree fixes the list of potential threats and the necessary documents, which the services concerned are obliged to provide to the applicants free of charge.

The energy classification, useful but to be completed

Since the 1st January 2011, real estate listings should systematically display theEnergy Performance Diagnosis (EPD) label, except for the "paper" press which can be content to indicate only the letter corresponding to the classification. Valid ten years, the DPE must be redone if the house has undergone work in the meantime.
However, as interesting as they are, these recommendations remain too general. They do not make it possible to establish a precise program of works as part of a global renovation of high level (BBC-Rénovation for example).
For this, you need the precision of a energetic audience done by a design office or a company with a certification from an organization accredited by Cofrac, the only recognized accreditation body (decree of 19.12.2008).

Prior declaration, building permit: what steps to take?

The preliminary declaration of works and the application for a building permit are the two basic administrative acts.
Since January 2012, implementing rules have been modified and the "floor area" has replaced the old notions of SHOB (gross floor area) and SHON (net floor area). Here are some examples of work requiring either a prior declaration or an application for a building permit (all the measures being detailed in the series of articles R421 of the Town Planning Code).

Subject to prior declaration

• Development of attics, extension or extension creating between 5 and 20 m2 of living space... In urban areas covered by a Local Urban Plan (PLU) or Land Use Plan (POS), the surface is increased to 40 m2.
• Change of destination of an annex without structural modification, work affecting the exterior aspect of the dwelling: opening of openings in facade, installation of roof windows, solar panels, etc.

Request for a building permit

• Enlargement or extension greater than 20 m2 (or 40 m2 depending on the location).
• Enlargement or extension less than 20 or 40 m2but bringing the total floor area or the footprint of the house to more than 170 m2. The use of an architect is obligatory in this case.
• Change of destination of an annex or a commercial space with modification of the supporting structure or facade of the building...

Basic documents to be completed

The prior declaration of work on a house and / or its annexes must be done via a Cerfa form n° 13703 * 03. Procedures for construction or major developments not subject to building permit require Cerfa No. 13403 * 03. For a building permit application for a detached house and / or its annexes, a Cerfa no. 13406 * 03 is required.
These forms can be downloaded from the website: vosdroits.service-public.fr. (The laws evolve: we recommend that you check on this official website of the French administration the changes that may have occurred between the date of publication of our article and the time of your consultation.)

Renovation: how to organize?

In renovation, it is a quality of knowing how to balance things between what is within reach and what is better to entrust to professionals. Good anticipation of problems is the best way to insure your back.

With or without help

We can handle all the design, but the task is sometimes heavy. The use of an architect or a design office makes it possible to validate the project while relieving itself of a heavy weight. Their services can be graded, ranging from simple advice to monitoring the site, through the realization of plans, the costing of work and obstacle course of the administrative part.

Think carefully before acting

Imponderables are inherent to any construction site related to the habitat. All the more reason to seek to minimize them in self-improvement. We must take the time to consult the technical documents, to assimilate the rules of implementation... and to neglect nothing in terms of security!
Intervene on a bearing wall is a typical example of a risky operation. Whether creating openings or a passage between two rooms, this structural element, which supports the weight of the upper floors, needs to be reinforced, before playing the mass, the grinder or chisel. Gather all the necessary material (bastaings, props, lintel, IPN...) and operate with method (see diagram below).
• Another difficulty, the installation of a chimney. Whether masonry or metal, the updated version of the standard NF DTU 24.1 no longer sets a "fire gap" from the inner wall of the duct but a minimum safety distance between its outer wall and any nearby combustible material ( see table below). This distance varies according to the temperature class of the pipe and its thermal resistance "Ru".

Safety distances from combustible materials

Types of conduitsTemperature classes (T)Minimum distances (in mm) for thermal resistance (Ru) in m².K / W
0.05 0.38 Ru ≥ 0.65
• Terracotta bushels
• Single or multiwall concrete
T ≤ 16020 mm20 mm20 mm
160 50 mm20 mm20 mm
T> 250100 mm50 mm20 mm
Ru ≤ 0.40.4 Ru> 0.6
Rigid metal composite tubes80 20 mm20 mm20 mm
200 50 mm20 mm20 mm
300 Prohibited use80 mm50 mm

Example of points worthy of your vigilance during the renovations:

diagram to create an opening in a wall

For an opening without history
Draw the outline of the passage including the lintel space. Provide at least 20 cm of support on both sides.
Begin by drilling the top of the future opening to pass bastaings to support the load until the installation of the lintel. Support them by stays spaced 80 cm maximum.

safety and distance to fire

Distance to fluctuating fire
If the distance declared by the manufacturer is different from that shown in the corresponding table, it is recommended to use the greater of the two values. Make sure you respect it before drilling your floors and clearing the roof.

replace lead pipes

Leaded housing
Lead water pipes must be removed from old habitat. To replace them, the technique of cold crimping of copper tubes is safer from a sanitary point of view than flame welding.

What to do with hazardous materials

If you have just bought a house, carefully read the technical diagnosis file provided with the bill of sale. The accompanying report describes the state of electrical installations, natural gas and individual sanitation. He notes the risk of exposure to lead (CREP), mentions the presence or absence of termites and materials or products containing asbestos...
If you inherit a home, have this diagnosis made before starting any renovations.

Lead in the house

This heavy metal was widely used for residential water pipes until the 1950s. It continued to be used in the public network until its ban in 1995. Lead is also found in murals (until in the late 1940s) and antirust (until 1975).
Although later masked by lead-free coatings, these paints degrade with time and moisture. Scales and dust released are sources of intoxication for children and for DIYers working without adequate protection. Since December 25, 2013, the maximum lead content in tap water has been set at 10 micrograms per liter (mg / l).
The threshold of health risks related to paints imposed by the Public Health Code is 1 mg / cm². To get rid of the materials and products involved, the law requires the use of professionals.

Asbestos alert in detached house

This material, used extensively for its insulating and incombustible properties, is still very present in many public and private buildings. Those built mainly between 1930 and the early 1970s, when we became fully aware of its harmfulness.
Its use then decreased sharply until its formal ban in January 1997. As for lead, legislation does not oblige the seller to clean up an asbestos house.
As long as the buyer knows about it through a technical diagnosis in due form, no recourse is possible. Charge him to contact an asbestos removal company. Do-it-yourselfers who decide to intervene themselves on asbestos materials are responsible for the possible consequences for them and the neighborhood.

Obligations for lessors

If a diagnosis reveals the presence of asbestos or lead in a rented house, the owner or trustee must not only inform the future occupants but also carry out the work to eliminate any health risk for them.
The professional who made the diagnosis must give a copy to the prefect. Same step if termites are spotted. Faced with recalcitrant landowners, the prefect is entitled to solve the problem at their expense, by fining them on the market.

Where to look for asbestos?

Asbestos can be found in products and equipment manufactured before 1997. All that is likely to include in the common parts of residential buildings is grouped in Annex 13-9 of the Code of Public Health. If a tracking, monitoring or work operation is triggered on asbestos materials, the DTA (asbestos technical diagnosis) must be redone.

Asbestos products most commonly encountered

Insulation, flocking, plaster, fiber-cement, asbestos-bitumen, asbestos-vinyl... Heating ducts and ventalitation to the roof to the floors through garbage disposal ducts or domestic hot water network: where look for asbestos and replace it.

Renovate a house with asbestos


Asbestos-based products to be removed in a home

Construction waste: instructions for use

The rubble quickly becomes invasive, so do not wait to be overwhelmed to worry.
Plan to store them as you go, waiting for them to be sent to suitable storage facilities.

Three categories to distinguish

The revised "Waste" Framework Directive of November 2008 is the reference text in the European community. Its provisions are in the direction of a drastic reduction of burial and incineration. By 2020, Member States will have to recycle 70% of their construction and demolition waste, broken down as follows:
Class 1 "hazardous waste": paints, wood treated with lead products, friable asbestos, hydrocarbons...
Class 2 "non-hazardous and non-hazardous waste": wood, packaging, plastics, metals, accessories and painting equipment soiled but dry, insulating, mixed products from rehabilitation sites...
Class 3 "inert waste": concrete, bricks, blocks, tiles, stone, earthmoving materials, ordinary glass...

Sort on the building site, the good idea

Sorting is not a formal requirement, but storage managers increasingly refuse mixed waste unless they belong to the same class or are destined for the same value chain..
It should be noted that the building sector (both public and private) generates nearly 50 million tonnes of waste annually: 65% comes from demolitions, 28% from rehabilitations and 7% from new construction. Compared to 30 million tonnes of household waste produced each year...

From bag to dump

The products used in our do-it-yourself activities are not all toxic. But they can be corrosive, irritating, easily flammable, even explosive. Pictograms on the packaging indicate their level of danger.
  • Do not pour leftovers into toilets, do not mix them with household garbage.
  • Take them to a dump in their original packaging or in containers (metal or plastic depending on the product) sealed and labeled.
  • Remember to add the accessories used to carry out the work (old brushes, steel wool, rags, tarpaulins...).
  • Place the non-hazardous waste in rubbish bags or directly in a bucket rented for the occasion.
In the first case, to you to see if it is more advantageous to transport them yourself to the storage unit (with the help of a van, a trailer...) or to pay a specialized company.
If you rent a skip, removal is included in the contract. But be careful to respect the uses defined by the provider!

Packed under condition
It is possible to backfill an excavation with inert waste whose non-polluting nature has been verified. A "ground clearance" permit is required when the height exceeds 2 m and the area is 100 m2. Moreover, if we use cuttings, all-comers... outside the site, the company that delivers them must provide written proof of its provenance (tracking slip, delivery note, invoice).

where to put a dumpster during a renovation project

Regulated parking
For a rubble dump that must be parked on public roads, permission must be requested from the municipality (Cerfa form no. 14023 * 01). The answer takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks, according to the municipalities.

to be delivered by a career on his site

Delivery on demand
Need all-comers or aggregates for your yard? The most interesting is to go to a career or a dealer in building materials.Depending on the quantities, the delivery can be in bulk or big-bag.

use rubbish bags

reusable
Highly tear-resistant, woven mesh bags can be used many times. (Geolia, € 4.60 each at Leroy Merlin)


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