I’m building a double garage soon and I was wondering about including a pit in one side of it given that we’re going to have to get a digger in do the ground works anyway but wondered if it’d be worth it. I’m certainly not going to put one in after it’s built. I’ve been told they’re not even legal in the UK but I think that’s wrong. Are they really that useful though? I’d love to hear from anyone who’s got one.
TIA
Joe
If you do a fair bit of tinkering and fettling then I’d say YES…
As you say , it’s easy at this point to do it 
( it probably doesn’t have to be full depth, even 3-4 foot deep is handy )
wish I’d done mine at the time 
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Yes they are legal but you may have some hoops to jump through.
It was discussed on another forum.
Planning permission may not be required BUT building regs will apply.
The party wall act may apply if you are digging a pit in your garage - are less than 3m from your neighbours foundations - and are digging deeper than them.
Or if the neighbours foundations intersect a 45 degree line from the bottom of the hole at a distance of less than 6M.
This could affect anyone with garages that are link detached,semi detached or squeezed in between two houses.
You might want to think about your own foundations as well
The last comment was -
Be aware pits are extremely dangerous as exhaust fumes/ petrol fumes will settle in the pit and need to be cleared before entering
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And… don’t walk into a garage with a pit in the dark - guess how I know ? 
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Be Aware that some councils require planing permission I was about to do this and found in Warwickshire (Rugby) you needed this …and the fees are Ridiculous…
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Slightly off-topic perhaps but another solution for getting underneath your car: Quickjack 7000 - Z4-forum.com
It might be worth comparing the cost and pros and cons if you have the headroom or outside space to use a Quickjack or similar. I’ve not used one myself.
TBH that would be my preference.
Thank you for this. I’ll have to do some research and measurements. We’re clear of most neighbours with this garage apart from one and, typically, he’s that person and we’re probably within range for his awkwardness. We’ll see.
Thank you. I’ve never seen these so I’ll investigate them. Certainly easier and you can’t fall into them in the dark and, by the time all the permissions and building regs are done, possibly cheaper. I’ll do some digging.
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Or maybe you won’t 
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Ooh, I would love one of these for my MG TF! One can dream 
If you are seriously considering a pit, aside from building regs, a few other things to consider are drainage of water that may seep through the walls, ventilation of gases that sink into the pit and jacking pads along the sides of the pit. Also any lighting in the pit should be intrinsically safe to prevent ignition of any fumes. The pit also needs to be longer than the car to allow free and unrestricted entry and exit into the pit with the car in position. Finally you have to consider means to protect anyone coming into your garage from falling into the pit.
At Doncaster railway works because of the risks associated with pits and water ingress we filled them in and now use jacks to lift rolling stock for working on the underside.
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Paul, Many thanks for this. This is sound reasoning. I’m glad I asked here because you guys have convinced me…I’ll get a lift as mentioned above instead of a pit.
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Digger on site or no digger on site, by the time you’ve counted all the pennies required for his time, spoils removal, pit restraining walls and labour, damp proofing, pit lighting, cover board for top, step ladder access…
IMHO, you may fair better considering a twin post ramp. I’ve seen them from 1500 quid upwards.
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I bought this a good few years ago from an insolvency sale. It’s been fantastic and cost me around £800 delivered. The ‘manufacturers’ are fairly local and were really helpful as I wanted it serviced before I started using it. That cost about £75 on a diy basis.
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That looks superb. I think a lift is the way forward and will save a fortune in the longer term.
The great advantage of a lift is you can always take it with you if you need to move house.
Most of the time, a pit in a domestic garage is nothing but a liability.
When I bought this house it had a pit in the garage with a properly reinforced and braced beam above it. We did eight engines in three years, but carefully avoided the pit.
BUT the asbestos roof was porous and the pit had a couple of inches of oil waste in it sitting on top of the water table only a foot below the rim!
I have no idea how deep the pit was and when the garage was knocked down (by asbestos pros) the rubble from the walls went into the pit.
I skimmed more than twenty five gallons of oil from the water. In those days 5 off five-gallon drums of waste oil had useful scrap value!
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Pits are great for trucks, buses, trains etc because of the difficulties and risks of lifting heavy vehicles. They are however expensive and have all the “pitfalls” 
previously mentioned.
With the advent of affordable hydraulic technology, extra headroom and some form of lift is much more practical and affordable.
If you watch the various car repair/restoration programmes on TV (Wheeler Dealers, CAR SOS etc) they all use lifts of some form or another
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darn it… I now need / want / must buy a lift 
Go onto Costco.co.uk and search for ‘car Jack’ they have 2 excellent lifting systems starting at about £1300.00 (for 1500kgs) sorry tried to post a link but it won’t let me copy it!