Rooflights and skylights fitted in Hendreforgan

Hendreforgan sits in the community of Gilfach Goch, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and the 2021 census recorded a population of 2,444 for it. The Nant Ogwr Fach, a small tributary of the Afon Ogwr, passes through the nearby area.

The village is best known for its colliery. Hendreforgan Colliery, also called Cox's, was first opened in 1814. It was leased to John and George Evans of Llansamlet as part of a 99-year lease, and James Cox took over from George Evans in 1816. Steam engines were at work there as early as 1818, including a stationary engine underground, made by George Stephenson sometime before 1840. Steam jet ventilation was in use by 1828.

From Swansea the village is 28.28 miles away by road, heading east, which is inside our 30 road miles. Gilfach Goch is the nearest place we work in, only a short distance off, and Blackmill is also close.

An old industrial village still needs its roofs read one at a time. Where the roof is pitched, think roof window. Where a flat roof was added at the back, think rooflight on a kerb. Where a hall has a loft overhead and no outside wall, think sun tunnel. The survey confirms which of those fits, and what size.

The colliery's story of engines and ventilation is a story about moving air and water, which are the two things a rooflight has to manage in a modest way: rain on the outside and steam on the inside.

Hendreforgan sits under Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, so planning questions go there. Behind one rooflight there can be three separate checks. Each has its own test, and passing one does not excuse the others.

Planning looks at appearance and effect. When the home is a house, householder rights may let a rooflight go in with no application, provided it stays inside the limits set out in our Wales guide to skylight planning. When the home is a flat or a maisonette, that route is closed and an application is needed. A house can lose the route as well, through an Article 4 direction covering its area or by way of a condition that came with the house's original consent.

A listed home faces a different question: would the rooflight change what makes the building special? If it would, listed building consent is required, and the council as planning authority receives the application. Cadw points out that interiors count, along with fittings and details, and that small jobs can be caught. Starting work without consent risks an offence.

The Building Regulations check is the technical one. A replacement roof window counts as building work, and mending one does not. A brand-new rooflight normally needs approval, since the roof is cut open and the opening has to bear the unit's weight. You can pick the council's building control service or a registered building control approver, and where the work is notifiable we manage the notification with whichever you choose.

If a house falls near the border between two answers, put the question to the council's planners and ask for their reading. A Lawful Development Certificate then fixes that reading in writing.

A word on who the private approvers are. In Wales, private building control firms must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator as registered building control approvers, and the checks are carried out by, or on the advice of, registered building inspectors. That regime began on 6 April 2024. Council building control is regulated by the Welsh Ministers instead.

Free survey first, and a fixed written quote after it. That sequence is the same in every village we work in, Hendreforgan included.

Energy figures come first, because the glass has to meet them. In Approved Document L (Wales), a roof window should reach 1.4 W/m²K or Window Energy Rating Band B whenever it is new or a replacement. A rooflight should reach 2.2 W/m²K. The document defines a rooflight as a glazed unit on a kerb or upstand, so the figure is not stretched to lanterns by name, and a lantern fitted to a new extension goes to the council as its own question.

Over a pitched loft room, a roof window is the product. When an old VELUX is being swapped, a metal plate on the head of the sash holds the size code, and opening the sash brings it into view. VELUX publishes what the codes mean, for example MK04 for 78 × 98 cm and MK06 for 78 × 118 cm. Plates like it have been fitted to VELUX windows made since 1968.

Over a flat-roofed kitchen or utility room, a flat roof rooflight is the product, and the fall on its kerb carries the water away. A sun tunnel suits the dark hall beneath a loft, and the page on sun tunnels describes the routes.

A unit that has misted can be replaced. Our misted rooflight service covers that, in addition to new fittings. Where an older home would lose its character at the full energy figure, the guidance offers a fallback for windows and roof windows: 1.2 W/m²K at the centre of the pane, or low-e secondary glazing. Rooflights have no fallback.

Near a boundary, a new rooflight's fire performance has to be considered. In every room, a replacement window should leave the home's ventilation no worse than the old one did, and an opening that swings out 30 degrees or more can serve as the room's quick-airing route if its area reaches 1/20 of the floor area.

Loft rooms bring two more points. Where a house already has an automatic sprinkler system, Welsh guidance asks for that system to grow with the house, with fresh certification covering whatever has been altered or added. And a roof window can serve as an escape window only if it is sized and placed to do so, a topic covered on the roof window regulations page.

Glass that sits low falls under Approved Document N, the Welsh rules on glazing safety. A window in the lowest part of a wall counts as being in a critical location, and the glass there should break safely, resist impact, come in small panes or be permanently protected. Fitted well and reasonably draught-proof is what the energy guidance asks of every installed window, roof window and rooflight.

Window area has a limit as well. When a window or door opening is made new or made larger, windows and doors together should stay inside a share of the floor area, and an edition of the Welsh guidance taking effect on 4 March 2027 names roof windows and rooflights in the sum as well. A bigger area can be accepted when the house's energy performance is lifted to compensate, which is a point for the survey to raise.

The free survey comes first and the fixed written quote second, with ten years of workmanship guarantee in writing at the end. Ring 01792 929062 or fill in the survey form.