1) Moving toilet 2) Shared soil pipes

AnthonyL · 2026-09-28T20:50:49+00:00

Bathroom refurb and advice needed on several fronts concerning:1) Is Building Control required?2) Is any change necessary to the existing shared soil pipearrangement.All the properties on this estate are 1968 build bungalows. It seemsas if there is only one soil pipe on every other property. We don'thave a soil pipe, but next door does and our sewage goes from theinspection pit, down the driveway a bit, then goes across at an angle(all downhill slopes) to join an inspection pit on the neighbourspath.Our toilet is against the wall on the side adjacent to our drivewayand the trench goes at about 45 deg angle to the inspection pit about2.5m away on the far side of the driveway.We want to move the toilet across the bathroom* and a couple of metresinside. This will require a new trench which will now be directlyopposite the inspection pit and hence shorter than the old trench.The builder says we need our own soil pipe. I don't see why asnothing has fundamentally changed. It's been ok for nearly 60 yearsand at best they are unsightly. Who's right.The builder has not mentioned any Building Regs. Work is due to startin 3 weeks. Are approvals needed?* We (SWMBO) want the bath across the exterior wall instead of backingto it aligned with the l/hand wall, but the toilet is in the r/hcorner. So put the bath across (90deg rotation), put the toilet onthe l/h wall adjacent to the side of the bath and run a pipe to theoutside to a new trench.

Sep 28, 2026 Last reply: 1 month ago 23 Replies

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Andy Burns 1 month ago

You should be able to see it, if that's the case, usually they're at the top of a vertical section of pipe, above the highest 'flood' level e.g. the basin plug.

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The Natural Philosopher 1 month ago

Ah OK. That is quite unusual!

ALMOST certainly, but why take the risk? They are pretty cheap

Under £25 at ScrewYou or ToolSatan

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AnthonyL 1 month ago

I'm still learning what's what. And no, there is no Durgo valve. Exernally all that is visible is the gully for the bath/washbasin and the soil stack next door.

AI tells me I should be explaining:

"The existing toilet has an internal floor-standing pan connector that drops directly into a ground-level vertical socket, transitioning straight to the underground drainage below the slab. A meter away, the bath and basin discharge externally into a back-inlet gully, which then runs underground to tie into the same inspection chamber."

and the project:

"We are relocating the internal toilet to align with an existing external gully. The new layout will exit through the external wall into a new underground drainage branch beneath the driveway, which will tie directly into the existing brick inspection chamber. The old internal soil pipe will be decommissioned and permanently sealed at both ends."

All being well the existing "shared" soil stack arrangement will stay as is as nothing is fundamentally changing.

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