building regs

[dale hammond]

i removed a supporting wall about 10 yrs ago without planning permision or having the building inspector in to ok the work will i have problems selling the house

[dale hammond]

i removed a supporting wall approx 10 yrs ago thereby making 2 rooms in to 1 i didnt have planning permision and i didnt inform the build inspector where do i stand when i sell the house

[TheScullster]

Dale

IMHO unlikely. If a potential purchaser actually picked up on this and it became a sticking point, you could probably take out insurance on their behalf to cover any possible failure - guessing £200-300. If this is internal and not in a listed building, then planning permission doesn't apply but building regs applies to all structural work. Being in the middle of similar works, I am getting to grips with this stuff myself. For a small job like that, it would only cost £70 for an inspection notice/visit by the BCO. In future I would be inclined to spend that, to avoid the situation you now find yourself in.

Phil

[Kate11171]

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd get it inspected by the BCO. If you've done it properly I think he can then issue the correct paperwork. Better than leaving it for the buyer's surveyor to pick up.

FWIW, when I did just this I involved the BCO, and he was extremely helpful, and the cost small.

[Set Square]

Provided it was done in a structurally sound way - such as installing an RSJ to support whatever the wall was originally supporting, you can probably get Building Regs approval retrospectively by paying a "regularisation" fee.

If it wasn't done properly, invest in a hard hat - you're living on borrowed time!

[Earl Kella]

Is there not a risk here that if it fails this inspection then the council then have this on their records? Then you could not really hope for a buyers survey not to pick it up because the solicitor would.......

You could say the wall was not there when you bought it and go the indemnity way.

Earl

[bigcat]

I wouldnt say that, setting yourself up for real trouble. Better to not comment at all, and accept the insurance if necessary.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If it fails the inspection, then it needs to be corrected. Unlike some, I think *these* sort of regs are there for a reason. Nor are they so tight it's difficult for a DIYer to comply.

You can say what you want. But I'd expect a survey to notice the house had been altered in this way, and to ask for the paperwork. And any subsequent offer to be rather below the cost of getting the correct paperwork - even if it involved some rectification.

[Lobster]

That's the correct answer, obviously; but the trouble is that in order for the BCO to check it's been done properly, he's probably going to want to plaster removed etc to expose the work, so he can check that the correct RSJ had been fitted properly. I think I'd be more inclined to leave it be and hope the buyer's surveyor or solicitor doesn't pick up on it; if they do, then that would be the time to start pulling doen plaster etc.

Bear in mind, though, that the buyer's solicitor will in due course issue you with a questionnaire which will doubtless cover the issue of whether you've been ripping down load bearing walls, so you'd be telling porkies if you didn't flag this up, and that could potentially land you in hot water.

David

[usenet]

When we bought our house a few years ago the surveyor (who knows the houses around here well) said the structural alterations in ours were amazingly complex but all perfectly sound as far as he could tell. There was no question of checking that there was 'proper paperwork' for them all you'd need a filing cabinet to hold it all.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Mine has had some fairly complex work done and I've kept all the paperwork

- plans etc as well.

[Lobster]

But it's a trivial matter to pitch up at your local BC office and do a quick search on their public terminal to see if any building notices have been submitted on that property; and almost as trivial then to ask the staff for full details. And that's something anyone can do, on any property, with no notice and at no cost. At least, that's how it works round our way.

[Hugo Nebula]

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 09:26:33 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named Lobster randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Building Regulations applications are not for public perusal like Planning Permissions. They are confidential between the Council and the applicant (or their agent). You can usually look at the file (but not the site notes[1]) if you have the permission of the current owner, but you can't have copies.

[1] It's possible this may change with the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act.

[Mike]

That depends on the council involved. Some, such as ours, state that all files are for public viewing. Not sure on the copying point.

Should get those councils who haven't done this in line. That just leaves the ODPM.

[Hugo Nebula]

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 23:08:40 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named "Mike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

I would have thought allowing anyone to look at Building Control applications would have fallen foul of the Data Protection Act. There's no 'public interest' exemption on someone knowing the size of your floor joists, or whether you have an en-suite.