Compliance with building regs

[Mark Spice]

My wife has been in a discussion on a web forum about access for the disabled in new homes. One of the people on this forum is claiming that the majority of house builders are not complying with Part M of the building regs, that they are saving huge piles of cash and getting away with it.

Does this seem likely to you guys? I believe that new houses with an NHBC warranty are not inspected by the BCO but by an NHBC inspector. Is this the case and do you think this is likely to have a bearing on the issue?

Just wondering really and this seemed like the best informed group available (*)

Cheers

Mark

(*) well it was uk.diy or uk.legal and as this doesn't involve Blunkett or speed cameras I didn't thnk there would be many takers on UKL :-)

[Dave Jones]

I don't believe Part M covers new builds, and it wouldn't work if it did, you couldn't expect every new house to cater for every type of disability, and most disabled people have the houses modified to suit their individual needs as do non disabled people.

I'm sure if a person bought a plot off a developer, he would design that house to suit that person.

Most of the regs have a section on disabled accessibility, which covers most general needs.

Dave Jones

[The Natural Philosopher]

Sadly my BCO won't let ME get away with it I can assure you.

Bloody effin ramps. when even my most wheelchair bound guest can leap a good 2 " in his chair.

If all the money we spend on disabled access, were given to disabled people to buy whatever it is that meets their special needs - and bloody ramps it ain't, nor bloody sockets halfway up walls - then they would be happy, we would be happy, and we could shoot Blunkett with impunity.

[The Natural Philosopher]

You couldn't but Nu Laber can and does.

Heresy!

Yweah. It goes like this.

- wheel chair users dictate the access to your house TOTALlY.

- rooms are constrcted on teh assumptio that only elderly sick and wheelchair bound will ever use teh lectrcs

- windows must not be able to be fallen out of by the able bodied

- windows must be jumpable out of buy the able bodied.

- but we can let the wheel chair users suffocate and burn.

- all user acessible parts of electrical stuff must be in reach of children, dwarves, cripples, and the terminally senile, as these are the people we expect to be cutting their toenails with an angle grinder. Trailing cables MUST star at LEAST 450mm above floor level so teh above can trip over them and kill themselves.

Except in the kitchen, wher obviously no one but teh young and foirt ever go.

- except light bulbs, which must remain forever beyond their reach..

[Andy Hall]

- and make them look ill.

[Ian Middleton]

When my friend moved into an new estate (2000 ?) he had the ramp removed (mose likely not built), replaced by a step and normal door with decent ground seals fitted. The site builders on site retro-fitted the door at his request, as he knew people on the estate who were all having severe rain water leakage problems under the front door. It appears Part M doors a very supceptable to seal damage thus letting rain in.

Also had electric sockets and light switched positioned non part M (at his request) as in his previous house suffered major problems:-

- Low down light switches are reachable by 2 year olds, with all the ensuing problems that causes !!!

- Sockets being higher up are much more noticable by 2 years olds, with all the problems that causes.

- Sockets being higher up are much harder to hide behind furniture (ie boxes, small tables etc) to hide from 2 years olds.

My house (2000 build) has no ramp normal step, keeps water out fine (rain does get underneath door but not into the house) and sockets and switches have not attracted the attention of my children being non Part M positioning.

[Ed Sirett]

I have a customer who has moved into a £500k new 3 bed flat, and hates the fact that the sockets are 'half way' up the wall. New build are required to comply AFAIK.

[bigcat]

How nice to read some common sense for once. Only 5% of diabled people are wheelchair users, yet the disability stuff only addresses wheelchair users. Duh. And as you say, ramps and chair access are the last things the majority of disabled want or need.

I lived in a house once with a mix of traditional low sockets and high up ones. The high ones were forever dangerous, as the cord tends to travel out as it travels down to the floor, so it was a constant substantial trip hazard. It was also inconvenient and a total eyesore.

Would I be right in saying at least once a house is built you can reposition your sockets where you want?

NT

[bigcat]

How nice to read some common sense for once. Only 5% of diabled people are wheelchair users, yet the disability stuff only addresses wheelchair users. Duh. And as you say, ramps and chair access are the last things the majority of disabled want or need.

I lived in a house once with a mix of traditional low sockets and high up ones. The high ones were forever dangerous, as the cord tends to travel out as it travels down to the floor, so it was a constant substantial trip hazard. It was also inconvenient and a total eyesore.

Would I be right in saying at least once a house is built you can reposition your sockets where you want?

NT

[Mike]

Most new-builds have the wiring done so that the sockets and light switches can be moved back to their proper places after final inspection. I would expect at this price this flat can be as well and somebody has forgotten to do so.

[Mike]

Yes - at least until Jan 1st. After that it depends on the room. Could you perhaps also re-position your software settings so that you only post once before somebody starts ranting about it.

[IMM]

The proper place is about 1/2 metre up the wall. New builds are not built to move sockets around at all.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Lifts are good.

So are custom designed kichens.

Well youi eed a completion certificarte first... ...and intehory,no you can't, because it represents a 'material alteration' and would be retrograde if interpreted under the regs.

Inteh same way that I could not in theory spilt the large central bedroom in my house into two, because one of its windows is not 'jumpable out of' according to fire regs.

Its the usal law of unintended consequences. 95% of building regs are IMHO a damned good thing, but the politically inspired ones are a pain in teh arse.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No. the *regulation* place is between 450mm and 1.2m.

The PRPER place is wher it suits YOU.

Indeed.

[IMM]

The point is that they don't go on the skirting. So, if you move the sockets, you have problems when sellinmg.

[Mike]

Only if you regard part M as sensible.

Many are

[Mike]

They should be in the skirting like in Italy.

There is no problem with selling - compliance with part M only applies to new properties.

[Andy Hall]

They don't anyway.

Why? It doesn't benefit anybody, least of all people in wheelchairs, most of whom would rather that things around them are as normal as possible and not politically correct bullshit.

[N. Thornton]

From: Mike ( [e-mail])

I wish. Fraid this ng access system's a bit rough. At the moment its failing to manage the 'reply to' concept, so all these wil be out of order too :/ It regularly fails to send, resending works, but occasionally it appears to fail to send, but really it did. I have looked at other ng access approaches but none have been satisfactory yet. I've got another one to try in the next few days, so if I'm real lucky that might fix it.

NT

[Mike]

And let's be honest, if a wheelchair user has half a million to spend, are they going to spend it on a flat ?