Do builders care about Building Regs?

I think all you've done is repair and maintenance of the existing building isn't it?

Owain

Be worth getting a structural engineer in to look at works done and do a report.

Building regulations approval is the responsibility of the property owner, not the workmen employed to do the work.

I often wonder if the council care either. Many now contract this expertise out to a private company. I think you are now seeing how com such a litany of errors can occur. No one person or company knows the whole picture. Brian

It may well be but I'd suspect that the average builder would now that and the average householder would not.

In getting the remedial work carried out it never occured to me on an of the occasions to ring the Council and no-one else ever raised the issue. I'm only now aware of it because of the issues being raised during the conveyancing.

Didn't I say that I already did at the time? And how does that help with the need for Building Regs?

Most structural calculations have made outside of the council for a while.

I guess it's in part a liability issue but might also demonstrate the limited abilities of planning/building officers.

Sorry - thought you were referring to other work done too.

A decent structural engineer will also advise about getting retrospective building regs approval. They tend to be well up on that sort of thing.

I've no experience of them recently. Could be more difficult if a privatized facility. When got the building inspector in many years ago to advise on some DIY modifications, he said I needed a structural engineer to do the calcs. Which I did. The BI checked the work as I progressed with it, based on the SE data.

The work has been done. Neither the surveyor who noticed the problems nor the structural engineer who did the calcs nor the builder who did the work mentioned Building Regs - hence the subject.

Sorry I thought I'd said most of that in my OP.

when i first bought the house i got local builders (Caldicotts of Leominste r) to put in an RSJ. the supports looked dodgy to me - they used exisiting brickwork which was already cracked, I called in council Building Inspector , he agreed with me, and made them come back and but concrete blocks undern eath it. For no extra money

george

a canny buyer just before completion can 'notice' the lack of paperwork and make you knock down many thousands from the price [g]

From a builders PoV the less paperwork involved the better.

The decent ones will keep informed of the BR requirements and make sure their work complies, but that does not necessarily mean that they will necessarily want to mess about with LABC unless they feel they have to. Having said that, some will process paperwork with them automatically and might not think to discuss it with the customer unless they bring up the subject.

Bit late by the sounds of it... There is a window of enforcement that is usually limited to two years - so after that the LABC department is not going to be able to instruct changes etc even if non compliant.

Depends a bit on what you are attempting to achieve.

I sort of read you were unsure about the work so reluctant to contact the council about getting the correct paperwork. If you are sure it is all fine, and have an engineer's report saying so, all that there would be to worry about was getting the paperwork?

And a canny seller will tell him to get stuffed.

I'm trying to achieve avoidance of hassle if I sell, or in due course, my executors or my wife, sell this house.

I'm personally satisfied the work is satisfactory - the purlin work was done in accordance with structural engineer calcs, and the wooden beam (now plaster board enclosed) is massive (8" x 4" for a 6'6" span) and well embedded into the brickwork either side. I've also got lots of photos of both sets of work being done.

If I contact the Council now they could make it it awkward, I mean previous owners have taken out purlin supports and ceiling joists supports (how stupid I know). Are the Council likely to take issue with them?

And I've had the work done without Council approval, are they likely to take issue with that?

But again, as per my subject, the work was done without prior approval.

Wasn't the Building Inspector somewhat peeved?

AIUI, once you sell a property, you cease to have any responsibility for such matters. The buyer assumes such responsibility.

Assuming your house isn't listed, I'd have thought contacting the council would be the way to go.

There is only a limited amount you can do at this stage. You could investigate if building notices exist for any of these works, and enquire about "regularisation" if not. This may involve demonstrating that the work would have met the regs in force at the time, and them issuing a completion cert saying that it would have passed had they been asked. (for a fee of course)

What is the worst they can do? Basically say "nope not got any building notices", and "yup there should have been".

When it comes time to sell, the same would be revealed in the conveyancing process, at which point the discussion becomes something like "well its a sound job and has been standing for 25 years with no evidence of a problem". Some might want indemnity insurance, although its unclear exactly to who's benefit this is (other than the insurers!)

Was it more than a couple of years ago? If so, who cares, nothing they could do about it (with some limited exceptions where your work is putting the general public in immediate danger etc).