Sewer/drain build over issue.

neetiem

Thanks very much to all who have replied I am very grateful. It has given some hope!

I will clarify to some of the questions...

Firstly I don't think the foul water sewer runs under the structure as when we lifted the manhole cover on the drive, and flushed the loo, the water flows the other way from the garage in the direction of the street in front??? which is different to the plans but obviouly without tracing it underground we can't say for sure. The pipework that does seem to run under is a storm drain and is a public one taking excess water off from the road and draining it away.

Secondly the drain is very deep down (if it is actually there at all) so that re-routing it would not be possble as there wouldn't be anywhere to reroute it and would be quite costly to do so, plus getting a manhole from the garage floor to the pipework might mean digging quite a deep hole!

Access to the the pipework is only from the road as it seems we do be missing a manhole cover in our garden, although the distance from the road manhole to the missing manhole would only be 40 - 50 meters and rodding this distance would surely not be a problem?

The building itself is a blockwork construction on 3 sides with a ply and felted roof. It would be possible to take it down with relative ease and reconstruct with build over permission, but obviously this would be a last resort thing and would rather avoid this if possible.

Annoyingly due to the insistance of the buyer's solicitor in persuing getting written permission for Sout West Water which we tried, now we have alerted South West Water to the issue, getting indemnity insurance will be difficult if not impossible, unless anyone knows any different, as we would willing purchase one to boost confidence.

I am taking just a bit of comfort in Parallelines response that commonsense should prevail and because our buyers are first time buyers, they are taking all the advice from their, from what appears to be an over cautious solicitor and not seeing the bigger picture. Speaking to the Water Board, the conveyancing department said that thought they could not say they would never have to access this pipework, the likelyhood is very slim. It is so frustrating!!!

It seems like in this day and age, paranoia and over cautiousness prevails. I can understand the buyer's concerns, or at least their solicitor's but looking at it in a commonsensical way, unless you wanted to build and extention over the garage, the risks are low.

Anymore comments are gratefully received and thanks everyone again for their input.

Anita

g_attrill

Bananamana wrote: »

indemnity insurance. cheaper and eaiser

I think the problem is that the water company now know about the unauthorised building - if they hadn't then it would have been possible to purchase it.

archess200

There is no problem with rodding 40-50m, as long as it is in a straight line. Would the water board come out and inspect? They could then say whether they are happy with it or not. As it is, as long as there is adequate lintol cover, there should be no problem. Even if it did not need planning permission in the 70's, it would have needed building regs. Has it got this?

neetiem

Thanks Archess

We called the planning dept and they said that a building like this didn't need any regs, it really only consists of 2 walls a roof and a concrete floor. Its a fairly simple constructing and apparently back in those days it didn't need anything.

And yes, we're pretty peed off withour buyer's solicitor who insisted that we contact SW Water as now an indemnity is definitely out of the question. Beware of useless conveyancing solicitors!!!

Sadly today, our buyers officially pulled out and the estate agent said that it is pointless putting the house back on the market without getting the problem sorted out. We're stumped.

My only thought is that at some point in the future when we can afford it, we will have to take the garage down and rebuild it with the necessary permissions, if that is possible, or if not then build something less threatening, eg out of wood and sink in a manhole or something. Maybe we should consult an architect to see what they suggest, as they might be able to let us know what and what we can't do??

One thing I will do is get out my divining rods and find these troublesome pipes!
Thanks again, everyone and once more any bright ideas are willingly and gratefully received.
Anita