Just been informed that you now longer have to get the council's building inspector in to well .. do inspections.
Seems that there are inspectors now available to do this job seemingly quicker and cheaper, anyone else used one?..
No I have not but friend doing a self build is and sister doing an extension did. Seems to work when you have a good sized project. Bother wer/are happy with the arrangement. The relationship is different from that with the Council because the inspector is working for you. Google 'approved inspector' Regards Bruce
ITYM "working for his insurance company". Who do you think the Local Authority Building Control Surveyor is working for?
That option has been available for 25 years. Due to the recession there are a lot more moving in to the 'bottom' end of the market.
They can be cheaper because they don't check plans and very rarely carry out inspections. Good news if you're a s*** builder who doesn't want anyone checking your work; not so good for the householder. For example, this week I've spotted partial cavity fill insulation clipped to the outer leaf (risk of excessive heat loss & condensation), partial cavity insulation fully filling the cavity (water penetration), foundations undermining neighbour's property (subsidence), and no escape window to a bedroom in an extension (risk of being trapped by fire). And this was a good week!
You have to ask yourself how many visits can you expect if the AI has an area covering hundreds of square miles. I've heard anecdotal evidence that for many jobs, they rely on the builders sending photos of their work. I know for a fact that one of the jobs featured on "Cowboy Builders" was 'inspected' by an Approved Inspector.
If the householder is a competent DIYer and doing their own work however it sounds like it might have merit.
In article , Hugo Nebula scribeth thus
Well as this is a self build sort of with some assistance, I intend to see that it's to spec;)..
Seems the one around these part's is ex local authority..
Local Authority Building Inspectors are certainly not working for you as the homeowner, they are making money for the Council. As I said, in the right circumstances an Approved Inspector seems a good solution. Your contract with them can cover whatever you want and they can provide advice if you contract them to, which can be useful for self builders. Council inspectors are under no obligation to offer you any advice. many will and are helpful, but like all big public organisations there are also some unhelpful jobsworths among them. If you do not like your Approved Inspector you can always sack him and get another. Regards Bruce
Bollocks. local authority building control sections are under a duty to cover their costs (IIRC over a three year period), but most make a loss on domestic work, mainly because the bosses can't get a grip on their staff making 'too many' inspections (as they see it). Even after
25 years of private sector competition the overriding ethos within LABC is of public service.No you can't. Once work has commenced you have to either stay with your chosen AI or the work reverts back to the local authority.
Is that because they "don't trust them" to do it right and thus make less inspections for "professional builders because they do "trust them".
If so, I guess that would be why my previous home had a fan in a window-less bathroom that went off with the light and only had 3 cm of insulation in the loft (stupidly under the CH pipework and not over it) :-(.
tim
There's no such thing as a 'professional builder'. There's no entry requirements to call yourself a 'builder' so experience shows that a good DIYer can be head & shoulders above any so-called 'professional'. Therefore the only guide I have to go off is my previous dealings with the person carrying out the work.
This may be why DIYers here have had negative experiences with Building Control - if the BCO doesn't know you from Adam, he has to assume the worst. Conversely, if I go onto the site of a builder who I know has done proper work (and no bad ones) in the past, I am willing to take more on trust.
An AI is coming at the work from a 'risk assessment' standpoint. They aren't asking themselves, "what's the likelihood of this work being incorrect?", they are asking, "if this part of the work is wrong and causes damage that results in a claim, how much will it cost my insurance to put it right?".
Was this in a new-build or an extension? If the former, was it inspected by an AI or by the LA? If the latter, again, if it was inspected by the LA did you have a Building Regulations application for the work, and if so, was it ever 'completed'?
I can't condone such oversights if the work was inspected by, well anyone, but I would suggest it's much less likely to happen on an LABC inspected site than an AI inspected one.
It was a conversion from a (old) commercial building to a group of apartments.
No idea, I only rented it (or rather part of it).
tim
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