Converting my garage to get my VDL.

david1976

Well-Known Member
I have been speaking to my local council about getting a venison dealers license so that i can sell on what i shoot and stay legit and above board.

After initial talks, i have been told i can convert my garage. I must put some kind of easily wipeable material on the walls. The council were not particularly helpful with what i should use and i wondered if anyone here has any suggestions.

I would also be interested to know if anyone on here has converted a garage/shed for the same reason and if so if any pictures are available.

Cheers

David.
 
David, I did similar and registered as a food business form my garage /utility room. Most info you need is in here:
www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/wildgameguide1oct08.pdf
Main things you need are cleanable surfaces and potable water. Don't mention 'processing' i.e. sausages/burgers as this requires addition of other products such as pork and leads to problems with 'traceability' which is a minefield. If you are just cutting venison and supplying your family and friends then you should be ok. Don't forget the council is a government agency so you are better off giving stuff away so you don't have to pay tax!! :rolleyes: Some of your friends may like to make a donation to the cost of your ammo though! :lol: Think carefully about where your waste will go!! You should be able to leave all but the skin in the field? Then it is pretty much dry waste. The only thing they picked me up for was my clothing - but then I always have been a victim of fashion!! :eek: Good luck!
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Could you get away with some kind of washable or rubberised paint etc?

I can't believe how much Big Brother is watching you guys over there. All I do is hang the carcass in my carport and butcher it there and it's none of anyone's business what I do with the meat. :D
 
White plastic cladding of the sort used in kitchens is pretty affordable, it was about £3 for a 6'x3' sheet last time I bought some.
 
Pete

I've seen similar in B+Q megstores - it's a sheet of fake 'tiles' for use in bathrooms/showers/caravans.

S.
 
snowstorm,

I'll have to keep an eye out for those...

The local farm supply place sells white plastic sheets known as "Dairy cladding"...IIRC, they are 8'x4' and about 3/16" thick, but they are about £18 each with VAT which means cladding a room gets expensive quick.

Regards,

Peter
 
Wall coverings

I wouldn't get too carried away with expensive wall coverings as they may not be necessary. Unless you are cutting things up with a chainsaw they are unlikely to get much on them anyway. My walls are just painted with a smooth masonary paint which is afterall washable. Best thing to do is get the place clean and tidy and get an inspection done. In my experience they are not out to get you or shut you down before you even start. It costs nothing too. They will look at what you have and advise you as to what you need to do. My local office were really pleased that I was doing things by the book and were only to pleased to help.
 
Monkeyspanker,

I think thats good advice...

Part of the problem is that what is deemed acceptable varies from council to council...

While all want the surfaces to be waterproof and easily cleanable, my council for instance wouldn't accept ordinary paint of any sort, only the two part epoxy paint which was around £60 per liter when I priced it up...

They were very helpful though and quite willing to take into account that I would have been operating on a very limited scale, so I agree its worth taking their advice before starting...

Regards,

Peter
 
larder conversions

Pete : Ive build quite a few larders with double door entry hanging rails, preparation tables the ish ,what we have done is to ask the local environmental health officer ,what they want as at the end of the day is up to him if is acceptable to produce food in ,or for your game dealer to pick carcasses up from ,there are many permutations of a larder you require two rooms whether one is a chill or a purpose made room with a chiller attached .
You require a preparation area with double sinks cold/hot water which can be a hand wash electric type a drain in the floor with a lift out basket to catch hair etc , the floors and walls can be concrete painted, for easy cleaning the ceilings must be painted to show cleanliness, have a fly trap machine a knife holder any surfaces are usually stainless steel bins for waste products and lockable, its also possible they will ask where and how you dispose of the waste produce , cleaning materials etc .

The floor paint where possible should be non slip and light in colour so you can see any marks ,the same for the walls .

Its all down to cash at the end of the day and how much use its going to get .

After you get 1 inspection there are always more to follow when they wish that's the bummer bit about having a commercial or semi commercial larder.
 
There is a epoxy paint that is used for dairies and is acceptable by the eho.
It is sprayed on quite thick and obviously is seamless and washable so a rendered wall can easily be covered..

regards
griff
 
widow's son,

I'm in North Wales and when I first made enquiries with the council, they didn't have a clue, as the council chap I spoke to never had to deal with a deer larder before...

For just skinning the odd carcass and selling it to one of several local butchers all they wanted essentially was "clean" ...They accepted that such a through put didn't warrant big money on complex purpose built larder, but they did want a sink with hot and cold water, plus a separate facility for washing hands; they were happy for that to be a simple plastic washing up bowl as long as thats all I used it for...they wanted surfaces washable and coved but stopped short of wanting proper drainage as i said I would be using a mop and bucket for cleaning the floor...

In the end, what stopped me going down that route was that the room had to be dedicated just for that...you couldn't convert say one half of a garage and use the other half for something else without installing dividing walls ect..In addition to that, in my case, any additional electrical work would have come under the Part P of the new Electrical regs and that would mean getting a proper Spark involved which would be additional expense that the project wouldn't really justify..

Instead, I have a small chiller/fridge in the corner of an existing outbuilding and I am in the process of putting up a decent hanging rail. The floor is concrete covered in "lino" which I can mop clean after use...The walls are concrete and will have a coat of masonry paint just to make them wipeable...
The set up falls short of whats required if i were doing things commercially, but for handling a relatively small number of Roe and Muntjac carcasses a year, its fine...

I wish I had the stalking and through put to justify a proper larder, and I am a quite envious of the guys here who have such set-ups...

Griff,- Thats the paint the chap suggested I use, although I didn't realize it was a spray on application...

Regards,

Peter
 
Quantity?

I think the deciding factor here may be related to quantity. I believe the guide used to state that a small quantity of large game is up to 300 animals which is a lot more than the average recreational stalker is capable of! If you are just trying to stay within the law and sell the odd carcass evry month or so they will not expect too much in reality. I started with an old twin doored coke fridge at one end of the garage with a painted floor and walls - both washable. I had a washable shower curtain screen around where I skinned from a roof hook. Next door in my old utility room was a kitchen worktop and my potable water was in my kitchen on the other side of the utility! Very basic but clean and acceptable in the eyes of my local council. I have rebuilt most of it now specifically for purpose but still not on a commercial scale. I now have a large double doored Foster chiller which will hold about 6-7 fallow or similar which is enough for me and a commercial sized sink. An electric hoist is also a great addition! Still in progress really I suppose but getting there slowly. Tell them what you want to do and ask them what they would like to see?
 
Thank you for your help and advice. I particularly like the shower curtain idea as they are cheap as chips from places like ikea. Garage will not be up to scratch for a while but when it is, i will post some photographs for others to see.

David.
 
David

I use plain white bathroom wall cladding (see for example http://www.bathroomcladding.co.uk/?mid=gd12&target=dept_162.html&lang=en-gb) but check out eBay as there's loads on there. This was put on top of the brick walls in the shed/outhouse I use as a game larder. I also have a granolithic flooring. This means I can spray down the walls, then wash eveything down the drain in the middle of the floor.

When I get back home this weekend I'll try to take some photos.

Regards

willie_gunn
 
Willie-gunn,

I've heard of "granolithic concrete" being recommended for larder floors before but I'm not sure how it differs from ordinary concrete?

Regards,

Peter
 
Peter

Granolithic (or "Grano" as our builder called it) is a very fine grade of concrete made mostly, but not exclusively, of granite. It can be laid thinly on top of a regular concrete slab, is very hard wearing, and most importantly from a hygiene perspective is non-dusting. You could top it with an epoxy coating if necessary, but as my larder is for non-commercial use I'm not bothered.

willie_gunn
 
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