Follow recommendations?

[Kalle91]

Hello,

Since I bought the house, I've done some of the renovations myself. I used the internet and forums to help me learn about my projects. It has been fun and educational. However, it is difficult to keep track of everything, and there are recommendations and regulations for a lot of things. When you hire non-Swedish craftsmen, you're sometimes told "that's exaggerated" or "that works, but it's not necessary." This can apply to everything from the distance "cc" between frames depending on whether it's a ceiling, beams, walls, etc., to the thickness of building boards in wet rooms with tiles, and certain wood that doesn't fit behind walls (I think it was called pressure-treated wood).

My questions:
1) Are they recommendations or are they rules?
2) Is there somewhere to turn to read about these various rules/recommendations that we have in Sweden? Is there a website to refer to? I try to make my renovations as correct as possible, but how "perfect" does it have to be? I have a house in the countryside.

Thanks!

 

[useless]

There are some mandatory rules, especially concerning accessibility, dimensioning of load-bearing parts, and electrical installations. Then there are numerous industry rules/standards/practices for different parts of the construction. Industry rules matter in two ways. Firstly, as a consumer, you should be able to assume that a hired craftsman performs the work according to current industry rules unless otherwise agreed, and secondly, insurance companies often require things to be done according to current practice for you to receive full compensation in the event of damage.

Most rules and standards are in AMA, which unfortunately costs money. However, some rules are available online, such as BBR at Boverket, wet room regulations at säkervatten.se and gvk.se, and guides and tables for dimensioning of timber structures found at träguiden.

Then many "rules" may not be so strict and mandatory, but often the construction goes much better and the different steps become easier and cheaper if you follow them since materials and descriptions are adapted to certain standard dimensions.

Pressure-treated wood should only be used outdoors.

 

[justusandersson]

It may be helpful to know the formal structure of norms and regulations. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's building regulations (BBR) are based on the Planning and Building Act and contain mandatory rules for new construction. Much of it concerns accessibility, fire protection, and energy management. The collection of regulations is available online on the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's website. Unfortunately, the document is mixed with advice-like viewpoints that do not need to be followed, which can be confusing. BBR is quite difficult to read and the trend is unfortunately negative. The technical regulations are found in a European construction standard (EKS) administered by SIS. Compliance with BBR and EKS is checked during the building permit application process.

AMA (General Material and Work Description) primarily targets the contracting industry and contains examples of standardized work performances. The legal effect of AMA is regulated through construction contracts. As a private person, you do not need to consider AMA, although it may be appropriate in some cases. Well-stocked libraries usually have AMA, which is divided into different volumes, such as HusAMA, ElAMA, etc. The first ByggAMA was published as early as 1950.

In addition to BBR, EKS, and AMA, there are industry regulations aimed at member companies. Although it may be good to be aware of these regulations at times, they have no formal status.

 

[Kalle91]

There are some mandatory regulations. Primarily regarding accessibility, dimensioning of load-bearing parts, and electrical installations. Then there are many industry regulations/standards/practices for different parts of the construction. The industry regulations matter in two ways. Firstly, as a consumer, you should be able to assume that a hired craftsman performs the work according to current industry regulations unless otherwise agreed upon, and secondly, insurance companies usually require that things are done according to current practice to receive full compensation in the event of damage.

Most regulations and standards are found in AMA, which unfortunately costs money. But some regulations are available online, such as BBR at Boverket, waterproofing rules at säkervatten.se and gvk.se, and guides and tables for the dimensioning of wood structures at träguiden.

Then, many "regulations" may not be so strict and mandatory, but often the construction goes much better, and the various steps become easier and cheaper if you follow them since materials and descriptions are adapted to certain standard measurements.

Pressure-treated wood should only be used outdoors.

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated! Now I have used pressure-treated wood in certain parts of the renovation. Fortunately, not too much. What are the consequences of that? Is it so important that I need to tear it up and replace it?

 

[Kalle91]

It might help to know the formal structure of norms and regulations. The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's building regulations (BBR) are based on the Planning and Building Act and contain mandatory rules for new construction. Much revolves around accessibility, fire protection, and energy management. The collection of rules is available online on the Boverket's website. Unfortunately, the document is mixed with advisory-like points that are not necessary to follow, which can be confusing. The BBR is quite difficult to read, and unfortunately, the trend is negative. The technical rules are found in a European design standard (EKS) administered by SIS. Compliance with BBR and EKS is checked during the building permit application.

AMA (General Material and Work Description) primarily targets the construction industry and includes examples of standardized work performances. The legal effect of AMA is regulated through construction contracts. As a private individual, you don't need to consider AMA, although it may be appropriate in certain cases. Well-sorted libraries usually have AMA, which is divided into different volumes, HusAMA, ElAMA, etc. The first ByggAMA appeared as early as 1950.

In addition to BBR, EKS, and AMA, there are industry rules aimed at member companies. While it can be useful to know these rules sometimes, they have no formal status.

Thanks for the answer. It didn't become any easier; this seems complex . I will have to read up as best as I can for each project; it is probably impossible to get into all the recommendations and standards unless you work as a craftsman full-time.

 

[justusandersson]

Think of it like this (a little simplified): BBR is mostly about what's between the walls, EKS about what's inside the walls, and AMA about how to build the walls.