Drain Inspection Chamber on property without permission

elspeth240

Hi, can anyone advise

When I returned from my holidays the developer had put a drain inspection chamber on my front path without permission. Can anyone advise where I may stand legally. I bought the property 2 years prior to this.

Thanks

Doozergirl

You might need one there for your house to conform to building regulations. How big is it? A proper inspection chamber would have a manhole cover and then a proper built structure underneath it which helps you greatly if your drains ever blocked. 'm wondering how on earth they would have built an entire inspection chamber in your garden without ripping most of it up, let alone your path. I'd suspect it was already there and they've managed to forget to put in the manhole cover. and some kind of building inspection has brought this up.

Lord knows why they've done something like that on your property without even an explanation though. I recommend getting one and trying for compensation of some description although you have to bear in mind that however ugly it is, it might have just needed to be there and you would be grateful for it if you had proper drain problems

Rather than compensation, they can adjust heights of these things so you could potentially have one that is hidden beneath your path, bearing in mind again that if you need access, the slabs will have to come up.

sooz

or one that slabs can be set into. it's not invisible, but less of an eyesore

elspeth240

Thanks Doozergirl, I suspect you are right about it already being there but them forgetting to put the manhole cover on it as I got my heal caught in the corner and it came up quite easily and I could see all the chambers beneath, however it is quite ugly in the middle of my path. It's approx 1.5ft x 1.5ft.

MX5huggy

As sooz says, kick up a stink and get them to fit one of these:- http://www.pavingexpert.com/recess01.htm